F ! money Tech Q&A hard drive won’t register on computer Story, F-2 /money Sunday . July 30, 2017 Money Section Contact Roger Bull · (904) 359-4296 · [email protected]Speed in product delivery prompts new growth WASHINGTON | In today’s economy, speed is everything. Amazon’s plans to add 50,000 jobs at a dozen warehouses across the U.S. and Foxconn’s de- cision to build a $10 billion plant and hire up to 13,000 workers in Wisconsin aren’t just feel-good stories of job creation. They re- flect the pressures companies feel to be as close to customers as possible — a trend that’s helping restore some American factories and jobs. Computer advances increas- ingly let manufacturers custom- ize orders and ship goods faster. In the new world, making prod- ucts in low-wage countries like China can be a disadvantage: It can take too long — weeks, months — to ship finished prod- ucts to the U.S. “This is about customer prox- imity,” said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute. “You develop a sustainable and durable advantage against over- seas competition.” Mandel said the growing trend would have emerged regard- less of who occupied the White House. Still, President Donald Trump took the opportunity to take some credit Wednesday for the Foxconn announcement, say- ing it “definitely” happened be- cause of his election. Amazon plans to make thou- sands of hiring offers in one day when it holds a job fair next week across the country. People of- fered jobs on the spot will pack or sort boxes and help ship them. Nearly 40,000 of the 50,000 jobs will be full time, and most will count toward Amazon’s previ- ously announced goal of adding 100,000 full-time workers by mid-2018. The move reflects Amazon’s propulsive growth at a time when traditional retailers are closing stores and cutting jobs. For Taiwan-based Foxconn, building a factory in Wisconsin brings it closer to U.S. buyers of its liquid-crystal display panels, which are used in televisions, computer screens and automo- tive dashboards. Foxconn intends to hire 3,000 workers initially and eventually perhaps employ as many as 13,000. It could also receive up to $3 billion in state incentives over 15 years. By Paul Wiseman & Josh Boak associated Press sunday notebook roger bull Work begins on units at Southside and Butler Construction will begin soon on Ciel Apartments, going in on the northeast corner of Butler and South- side boulevards. It will be 400 units over six four-sto- ry buildings with ameni- ties such as a clubhouse, pool and fitness center, but also a dog park, electric car charging stations and a bike shop. The project is being de- veloped by WRH Proper- ties, which has offices in Jacksonville and headquar- ters in St. Petersburg. It paid $9.2 million for 16.6 acres there last month. Summit Contracting Group of Jacksonville has the $46 million contract. It’s expected to be com- plete in January 2019. East arlington KB Home has paid $2,219,000 for 13.17 acres at the southeast corner of Mc- Cormick Road and Kernan Boulevard. There it plans to build Magnolia Cove, a 64-home, single-family community. Sizes will range from 1,700 square feet to over 3,000 square feet with prices expected to start in the mid-$200s. It’s expected to open early next year. The property does not include 2.5 acres at the corner. Sleiman Enterpris- es, the shopping center/ retail developer owns that, and Toney Sleiman said they’re talking to a couple of convenience store chains about building there. Jax BEach JWB Real Estate Capital of Jacksonville has pur- chased two lots totaling 0.37 acre at 4th Avenue and 5th Street N. in Jacksonville Beach. The project is still in permitting, but plans call for six semi-detached townhomes, about 2,000 square feet each, even- tually selling for about $450,000 each. It bought the land from Jacksonville Beach Church of Christ on 5th Avenue N., which used the space for a parking lot. JWB got its start buying, rehabbing, leasing and then either selling or keep- ing single-family homes. But it’s gotten more into development recently. southsidE As reported in Friday’s paper, Cantrell & Morgan has closed on an 18.5 acre parcel at the southwest corner of Gate Parkway and Deerwood Park Bou- levard. There it’s putting in Gateway Village at Town Center , first announced in April. Committed so far: A 289-unit apartment com- NASA’s new Safeguard system can be added to drones to help prevent the devices from drifting into prohibited air space. (Provided by NASA) Safeguarding our air space Jason Stevens, a technician at Built Drones in Jacksonville, said mobile applications can keep commercial and recreational drones from going into restricted air space. Apps are available on Android and iPhone app stores. (Drew Dixon/Florida Times-Union) Kona Ice franchisee gears up to expand his business in Jacksonville When Cary Beane walked into a Southside coffee shop on a Tues- day morning, he stuck out like a sore thumb among the profession- ally dressed patrons. His outfit, a tie dye shirt and khaki shorts, was almost as unique as his ride; a large truck embla- zoned with a surfing penguin. Beane, a 25-year Army veteran, became a Kona Ice franchisee ear- lier this year. “You’re driving a huge billboard down the street wherever you go and you can see it