JACKSONVILLE, FL -- It was a shining moment for our city and one we hope to see again. But what if I told you that something happening in Jacksonville right now is even bigger than getting a Super Bowl, a lot bigger.

"Probably the most dramatic impact we've seen maybe ever in Jacksonville," says Mayor John Peyton.

He is talking about Jaxport. Hardly as sexy a sell as a star studded football game. But with two Asian carriers signed on for the first time in port history, Port Director Rick Ferrin should be as famous as Wayne Weaver in these parts.

"When I got here I saw a port with more potential than any port in the U.S.," Ferrin says.

We had land to develop, support in Washington and Tallahassee a good labor situation, deep water, easy access to I-95, I-10 and I-75, two rail heads, and Ferrin says a city that wanted the port to succeed. But there was one major component we were lacking. Something our neighbors to the north in Savannah were already starting to capitalize on.

"Donna, you have no idea, when I got here ten years ago I said whose our Asian carrier and the answer was we don't have one and I said, well I guess we aren't really in the port business yet are we?"

Well it's safe to say, we are now. Ferrin and his team spent six years building relationships in Asia and they have paid off big. Mitsui and Hanjin have both agreed to deals that will bring millions of containers of goods to, and through, Jacksonville for distribution throughout the southeast and Midwest. Add to that the deepening of the Panama canal that will allow the passage of bigger ships and Jacksonville is a Port of gold.

"If you look at the economic impact of these two deals, each one is worth in the neighborhood of 900 million to a billion dollars each year," Ferrin says.

Economic impact of a Super Bowl: 300 to 330 million.

"So of course you do the math . That's three Super Bowls per deal every single year."

That's great news for our city at a time when property tax cuts also threaten to cut city services, but it's even better news for the job market: 3,600 direct jobs and more than 8,000 related jobs. And the pay is excellent. Right now the average salary in Jacksonville is $31,000 a year. These jobs will average 45,000.

In the long term, tens of thousands of jobs will spin off from the port. Cecil Field figures to be a major player as big box companies put distribution centers there. There will also be additional service jobs because of the growth and we've only just begun. Ferrin says these companies will bring their partners.

"In reality when we open these large Asian terminals, we will not just get two new carriers, we'll get eight new carriers," he explains.

And that has Ferrin polishing up on his Asian language skills.

I can say good morning and I can say thank you very much.

Mayor Peyton says it's Ferrin and his team who deserve the thanks. No it's not as fun to watch as a Super Bowl, but it's worth a touch down dance all the same.

"They should be taking victory laps," Peyton says.
"This is something that is almost too big to comprehend."