Workers’ compensation company One Call is consolidating its two Jacksonville locations into a prominent building on the Southbank of the St. Johns River.
With a snip of a pair of shiny metal scissors, One Call executives and politicians at all levels of government ceremoniously ushered in a new era at the building on Prudential Drive. The former Aetna building has been rebranded with the One Call logo.
Mayor Lenny Curry said the move represents his commitment to revitalizing the city’s urban core.
“We are focused on our downtown, our quality of life — reviving it and while much is happening, it’s really the private sector that’s going to do much more than what government can do,” he said.
One Call had the option of consolidating its workforce at the company’s Baymeadows location, but after Aetna’s exit, CEO Dale Wolf decided to bring all 1,500 employees downtown.
“I very much believe in an urban environment for business. It has a totally different feel among people — how they dress, how they think, how they behave at work — there’s an energy associated with the downtown that you cannot get with the suburbs,” he said. “And so, two-thirds of us were here already, I believe in the downtown and it made it an easy choice.”
Wolf said city incentives help make the consolidation happen. WJCT is waiting for more details from One Call and city officials.
Ryan Benk can be reached at rbenk@wjct.org, 904-358-6319 or on Twitter at @RyanMichaelBenk.