bring joy to people,” he said. “It’s fun watching not only the kids but the parents’ reaction when they try one.” Beane was first introduced to the Kona Ice’s Hawaiian shaved ice while at his youngest daugh- ter’s softball game in Colorado in 2014. “My wife and I spend a lot of time at softball fields and we al- ways see different stands like shaved ice and Italian ice,” he said. “When one of the parents got into the Italian ice business, it piqued my interest.” Following his 25-year career as a human resource officer in the Army, which included seven years in Germany and a year-long as- signment in Afghanistan, Beane became a program manager at a Virginia-based event planning company in 2011. “The company is the logistical support provider for up to 3,000 trained events a year for the Army chaplain, so I was still connected to the Army,” he said. When the company lost the contract with the Army chaplain in 2013, Beane was laid off. “I was unemployed and I didn’t have a backup plan,” he said. “Two years later, the company won the contract again and I was rehired, but this time I was going to have a backup plan.” Beane met with Tony Lamb, Kona Ice founder and president, to talk about joining the company. “My biggest fear was leaving my salary, and with two kids in college, I wasn’t comfortable leav- ing my full-time job,” he said. “Af- ter several discussions, it seemed feasible to them, as well for me, to do it part-time.” Beane added, “They had trust in me that I would do what was re- quired on my end to make it work and support the brand.” Kona Ice is a territory-based By ann Friedman [email protected]new dro ne apps, technology create invisible fences While it’s been nearly a year since the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration started issuing more licenses for civilian drone operations, technology is now trying to keep up with restric- tions placed on the unmanned aerial vehicles. More and more systems are being developed to make sure drones — both commercial and hobbyists — don’t stray into FAA restricted air space in areas such as airports or military in- stallations. With that, so-called “geofencing” is being added to drones, either with components being fixed to the device or through mobile applications that control their flights. Geofencing is basically a vir- tual perimeter programmed with GPS data that keeps drones from veering into restricted air space. “I can get a drone today that has geofencing where it’s an electronic [virtual] fence,” said Brent Klavon, board member of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and director for commercial drones at Aviation Systems En- gineering Co. in Jacksonville. “Think of it as an invisible dog fence. If my dog [with an elec- tronic collar] tries to leave the yard, it gets zapped and turns around. Similarly, a drone would know it’s approaching an invis- ible fence … and it would hit that bumper and return,” said Klavon, whose company was the first FAA-licensed commer- cial drone operation on the First Coast. Either through a small box- like device attached to a drone or programmed applications entered into the remote control, GPS coordinates are used to alert drone systems as to what air space is off limits. It’s an emerging technology, Klavon said, designed for safety controls. He said the geofenc- ing for drones is currently in a state of development similar to the early stages of air bags in automobiles. Eventually, all drones will be equipped with the technology to prevent them from straying into prohibited air space. The technological develop- ment is a natural evolution fol- lowing the massive increase in drone operation licenses granted by the FAA since August, when the agency loosened require- ments. Tens of thousands of li- censes have been granted since and the main concern not only in the industry but also among reg- ulators is that so many drones may be in the air that they could collide with manned aircraft. The FAA stipulations state that drones cannot operate with- in a 5-mile radius of an airport. By drew dixon [email protected]NASA’s Safeguard geofencing device can actually stop a drone in its tracks if it doesn’t respond to buffer zone warnings. (Provided by NASA) notEBook continues on F-4 kona continues on F-4 dronEs continues on F-4
Transcript
F!
money Tech Q&Ahard drive won’t register on computerStory, F-2
Speed in product delivery prompts new growthWASHINGTON | In today’s economy,
speed is everything.Amazon’s plans to add 50,000
jobs at a dozen warehousesacross the U.S. and Foxconn’s de-cision to build a $10 billion plantand hire up to 13,000 workers inWisconsin aren’t just feel-goodstories of job creation. They re-flect the pressures companiesfeel to be as close to customers as
possible — a trend that’s helpingrestore some American factoriesand jobs.Computer advances increas-
ingly let manufacturers custom-ize orders and ship goods faster.In the new world, making prod-ucts in low-wage countries likeChina can be a disadvantage:It can take too long — weeks,months — to ship finished prod-ucts to the U.S.“This is about customer prox-
imity,” said Michael Mandel,
chief economic strategist at theProgressive Policy Institute.“You develop a sustainable anddurable advantage against over-seas competition.”
