Luciano “Lou” Noir-Jones, First Citizens Bank
How long have you or your organization been a member of the Chamber?
I have been involved in the St Johns County Chamber for approximately 10 years. As a past alumni of Leadership St Johns and past Chairman I have benefitted immensely from the personal and professional connections I have made. The chamber allowed me to create a network of professionals for resources and knowledge as needed.
First Citizens has been a member for many years and has a branch office in Ponte Vedra with the largest deposit base in North Florida in our franchise here. Bankers like Allyson Dillon participate in various events throughout the county to meet business owners and create relationships that benefit each other.
How have you, or your organization benefited from membership in the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce?
What advice would you give a new chamber member to maximize their membership?
Get involved in the events and committees that make sense for you to increase the visibility of your business or create sales. Visibility is credibility in St Johns County. Participation in the chamber is a long-term strategy for your business and it needs to be managed actively. This should not be a passive strategy.
What career advice do you live by?
Work needs to be fun. Make it as fun as you can by creating a team of “good people” who want to win. Once you start winning, win more. The more you win, the more fun it is.
Do the right thing. Be ethical.
What are the biggest challenges facing St. Johns County today?
In my opinion, our biggest asset creates our biggest challenge. The growth of our community due to net migration from other parts of the USA and from other parts of Florida has been exponential. This is due to our high quality of life factors, like parks, beaches, lower cost of living relative to other metro markets in Florida, low unemployment, etc. However, affordable housing is lacking, our school systems are becoming stressed, county budgets/resources become limited and hence our quality of life deteriorates.
How do you define success?
Success is what you make of it. For me it is enjoying coming to work with people you respect for a shared goal and a strategy to achieve them. We try to do this every day and then I go home and spend time with my loved ones and maximize that experience.
What past experiences or roles have led you to where you are today?
My education and career choices have all led me here. However, I have always been keen to how organizations change and how they affect my happiness and my ability to have fun at work to achieve business goals. I have been fortunate to strategically make career choices that would allow me to be in a better professional position in the future. However, it always started with the realization I was no longer in the right organization for me based on my skills and my need to have fun at work. You must know when to leave, but you also have to be able to pick an organization that is growing quickly and can use your skill set and experience to manage the growth efficiently or one that is potentially having challenges that could use your skill set and experience to help them thrive.
What is a fun fact about you?
I have been coaching youth travel baseball for over 7 years now in St Augustine at Villages Baseball Association and spend most of my time on a baseball field after hours and on weekends. I will be spending the next week in July at Cooperstown NY at a 12U tournament at Dreams Park Cooperstown.
