15 March Clay Officials Tackle Tallahassee March 15, 2017 By Laura Pavlus General, News Clay Day, Clay County, Legislative 0 Clay Officials Tackle Tallahassee - Read full article here - by Kile Brewer, Clay Today, March 15, 2017 Government officials from each major community joined members of the Clay County Chamber and County Commission to advocate for local needs to state lawmakers and inform those from outside Clay County what the area has to offer. Only two days into the 2017 legislative session, Clay County residents from various organizations and businesses met with legislators who filed into a conference room before the start of the day’s voting at 1 that afternoon. While meeting face-to-face with lawmakers Sen. Aaron Bean(R-Amelia Island) and Senate President Joe Negron(R-Palm City), Clay Day attendees expressed their interests regarding one issue likely to come up during this year’s session: continuation of the First Coast Expressway. “We don’t have an interstate in Clay County,” said Clay County Commissioner Diane Hutchings, “and we are on board with the toll concept.” Another subject on the minds of Clay County’s leaders was the continuation of Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida, both of which were recently killed and cut, respectively, by legislators. Both Senators were quick to respond and explain their position on the issues, affirming that they would do their best to advocate in favor of Clay County residents and keep in mind the opinions of local chamber board members and city government officials. After their orientation, the group moved outside to the Capitol’s courtyard area between the new and old capitol buildings. In the courtyard, a variety of booths displayed information about all the major communities in Clay County, in addition to booths from Clay Electric Co-Op, Vac-Con Inc. (who brought one of their vacuum trucks into the courtyard), the Military Museum of North Florida and a musical performance by the Orange Park High School Jazz Band. There were also sausages and barbecue provided, feeding about 1,200 people in total who were lucky enough to wander through the Clay Day setup. Clay County District 1 Commissioner Mike Cella stood at the steps of the old capitol building looking around at all the booths and people in the courtyard before speakers Rep. Travis Cummings(R-Orange Park) and Florida CFO Jeff Atwater took the podium. “This has been a great day,” Cella said, “There are a lot of people here to support their communities.” While other counties have held events like this in the past, this was a first for Clay County. Before they had sent representatives from the chamber of commerce to advocate for their interests, but this year was a much bigger event. “In the past it’s been a chamber-only event specifically to meet with legislators,” said Bill Garrison, president of the Clay County Economic Development Corp. “This year we had all five constitutional officers there, and over 100 people from Clay County. Garrison said there is already a debriefing planned later this month to discuss what they could do to make next year’s event bigger and better, but he considers this year’s event to have been a major success. “In general, it was a home run,” Garrison said. “Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties host events like this, but this was a first for us. I overheard somebody say that Clay County really knocked it out of the park.” Event photos are here Related Clay looks to build economy on growing health care industry The growing health care industry in Clay County is key to its future economic development although manufacturing and distribution also have major roles to play, say officials helping county leaders chart a course for attracting and retaining sustainable businesses offering residents solid, well-paying jobs. Clay Commission Discussing Rebranding County Image The Clay County Commission this month is expected to consider recommendations to showcase the county’s natural, historic and recreational resources as well as its communities to best attract tourism, new businesses and residents. Clay EDC Board of Directors Support One-Cent Sales Tax At the June 14, 2016 Board of County Commissioners meeting, Clay EDC President, Bill Garrison, read a resolution by the Clay EDC Board of Directors announcing their support of the one-cent sales tax extension. Clay Branding Study - Proposed New County Logo and a New County Seal After a year of talk and expectation, county commissioners have given the order to finalize a new logo and branding scheme for the county they hope will spur intrigue, tourism and economic growth countywide. Here are the drafts of a proposed new county logo and a new county seal. Will Ketchum of Burdette-Ketchum, which created the brand, suggested the new county seal would also differentiate Clay County, Florida from the other 17 counties named Clay throughout the U.S. Clay County Schools One Point Away from "A" District Letter Grade The Clay County School District was one point away from being named an “A” District in recent scores released last week by the Florida Department of Education for the 2016-2017 school year. Clay County Joins Nassau and St. Johns as 'A' School District Clay County schools jumped from a B to an A and into 8th place in the state. Showing 0 Comment Comments are closed.