Mandel said the growing trendwould have emerged regard-less of who occupied the WhiteHouse. Still, President DonaldTrump took the opportunity totake some credit Wednesday forthe Foxconn announcement, say-ing it “definitely” happened be-cause of his election.
Amazon plans to make thou-sands of hiring offers in one daywhen it holds a job fair next weekacross the country. People of-fered jobs on the spot will packor sort boxes and help ship them.Nearly 40,000 of the 50,000 jobswill be full time, and most willcount toward Amazon’s previ-ously announced goal of adding100,000 full-time workers bymid-2018.The move reflects Amazon’s
propulsive growth at a time when
traditional retailers are closingstores and cutting jobs.For Taiwan-based Foxconn,
building a factory in Wisconsinbrings it closer to U.S. buyers ofits liquid-crystal display panels,which are used in televisions,computer screens and automo-tive dashboards. Foxconn intendsto hire 3,000 workers initiallyand eventually perhaps employas many as 13,000. It could alsoreceive up to $3 billion in stateincentives over 15 years.
By Paul Wiseman & Josh Boakassociated Press
sunday notebookroger bull
Work beginson units atSouthsideand ButlerConstruction will begin
soon on Ciel Apartments,going in on the northeastcorner of Butler and South-side boulevards. It will be400 units over six four-sto-ry buildings with ameni-ties such as a clubhouse,pool and fitness center, butalso a dog park, electriccar charging stations and abike shop.The project is being de-
veloped by WRH Proper-ties, which has offices inJacksonville and headquar-ters in St. Petersburg. Itpaid $9.2 million for 16.6acres there last month.Summit Contracting
Group of Jacksonville hasthe $46 million contract.It’s expected to be com-plete in January 2019.
East arlingtonKB Home has paid
$2,219,000 for 13.17 acres atthe southeast corner of Mc-Cormick Road and KernanBoulevard. There it plansto build Magnolia Cove,a 64-home, single-familycommunity. Sizes willrange from 1,700 squarefeet to over 3,000 squarefeet with prices expectedto start in the mid-$200s.It’s expected to open
early next year.The property does not
include 2.5 acres at thecorner. Sleiman Enterpris-es, the shopping center/retail developer ownsthat, and Toney Sleimansaid they’re talking to acouple of conveniencestore chains about buildingthere.
Jax BEachJWB Real Estate Capital
of Jacksonville has pur-chased two lots totaling0.37 acre at 4th Avenue and5th Street N. in JacksonvilleBeach. The project is stillin permitting, but planscall for six semi-detachedtownhomes, about 2,000square feet each, even-tually selling for about$450,000 each.It bought the land from
Jacksonville Beach Churchof Christ on 5th Avenue N.,which used the space for aparking lot.JWB got its start buying,
rehabbing, leasing andthen either selling or keep-ing single-family homes.But it’s gotten more intodevelopment recently.
southsidEAs reported in Friday’s
paper, Cantrell & Morganhas closed on an 18.5 acreparcel at the southwestcorner of Gate Parkwayand Deerwood Park Bou-levard. There it’s puttingin Gateway Village at TownCenter, first announced inApril. Committed so far: A289-unit apartment com-
NASA’s newSafeguardsystem can beadded to dronesto help preventthe devices fromdrifting intoprohibited airspace. (Providedby NASA)
Safeguardingour air space
Jason Stevens, a technician at Built Drones in Jacksonville, said mobile applications can keep commercial and recreational drones from goinginto restricted air space. Apps are available on Android and iPhone app stores. (Drew Dixon/Florida Times-Union)
Kona Ice franchisee gears up to expand his business in Jacksonville
When Cary Beane walked intoa Southside coffee shop on a Tues-day morning, he stuck out like asore thumb among the profession-ally dressed patrons.His outfit, a tie dye shirt and
khaki shorts, was almost as uniqueas his ride; a large truck embla-zoned with a surfing penguin.Beane, a 25-year Army veteran,
became a Kona Ice franchisee ear-lier this year.
