The Clay County Economic Development Corporation's Board of Directors elected Joelle Marquis to the board. Marquis is the owner of Legacy in Action which includes: Legacy Dock & Marine Construction, Action Roofing and Action Construction.

In the fall of 2020, Clay EDC completed a six-month process to review and enhance Board Governance.  The new structure will increase local business engagement and industry sector representation.  Under the new structure, the Board will gradually increase up to 21 members.

Marquis was living the good life.  In an instant, it nearly came to a crashing halt-literally.  Instead, a near deadly experience proved pivotal.  In the years since, Marquis-entrepreneur, ministry co-founder, and partner in New York's Arsenal Capital Partners, a multi-billion-dollar private equity firm - has turned her entrepreneurial spirit into a spiritual purpose: to build a heartfelt legacy that goes far beyond business success and to encourage and guide fellow business leaders to do the same.

"It was Dec. 2, 2000, 6 at night, and we were driving home in New Hampshire after a day of Christmas shopping," Marquis said.  "It was a two-lane road and a woman in oncoming traffic fell asleep at the wheel.  She totaled two other cars and then....it was like hitting a brick wall going 110mph.  Our car was driven backward, the airbags deployed and between the smell and the powder, we thought the car was on fire.  We never had time to even apply our brakes."

What's work, Marquis and her husband, Ken, had their three children in the car with them: two of their own still in car seats and 14 year old Sabrina, whom they would eventually adopt.  Miraculously, all survived.  "My faith wasn't strong at the time, but I remember, just before the impact, calling out to God," Marquis says.  "That set a tone for years to come."

Marquis recovered and landed a spot at Arsenal in 2003.  Today, as senior partner, she provides human capital and change leadership in multiple strategic initiatives including more than 150 acquisitions, mergers, and consolidations; coaches executives across the portfolio and firm to apply past learnings to present situations to gain momentum and increase multiples: top-grades talent across the portfolio including C-suite, A positions, senior leaders, board member, and advisers; and has an 84% retention rate for senior leaders.  The New York-based private equity firm boasts more than $6 billion in assets under management and invests in middle-market companies with revenues ranging from $50 million to $500 million.  

But the work Marquis truly relishes is the kind of work inspired by her bigger-picture realization borne of the crash.  It started with the idea to purchase, repair, and flip a home using the proceeds to benefit a nonprofit in need.  In early 2016, Marquis, her husband, and another couple launched Legacy Homes, dedicated to securing and repairing foreclosed and distressed homes to help struggling families get back on their feet until they're able to buy a home of their own.  Then, later in 2016 and 2017, Hurricane Matthew and Irma hit, flooding 1,200 of Clay County's homes and damaging 80% of its docks.

"We saw so many unqualified and unlicensed companies sweeping in, taking advantage of homeowners," Marquis recalls.  "Some were literally selling docks out of their trunks, taking deposits, then leaving town.  Homeowners who couldn't afford to have their docks rebuilt watched their property values plummet."

Thus was born Legacy Dock & Marine Construction.  Action Roofing and Action Construction followed, providing affordable homes, remodeling, and repairs.  All four compassion-centric companies fall under the Legacy in Action umbrella.

"The Legacy in Action name was really birthed because we believe we have an opportunity to leave a legacy on this earth and we want to leave one that makes the Lord proud," Marquis said.  To that end, Marquis and the Legacy in Action team recently agreed to donate funds for a 7,000 sf building and five acres of land to Mercy Support Services, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting Clay County residents who are circumstantially in need.  Ultimately, the property will hold 67 housing units.

"We want to set an example for other business leaders and individuals to step out in ways that are bigger than what they're perhaps thinking about already," Marquis says.  "Push beyond the level you believe you're at now and really walk in faith."

The Clay County Economic Development Corporation was established in 2014 and is a 501.c.3 not-for-profit corporation dedicated to recruiting new businesses to locate to Clay County and working to retain and help grow existing Clay County businesses, all in an effort to: provide quality high-wage employment opportunities; diversify the local economy; grow the non-residential tax base; and improve the overall business climate and quality of life in Clay County for its citizens and families.