“In designing this concept, we spent a great deal of time reviewing our customers’ shopping preferences. We wanted to make sure that the new store would be a true fit for the neighborhoods it serves,” said Dan Portnoy, Winn-Dixie’s chief merchandising and marketing officer. “We focused only on those items and services that were most important to our customers, and, as a result, we were able to aggressively cut costs and lower prices throughout the store.”

In addition to enhanced produce and meat departments, the 48,000-square-foot store also has an in-store pharmacy where customers will find 30-day supplies of more than 400 generic drugs for $3.98 every day. Other features include newly designed warehouse-style shopping carts and popular staple items available for purchase by the case.

SaveRite closed the store on Tuesday afternoon, allowing time for associates to work through the afternoon and evening to lower thousands of prices. The company welcomed area leaders and residents to a preview on Tuesday evening where SaveRite donated $5,000 to Paxon Improvement Association. To celebrate the store’s new format, SaveRite will also host a Family Fun Event on Saturday, January 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Slowing economic activity led to weakening labor markets. Nonfarm payroll employment began to decline in January as firms increasingly held back on hiring, raising the unemployment rate. Layoffs were widespread, and employment in residential construction and parts of the manufacturing sector bore the brunt. The American economy slipped ever deeper into a full-blown recession.

But sometimes it’s easy to be optimistic that the start of a new year will be new opportunities and a fresh start. To those who might think that way, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta offers up a dose of hard reality. The Fed seems to think that the Southeast is in for “more of the same” for 2009, in terms of our region’s overall economic health. A direct path to recovery is unlikely, and, as we have seen, events will arise to knock us off the path to a more stable economic environment.

The Jacksonville Business Journal reports…

In its EconSouth publication, [the Fed] suggested employment levels in the Southeast could get worse before improving. And it’s probable consumer spending and personal income will remain held back until employment picks up.

Energy markets remain uncertain, EconSouth noted. Prices, which fell as sharply in the latter half of 2008 as they rose in the first half, could go up again if global economic conditions improve and spur business and consumer demand.

Housing activity has shown some recent signs of stabilizing, but recovery is unlikely to occur quickly, EconSouth said.

But plans for expansion in auto and aerospace manufacturing should help bolster the region’s economy in 2009. Notably, a new Kia plant will open in West Point, Ga. It began training workers in March 2008 and will begin production in late 2009.

In 2008, the Southeast’s economy struggled with financial market turmoil, housing market and credit crises, rising food and energy costs and job losses. By the third quarter, the unemployment rate was at its highest level since the 1991 recession. Consumer spending slumped as consumers felt the pinch of soaring energy and food prices, the credit crunch and uncertainty about the economy.

The rate of home foreclosures was high in Georgia during 2008, particularly in metro Atlanta. Real estate loan problems also led to the failure of five of the state’s banks last year.

In excess of one-third of the manufacturing companies that responded were currently looking to hire for at least one position inside their company. More than half of the respondants said that they had plans to hire new employees during the first half of 2009.

“While we certainly recognize that companies are facing serious economic challenges at this time, these survey numbers are encouraging,” said Sherri Mitchell, Director of Education and Finance for the First Coast Manufacturers Association.

The survey was conducted in early December and included 59 manufacturing firms of varying size from around the First Coast. Combined, the surveyed firms currently employ well in excess of 20,000 workers in the Jacksonville area.

That’s because the state’s new minimum wage will officially take effect on January 1st… moving the marker up to $7.21 from $6.79 last year. The extra 42 cents per hour will mean that Florida’s 400,000+ minimum wage workers will earn an extra $17 per 40 hour work week.

However, the Jacksonville Business Journal notes that what will help out some workers, may also result in fewer overall jobs available to entry-level workers….

Those wage hikes will cost jobs, according to the Employment Policies Institute, which points out that with the July increase, Florida’s minimum wage will have risen 41 percent in the last four years.

According to research from the University of California at Irvine, every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage causes an 8.5 percent drop in employment for young minorities and high school dropouts.

Since 2004, Florida’s minimum wage has increased by $2.06. For a business with 20 entry-level employees, that increases labor costs by more than $80,000 a year.