“You’re driving a huge billboarddown the street wherever you goand you can see it bring joy to
people,” he said. “It’s funwatchingnot only the kids but the parents’reaction when they try one.”Beane was first introduced to
the Kona Ice’s Hawaiian shavedice while at his youngest daugh-ter’s softball game in Colorado in2014.“My wife and I spend a lot of
time at softball fields and we al-ways see different stands likeshaved ice and Italian ice,” hesaid. “When one of the parentsgot into the Italian ice business, itpiqued my interest.”Following his 25-year career as
a human resource officer in theArmy, which included seven years
in Germany and a year-long as-signment in Afghanistan, Beanebecame a program manager at aVirginia-based event planningcompany in 2011.“The company is the logistical
support provider for up to 3,000trained events a year for the Armychaplain, so I was still connectedto the Army,” he said.
When the company lost thecontract with the Army chaplainin 2013, Beane was laid off.“I was unemployed and I didn’t
have a backup plan,” he said. “Twoyears later, the company won thecontract again and I was rehired,but this time I was going to have a
backup plan.”Beane met with Tony Lamb,
Kona Ice founder and president,to talk about joining the company.“My biggest fear was leaving
my salary, and with two kids incollege, I wasn’t comfortable leav-ing my full-time job,” he said. “Af-ter several discussions, it seemedfeasible to them, as well for me, todo it part-time.”
Beane added, “They had trust inme that I would do what was re-quired on my end to make it workand support the brand.”Kona Ice is a territory-based
new drone apps, technology create invisible fences
While it’s been nearly a yearsince the Federal Aviation Ad-ministration started issuingmore licenses for civilian droneoperations, technology is nowtrying to keep up with restric-tions placed on the unmannedaerial vehicles.More and more systems are
being developed to make suredrones — both commercial andhobbyists — don’t stray intoFAA restricted air space in areassuch as airports or military in-stallations. With that, so-called“geofencing” is being added todrones, either with componentsbeing fixed to the device orthrough mobile applications thatcontrol their flights.Geofencing is basically a vir-
tual perimeter programmed
with GPS data that keeps dronesfrom veering into restricted airspace.“I can get a drone today that
has geofencing where it’s anelectronic [virtual] fence,” saidBrent Klavon, board member ofthe Association for UnmannedVehicle Systems Internationaland director for commercial
drones at Aviation Systems En-gineering Co. in Jacksonville.“Think of it as an invisible dog
fence. If my dog [with an elec-tronic collar] tries to leave theyard, it gets zapped and turnsaround. Similarly, a drone wouldknow it’s approaching an invis-ible fence … and it would hitthat bumper and return,” saidKlavon, whose company wasthe first FAA-licensed commer-cial drone operation on the FirstCoast.Either through a small box-
like device attached to a droneor programmed applicationsentered into the remote control,GPS coordinates are used toalert drone systems as to whatair space is off limits.It’s an emerging technology,
Klavon said, designed for safetycontrols. He said the geofenc-ing for drones is currently in
a state of development similarto the early stages of air bagsin automobiles. Eventually, alldrones will be equipped withthe technology to prevent themfrom straying into prohibited airspace.The technological develop-
ment is a natural evolution fol-lowing the massive increase indrone operation licenses grantedby the FAA since August, whenthe agency loosened require-ments. Tens of thousands of li-censes have been granted sinceand themain concern not only inthe industry but also among reg-ulators is that so many dronesmay be in the air that they couldcollide with manned aircraft.The FAA stipulations state
that drones cannot operate with-in a 5-mile radius of an airport.
NASA’s Safeguard geofencingdevice can actually stop a dronein its tracks if it doesn’t respondto buffer zone warnings.(Provided by NASA)
notEBook continues on F-4kona continues on F-4
dronEs continues on F-4
danny
Highlight
F-4 THE TIMES-UNION · SUNday, JUly 30, 2017
plex and retail buildingswith Burrito Gallery, SushiHouse, Bellaza Salon anda new specialty conceptfrom Matthew Medure.
NocateeAnytime Fitnesswill
open this fall in NocateeTown Center. It’s going intothe third building thatSkinner Brothers Realtyis putting in there. SouthKitchen + Spirits will benext door.Anytime Fitness loca-
tions are open 24 hours aday and usually staff forabout nine hours a day.Members let themselvesin with computerized keysthe rest of the time. Mem-berships give access to all2,400 Anytime gyms. Ithas 12 locations in North-east Florida and four in theworks in St. Johns County,including Nocatee.Grand opening is sched-
uled for Oct. 1.
