World stocks took a nosedive after news broke that United Kingdom citizens voted to sever ties with the European Union, a move dubbed “Brexit.”
What does that mean for Jacksonville’s deepening business relationship with its neighbor across the pond?
Not much according to one Jacksonville University business professor.
Almost as soon as the final vote count was announced, global financial markets took a tumble. The British pound fell to its lowest value since 1985 and the euro took a three percent hit.
And Jacksonville University Davis College of Business Dean Don Capener said some sectors in Jacksonville felt immediate reverberations.
“We have a number of financial companies and a lot of folks, say from companies like Deutsche Bank, which have relocated from the Northeast down here to Jacksonville are directly affected. Look at the Deutsche Bank stock, at one point it was down 20 percent,” he said.
The city’s made strides in recent years to raise its trading profile in Europe, particularly in the U.K., with partnerships like London’s deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL franchise and businesses like the Scottish City Refrigeration setting up shop in Jacksonville.
But Capener said that doesn't necessarily mean the negative economic consequences of Brexit will impact residents here.
“My prediction is we won't see the kind of impact on the stock market that let’s say the global meltdown the mortgage crisis created,” he said.
Capener qualifies his analysis by saying it’s still too early to make any kind of accurate predictions and some businesses may actually see positive effects. Jaguars President Mark Lamping agreed.
“That Brexit situation is going to take a couple of years to sort itself out, so there is probably going to be some uncertainty just because of the unknown. But what happened yesterday doesn’t change in any way our commitment to play games in London,” he told reporters Friday.
