The City of Jacksonville and the Indo-U.S. Chamber of Commerce of Northeast Florida are partnering together to assist aspiring college students in completing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at no cost to students or taxpayers.

There will be seven workshops at locations throughout Jacksonville starting March 31. Trained volunteers will help students complete and file FAFSA applications, a necessary step in the college entrance process.

“The FAFSA can be a challenging part of the college experience. We’re fortunate in Jacksonville to have so many people who want to use their talents for the good of helping others,” said Mayor Brown. “There is a strong relationship between college education and workforce success as well as a city’s quality of life. This workshop does not just give advice to students. They will leave knowing their FAFSA is done.”

Mayor Alvin Brown welcomed Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus to City Hall on Tuesday. Recently, the Navy released its fiscal year 2013 budget which allocated more ships and sailors to Naval Station Mayport.

“It’s a vote of confidence in our city,” said Mayor Brown. “And it is going to boost the number of personnel in Jacksonville – that’s good for our economy.”

The secretary was greeted in the atrium of City Hall by JROTC cadets from Mandarin High School.

Last Friday and Saturday, Mayor Alvin Brown hosted at least 70 local leaders including mayors, port directors and trade specialists are here in Jacksonville to develop a national agenda that expands exports, improves infrastructure and modernizes ports. Mayor Brown is Chair of U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Metro Exports and Ports Task Force.

"If you're serious about creating jobs, you have to be serious about expanding exports," USCM President and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "Ninety-five percent of the world's consumers are outside of the United States. To help businesses get their products from cities across the United States to markets around the world, we need to invest in our roads, bridges, ports, and rail systems."

Released at the meeting the report, entitled U.S. Metro Economies: Exports in the Next Decade, projects that exports will outpace imports by 2020, growing an average eight percent annually. A copy of the report and its key findings can be obtained at www.usmayors.org.

Learn more at the Mayor's Blog.

Mayor Alvin Brown will host his Business Builder summit, a program designed to help small businesses gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to succeed and to help them learn about gaining access to capital and credit.

The first in a series of seminars will be held Feb. 7 at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center. Watch the live-stream from the event, starting at 12:00 p.m.

Participants will hear from U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Karen G. Mills and Tom and Sue Bennett of First Oklahoma Bank. The objective is to better align the business ideas of Jacksonville residents with the capital and credit opportunities needed to turn those ideas into reality.

Dr. Bernice A. King, the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the guest of honor at Friday’s 25th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast.

Dr. King spoke to a sellout audience at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center about the need for education and a better sense of personal responsibility.

Mayor Brown also stressed education while encouraging participants to volunteer for Mayor’s Mentors, a program he unveiled in December to pair highly qualified, dedicated adults with Jacksonville’s young people.

The mayor said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. built a legacy that has the power to inspire everyone to encourage younger generations to overcome challenges and do their best in school and in life.

Robert E. Lee High School one of several schools to improve

Mayor Alvin Brown paid a visit to Robert E. Lee High School Wednesday to congratulate students, faculty and staff on their success boosting school performance.

The school has improved from a D rating to a B rating. Principal Dr. Denise Hall led the mayor on a tour so that he could encourage students to continue working for good grades. A highlight of the tour, the mayor was shown the school’s robotics program. B.A.E. Systems donated $5,000 to help run the program.

“This is about taxpayers and our future as a city,” said the mayor. “By streamlining city government, we are building a more sturdy foundation for Jacksonville to target economic development and take this city to the next level.”

What passed Tuesday marked phase one of the reform plan. In the second phase, the mayor will work closely with department heads to examine the new structure of government for maximum savings and efficiency measures.

Decision Comes Less than a Week After Brown Meets with Transportation Secretary

Less than a week after he met with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to advocate for the project, Mayor Alvin Brown tonight applauded the federal government’s decision to provide a $10 million grant to JAXPORT.

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant will supply $10 million to help build an intermodal container transfer facility. This enables freight-loading directly between rail and ships, a development that will help curb truck traffic on Heckscher Drive while increasing efficiency at Jacksonville’s waterfront

Florida Animal Control Association also recognized ACPS volunteer as top in state

The Florida Animal Control Association, the professional association of animal care and control personnel in Florida, named the City of Jacksonville’s Animal Care & Protective Services division as the Outstanding Animal Control Agency of the Year for Florida. ACPS was recognized out of more than 130 agencies as a statewide leader in animal programs and services.

Mayor Calls On Citizens to Give One Hour a Week to Mentor Jacksonville Students

Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown announced today the launch of the Mayor’s Mentors, a public-private partnership to train and place 500 new school-based mentors with Duval County Public School students by April 1 at no cost to taxpayers. The Mayor’s goal is to recruit, train and match mentors with Duval County Public School students to increase on-time, next grade promotion and graduation rates. For more information on becoming a Mayor’s Mentor, the public may call United Way’s 2-1-1 or visit www.coj.net/mayorsmentors.