SouthSideTwo years ago, IP
Capital Partners of BocaRaton paid $3.6 millionfor the 118,972-square-foot former Comcastbuilding on 17 acres 6805Southpoint Pkwy. It has satempty since then, but thisyear the company is doinga lot of work, including$600,000 worth of exteriorimprovements. (Not tomention $1 million spentlast year on roof, heat andair conditioning.)Now it’s available for
lease. Jesse Shimp, vicepresident of JLL, which ismarketing the building,said his company has beenin contact with potentialtenants, but no one issigned yet. Spaces avail-able range from 30,000square feet on up to theentire building.
PermitS601 N. Newman St., reno-
vations to 17-story Cathe-dral Towers, $10 million,Sauer. The 203-unit facilitydowntown is an afford-able housing building forsenior citizens. It was builtin 1968.
4600 Touchton Road E.,tenant buildout for Fidelity
Investments on floors 3 and4, $9,524,451, 58,000 squarefeet, Brasfield & Gorrie.The company announcedin 2015 that it wouldexpand its operations byhiring 300 employees bythe end of 2018. It leasedthe space on Touchton forthat expansion.11812 Beach Blvd. and
8251 Old Middleburg Road,new Wawa conveniencestores and gas stations,three permits for each lo-cation totaling $1,095,400,6,119 square feet, Carl R.Pursell Construction. Bothare scheduled to open nextspring.9041 New Kings Road,
new Waffle House,$253,000, 1,635 square feet,Waffle House Inc. Thecompany paid $260,000 forthe 0.59-acre empty parceljust south of Trout RiverDrive last year.7083 Collins Road, interi-
or remodel of Fancy Sushi,$62,000, 1,800 square feet,NIALVI LLC.10920 Baymeadows Road,
remodel for Publix liquorstore, $150,000, 2,566square feet, Elkins Con-struction. Another liquorstore recently closed inReedy Branch Commonsand Publix is opening itsown next to the grocerystore.2950 N. Edgewood Ave.,
building for Florida Fish &Wildlife at Jacksonville Zoo& Gardens, $80,000, 1,440square feet.3563 St. Johns Ave.,
tenant buildout for Bar-rique Kitchen &Wine Bar,$550,000, 5,030 square feet,Northeast Florida Con-tracting. The restaurantis going into the formerCowford Traders spot inThe Shoppes of Avon-dale. There’s a location inBabylon, N.Y., described asan Old World wine bar andeatery.1827 N. Pearl St., convert-
ing use to The Cookbookrestaurant, $1, 1,882 squarefeet, The Goodly Group ofNortheast Florida.11700 San Jose Blvd.,
tenant buildout for TijuanaFlats restaurant in theMandarin South shoppingcenter, $180,000, 2,405square feet, TWT Design,Construction & Develop-ment. Earth Fare will openin the center on Aug. 23.4875 Belfort Road, ten-
ant buildout for Forma-tiv Health on floors 1-4,$2,478,460, 72,200 squarefeet, Auld & White Con-structors. The companyannounced in Januarythat it was going to openan operations center inJacksonville and hire upto 500 people. The agentswill assist patients ofhealth-care systems withadministrative issues, suchas locating physicians, set-ting appointments, askingabout coverage and resolv-ing billing questions.7961 Arlington Express-
way, interior renovation
and repair to conveniencestore, $201,100, 1,784square feet, DNR Con-structors.12795 San Jose Blvd.,
reconfigure shelving andlighting at Fresh Market,$75,000, TV John & Son.9100 Philips Hwy., inte-
4012 University BlvdN., demolish pool, deckand building at city’s BlueCypress Park, $53,600,2,250 square feet, AmanConstruction Services.The pool has been closeddue to disrepair and thecity plans to build a newone there.
9735 Old St. AugustineRoad, renovation to Jack-sonville Fitness Academy,$58,974, 2,849 square feet,Duckworth Construction.11000 Beach Blvd., tenant
buildout for Ocean Sweepsarcade, $10,000, 6,000square feet, RPD GeneralContractors.5751 N. Main St., ten-
ant buildout for Best LuckArcade, $18,500, 1,050square feet, Prism Design& Construction.
SaleSThe Praedium Group of
New York paid $57,250,000for Views at Harbortown,a 300-unit complex at14030 Atlantic Blvd., on theIntracoastal overlookingHarbortown Marina.