“Decades of economic research by leading economists at major universities is consistent with what we’re seeing in Florida — increased job loss follows mandated wage hikes, particularly among the least-skilled and least educated workers,” said Kristen Lopez Eastlick, senior economic analyst for the Employment Policies Institute. “If government is mandating businesses increase their labor costs regardless of skill levels or productivity, the result is going to be lost jobs.”

Read the full story on Jacksonville.com…

Today, the building called 9th & Main is vacant again. The city has declared Symbiosis in default on the loan with $219,000 still unpaid. City lawyers filed a foreclosure lawsuit Thursday to take possession of the property, adding it to other buildings Van Horn has lost to foreclosure this year. The city will seek to recoup its loss by selling 9th & Main, but that could take time in the sluggish real estate market.

It’s a long way from the can-do optimism Van Horn voiced in 1999 about his business prospects in Springfield. He came from Atlanta the same year then-Mayor John Delaney launched a bring-back Springfield program. The city had made similar gestures over the years for Springfield. This time, redevelopment did take hold. Van Horn touted “the new Springfield” on his Web site while buying property for resale and rental, spreading his influence in residential and commercial sectors.

But Van Horn has faded from the scene, leaving behind unmet expectations along with an array of loan defaults and unpaid bills related to properties that neighborhood leaders once saw as part of Springfield’s resurgence.

He gets credit for jump-starting private investment in Springfield. But going forward, Van Horn’s financial woes could hold back Springfield because he bought numerous commercial properties along Main and Eighth streets and he doesn’t appear able to develop them, said Louise Despain, executive director of nonprofit Springfield Preservation and Revitalization.

City officials say they have tried in vain to contact him via phone calls, letters and personal visits to his office. At meetings of Springfield neighborhood advocates, the chatter includes questions of “whatever happened to Craig Van Horn.”

The Jacksonville Business Journal reports…

The engine parts that will power Australia’s F/A-18A/B Hornet and its soon to be acquired F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft will need the service after about 2,000 flight hours and will be shipped to Jacksonville for the work. The Fleet Readiness Center Southeast, a tenant of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, will start providing refurbishing services to the Australian aircraft in about 2011, said GE Business Operations Leader Mike Walsh.

It’s the first overhaul contract between GE and Australia, but it’s only the latest partnership between a General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) operating unit and NAS Jacksonville.

The Fleet Readiness Center Southeast, one of just six in the U.S., is the largest manufacturer in the Jacksonville area ranked by its 4,047 employees, according to The Business Journal’s 2008 list of manufacturers. Aircraft, aircraft engines and components are manufactured and serviced at the Jacksonville center. About 300 employees work on the engines.

Mike Schoonover, a Fleet Readiness Center business management specialist, said the contract is a win-win for all parties involved, and will hopefully be part of a growing trend.

“We’re expecting more contracts and to grow,” Schoonover said.

The Jacksonville-based company boasts more than 2,000 employees and offices on five continents.

Since leaving the governor’s office, Bush has been heavily involved in several non-profit organizations as well as his own consulting business. He’s rumored as a likely candidate to replace retiring U.S. Senator Mel Martinez in 2010.

Locally, First Coast lawmakers were pretty well split. Republican Congressmen John Mica, Cliff Stearns, and Jack Kingston voted against the bill that was designed to return some stability to our credit markets and potentially stave off an economic melt-down of epic size and scope.

But Republican Ander Crenshaw and Democrat Corrine Brown came out in favor of the plan.

“I did what I felt was in the best interest of my constituents. And not only my constituents but all the people of this country. I really do believe we have a problem,” Congresswoman Brown said.

Discussions on some sort of government bailout will resume later this week.

The reality is that gas should not be shooting up to anywhere near those levels. Furthermore, the price of crude oil is actually down sharply this morning. That should signal a continued decline in overall fuel costs moving forward.

Anyone trying to charge $4.50 or $5.00 for a gallon of gas is gouging customers. Under state law, price-gouging can result in a $1,000 fine per incident and up to $25,000 a day.

To report possible price-gouging in Florida, call 866-966-7226.