{"id":132778,"date":"2026-01-26T23:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132778\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:19:09","slug":"the-advocate-resident-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132778\/","title":{"rendered":"The Advocate \u2013 Resident News"},"content":{"rendered":"

20 Really Good People<\/p>\n

A Lifelong Jacksonville Champion<\/p>\n

A lifelong resident of Jacksonville, Michael Corrigan, Jr. has spent his entire adult life working to make his hometown stronger and more connected, with more opportunities for everyone. Whether he was pitching in and helping lay a strong foundation for Nu-Trend Plastics, his family\u2019s company, or shaping citywide initiatives as president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville, Corrigan\u2019s career reflects a steady belief that service should be practiced, not just promised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was growing up, my parents always gave back to our community. They didn\u2019t have any time or money, but they just did it \u2013 I thought everybody did the same,\u201d shared Corrigan. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize until I was following in their footsteps and involved in everything that it wasn\u2019t the norm. It\u2019s just how I\u2019ve always lived my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael and Visit Jacksonville helped secure a 6-month buyout of the Hyatt Regency Downtown Riverfront by the US Marines in 2021 during the COVID Pandemic, a desperate time for hotels. This remains the largest contract in Hyatt Hotels\u2019 history <\/p>\n

That belief guided him into public office in 2003, when he was elected to represent District 14 on the Jacksonville City Council. He was re-elected in 2007, but the most defining achievement of his tenure came that same year with the creation of the 1000 in 1000 Poverty Initiative. As founding chair, Corrigan helped bring together partners from across the community with one goal: to equip 1,000 Jacksonville residents with the financial and life skills needed to lift themselves out of hardship within 1,000 days. The program received national attention and became the model for similar initiatives across the country. Locally, its work continues through the Family Foundations nonprofit.<\/p>\n

Corrigan\u2019s leadership has also shaped Jacksonville\u2019s economic and cultural landscape. Under his direction, Visit Jacksonville secured a 10-year sole source contract with the City of Jacksonville in 2022, a reflection of deep trust earned through strong performance and transparent stewardship. He also invested in his own team, hosting listening sessions and implementing employee-generated recommendations that helped Visit Jacksonville earn recognition as one of Northeast Florida\u2019s Best Places to Work in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael welcoming the teams at Sporting Jax Press Conference
\nbefore their first match, an international friendly, vs. Hibernian FC <\/p>\n

Sports tourism has been a major focus of his recent work. In 2024, after the Jacksonville City Council approved additional funding for sports promotion, Corrigan collaborated with community partners to launch the Jacksonville Sports Foundation and began positioning the city as a future host for major collegiate and championship events.<\/p>\n

Beyond formal roles, Corrigan is known for meaningful, consistent volunteer service. He serves on the Florida State College of Jacksonville Foundation Board, the LifeSouth Blood Bank Board, Florida\u2019s First Coast of Golf, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association Northeast Chapter, the Board of Trustees for James Weldon Johnson Park and the leadership committee at St. Matthews Catholic Church. He is also a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville and Leadership Florida.<\/p>\n

Through decades of civic leadership, philanthropy and hands-on engagement, Michael Corrigan, Jr. has become one of Jacksonville\u2019s most enduring champions, guided always by a simple principle: Service is a responsibility, and a joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20 Really Good People A Lifelong Jacksonville Champion A lifelong resident of Jacksonville, Michael Corrigan, Jr. has spent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-132778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}