The Carroll Organiza-
tion of Atlanta paid $75million for Aqua DeerwoodApartments by Cortland,9803 Creekfront Road offSouthside Boulevard, a616-unit complex built inthe 1980s.Southbelt Park Ltd. of
Texas and IGS DiamondS. Inc of Jacksonville paid$4,415,000 for the ElkinsConstructors buildingat 701 W. Adams St. Thetwo-story, 32,300-square-foot building is 50 percentoccupied with two tenants,Spohrer Dodd Law Firmand Orange Legal Litiga-tion Support Services.Zips Express Car Wash
paid $2.5 million for the7,297-square-foot Ducky’sExpress Car Wash at 9491Baymeadows Road. It wasbuilt in 1999 and last soldin 2003 for $1.5 million.Gertz Partners LP
of Atlantic Beach paid$2,365,000 for the build-ing containing HurricaneWings and Saucy Kitchenat 1615 Hendricks Ave. inSan Marco, along with theempty lot next to it and theparking lot behind it.Dream Finders Homes
paid $790,000 for 16 lotsin phase 2 of Patriot Ridge,off Normandy Boulevard, 3miles west of I-295.Aron and Allison Ste-
fanides paid $1,225,000for the 4,005-square-foothome at 4002McGirts Blvd.,on the river in Ortega. Itwas built in 1923 and lastsold for $520,000 in 1990.AIT & Co. Investments
LLC of Hollywood Beachpaid $3,580,000 for thePollo Tropical building at4863 Gate Pkwy. It wasbuilt in 2010 and last soldfor $2,386,200 in 2011.
Jill Muchrekepaid $1,027,899 for a2,560-square-foot home at215 S. 40th St., JacksonvilleBeach. It sold for $660,000when new in 2015.
Ralph Spencerpaid $1,148,000 for a3,537-square-foot condoin Oceanic, 205 S. 1st St.,Jacksonville Beach. FormerJaguars tackle Luke Joeckelpaid $1,160,000 for it in2014, but he signed with theSeattle Seahawks in March.It sold for $1,279,600 whennew in 2003.
Summit Contracting Group is building the $46 million Ciel Apartments at the northeast corner of Southside and ButlerBoulevard. The six four-story buildings will house 400 apartments, plus amenities. Construction begins soon.
Artist rendering of the entrance to the former Comcast building, 6805 Southpoint Pkwy.,that is currently under renovation. (Source: JLL)
franchise, so Beane was given five areasin Jacksonville, including Arlington andSouthside.“There are four other franchisees in
the Jacksonville area, so any past businessthey had done in my territory they provid-ed me with those contacts,” he said. “Myhours are whatever I need to do in orderto do the business while keeping my otherjob in mind.”Instead of a traditional ice cream truck
that travels around to residential areas,Beane books events like food truck ralliesand birthday parties, as well as schoolsand childcare facilities.“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with
how business has been going,” he said.“I’m averaging a little over $5,000 in salesmonthly and I’m not doing it full-time.”Since the summer began, Beane has
been driving back and forth between twosummer camps at Fort Caroline Elemen-tary School and Christian Heritage Acad-emy.Kona Ice hosts Kona Days to support
schools by donating a portion of the day’ssales to fund programs, as well as pur-chase needed supplies and equipment.“My mother was an elementary school
teacher and my oldest daughter is an el-ementary school teacher, so knowing theneeds of schools is something I’ve grownup with,” Beane said. “I chose to go withKona because of their give-back program,and this is my chance to directly give backto schools.”
Lamb said Beane shares the company’s
commitment to supporting the communi-ties it serves.“He wants to have a positive influence
on the people in his community, whetherit’s new textbooks, sports uniforms, orsimply a smile,” Lamb said of Beane. “Weare proud to have him on board. Together,we are excited to make a difference in thelives of those around us.”Beane is gearing up to become part of
the regular rotation of food trucks at May-port Naval Station, and a portion of saleswill be donated to their Morale, Welfareand Recreation account.“The money will help take care of sail-
ors and their families, and that’s my con-nection back to the military,” he said.“That’s part of the driving force and howKona will connect me to this community.”
Beane will also soon be purchasing asecond Kona Ice truck to cover additionalopportunities in his territory.
