The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and Jacksonville Transportation Authority officially opened the Open Innovation Center at the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center Friday morning.
JAX Chamber’s Venture Services Division will be based inside the Open Innovation Center and its entrepreneurial education programs, including JAX Bridges, will be held at the new facility. A pilot program ran a few weeks ago and the inaugural Vendor Lab program with JTA will begin within 30 days. A Web 3 education course on crypto currency and block chain will launch next week.
JTA has heavily invested in LaVilla, and this partnership is one more piece to drive economic growth in the neighborhood. The LaVilla investment adds to the momentum seen over the past few years, as the JTA, and others, recognized the great potential to revitalize in the storied neighborhood. “We thought it was a great fit in terms of our partnership with the Chamber and JAXUSA to create this space,” Ford said. “We expect that businesses will be created as a spinoff to the UTC and will have an opportunity to work here and help us create new transportation.”