“While still being brand new, I knowI’m not where my fellow franchisees are,but I’m on pace for where I need to be andwhat I envisioned for my plan with Kona,”he said. “If business continues to pick up, Icould strictly manage operations, and thesooner that happens, the better.”In the future, Beane said he’s willing
to put in the work to expand his Kona Icebusiness.“Whether it be another truck or kiosk, I
want to be able to truly support the needsof my territory,” he said. “Who knows …maybe I’ll look into venturing out into dif-ferent geographical locations.”
Beane added, “Hopefully, I can talk mykids into running a franchise.”
ann Friedman: (904) 359-4619
koNaContinued from F-1
Similar restrictions are inplace for many governmen-tal installations such asmilitary bases.While Klavon said he
is unaware of any acci-dents caused by collisionsbetween drones andmanned aircraft, the FAAhas recorded hundreds ofnear collisions across thecountry in the past threeyears.The issue of drone con-
trol is so prevalent, NASAis even in the process ofcreating additional tech-nology in geofencing thatuses GPS coordinates en-tered by government enti-ties that will keep dronesfrom drifting into restrict-ed air space.
Kelly Hayhurst is a se-nior research scientist forNASA at the Langley Re-search Center in Hampton,Va., where she is workingon upgrading geofencing
a lot of li-ability inthe potentialfor causingharm to peo-ple and prop-erty,” Hay-hurst said.“That’s big,especially ina very newindustry. Ifthese thingsstart causinga number of
catastrophic events, that’sgoing to slow the growthof that industry tremen-dously.”Ultimately, Hayhurst
said, geofencing can stop adrone in its tracks.“For each of our fences,
we set up a buffer in frontof the boundaries. Whenthe drone crosses into abuffer, the drone gets a
warning that goes to its au-topilot that says, ‘You needto take some corrective ac-tion,’ ” Hayhurst said. “Ithas an opportunity to notgo across the fence.”If the drone does not
take evasive action anddoesn’t vacate the restrict-ed air space, Hayhurst saidthe virtual fence can actu-ally force the drone to landimmediately.“We send a signal to a
flight termination system”forcing the drone to theground by cutting off allmechanical operations, shesaid.The data that sets the
parameters of air spaceare usually generated fromthe sources at airports,governmental installa-tions and even from busi-nesses. Most drones beingmanufactured now havesensors built into theirpilot programming thatpicks up on those param-eters.At Built Drones, a com-
mercial and consumer
drone shop on AtlanticBoulevard in Jacksonville’sSt. Nicholas area, techni-cian and sales representa-tive Justin Stevens said theindustry is already adjust-ing to the virtual fencing,though a mechanical addi-tion to the drone is not re-ally necessary.“They’ve got an app …
you can set up points onthat as well. That’s thesame kind of idea or systemas a geofence. It’s plottingimaginary points based onGPS coordinates,” Stevenssaid.Stevens added that a
mobile application and thevirtual fencing are no moreexpensive than many appsthat can be purchased anddownloaded from any PlayStore on Android or iPhonedevices.
Klavon said this is no fad.It’s essential to keeping the
drone industry in flight.“This is technology
that would be somethingthat manufacturers couldbe told that they have tohave and incorporate intotheir system so when theysell these things … there’sbuilt-in safety features thatcould help prevent thatmid-air collision,” Klavonsaid.There is the catch,
though, Klavon said, that ifgeofencing is a governmentmandate on businessesthat forces them to add thetechnology to their drones,push-back is likely fromthe industry.“This is technology that
would potentially be em-ployed on every drone,”Klavon said. “How it wouldbe enforced, that’s a com-pletely different question.Now you’re asking indus-try to incorporate things
they may not want to.”Geofencing is also
emerging as Florida law isbecoming more uniformregarding drone use, Kla-von said.State law just went
into effect on July 1, Kla-von said, to keep localgovernments from regu-lating drone and modelaircraft operations in Flor-ida and, in turn, protect-ing those flying safely andwithin the bounds of thelaw from unnecessary reg-ulations.The law does, however,
permit local governmentsto enact or enforce lo-cal ordinances relating toillegal acts, such as voy-eurism, property damageand harassment arisingfrom the use of dronesand model aircraft, Klavonsaid.drew dixon: (904) 359-4098
droNeSContinued from F-1
Kelly Hayhurst,a researchscientist forNASA, is inthe processof developinga system thatwould helpprevent dronesfrom going intorestricted airspace. (Providedby NASA)
