Jacksonville has no shortage of places to network.
There are rooms for introductions. Rooms for referrals. Rooms for finding customers, building visibility, and growing a contact list.
But what happens when you walk into a room without asking, “What can I get from this?”
What if the first question is: “How can I help?”
That simple shift is at the heart of ENRG JAX, Jacksonville’s chapter of the Entrepreneurial Networking Resource Group (ENRG) — a free, nonprofit peer community created for entrepreneurial leaders.
And it’s what caught our attention.
ENRG gives business owners and second-in-command leaders a structured place to bring the issues they’re actually facing inside their companies — not polished success stories, but the people problems, execution challenges, difficult decisions, and obstacles that come with running and growing a business.
Then the room gets to work.
Members ask questions. They challenge assumptions. They share experiences from situations they’ve already lived through. And ideally, the person who walked in carrying a problem walks out with greater clarity and something concrete to do next.
That’s a very different kind of networking.
Help First
ENRG calls its guiding principle Help First, and it shapes who enters the room and what happens once they’re there. Members are expected to be honest about the realities of their businesses, listen to perspectives that may challenge their thinking, share relevant experiences, follow through on commitments, and put the success of the community ahead of short-term self-promotion.
No one person is expected to have every answer. That’s the point.
An entrepreneur may have solved a hiring challenge another owner is facing today. A second-in-command may see an operational issue from an entirely different perspective. An experienced advisor may recognize that the problem being discussed isn’t actually the real problem at all.
Put those perspectives around one table, and the conversation changes.
Helping another owner succeed doesn’t take anything away from anyone else. It strengthens relationships, companies, and ultimately the Jacksonville business community as a whole.
That feels like an idea worth sharing.
One Challenge. Several Perspectives. Ninety Minutes.
ENRG JAX meetings are built around four types of participants:
Business owners
Second-in-command leaders
EOS Implementers®
Approved ENRG Expert Partners
The mix is intentional.
An owner working through a people problem might hear from another owner who has already lived through it, a second-in-command responsible for making the solution work day-to-day, and an EOS Implementer who has watched similar challenges unfold across multiple companies.
One issue. Several vantage points. All in the same 90 minutes.
Each meeting follows a consistent structure. It begins with something simple: every member shares a business win and a personal win. Before solving problems, the room takes a moment to understand what is happening in each person’s company and life — and to celebrate progress together. A short educational segment may follow, led by a chapter leader or approved Expert Partner.
The purpose is education, not a sales pitch.
Then comes the heart of the meeting. Members bring forward real business challenges. The group asks questions, works past the symptoms, shares relevant experience, and helps identify a clear next step.
And it doesn’t end when everyone leaves.
At the following meeting, the group revisits the issues discussed previously and the commitments members made. Because ENRG isn’t designed simply to be a place where people talk about business. It’s meant to be a place where they make progress.
A Community Built Around Contribution, Not Dues
There’s another aspect of ENRG JAX that makes the model unusual: attending is free.
ENRG is a registered nonprofit, and there are no membership dues or attendance fees. Operating expenses are supported by approved ENRG Expert Partners, organizations that go through a values-fit review before joining the community. According to ENRG, funds beyond operating expenses are returned to the entrepreneurial community through grants and scholarships.
In their words, the organization is “gated by values rather than by fees.”
That distinction matters.
The goal isn’t simply to fill a room. It’s to bring together people who are willing to contribute to it.
The Community Layer Around EOS®
ENRG grew as a community around the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS), a framework companies use to create greater clarity, alignment, and accountability. Each ENRG chapter is co-led by a licensed EOS Implementer® and an experienced Integrator. But businesses don’t have to run on EOS to participate.
Some members have used the system for years. Others are simply curious about it. And some arrive at their first meeting having never heard of EOS at all.
The common denominator isn’t the operating system they use. It’s a willingness to learn from other leaders — and to help in return.
Meet the People Leading ENRG JAX
In Jacksonville, that community is co-led by Branden Barkema and Dan Mayville.
Branden, an EOS Implementer®, works with leadership teams to create greater clarity, alignment, accountability, and traction. Within ENRG JAX, he guides the learning and issue-solving portions of the meeting, helping conversations move beyond surface-level symptoms toward the real challenge underneath.
Dan, founder of Top Built Teams, works with business owners to remove the people and execution barriers that can hold companies back. As ENRG JAX’s Integrator, he helps structure meetings, maintain momentum, capture commitments, and make sure members leave knowing what comes next.
Together, they’re helping create a room where Jacksonville business leaders don’t have to pretend they have everything figured out.
They can bring the challenge instead.
Why We Chose This Organization
At JAX Business Calendar, we spend a lot of time encouraging people to get into the room.
But the kind of room matters.
The strongest business communities aren’t built only through introductions and exchanged business cards. They’re built when people are willing to share what they’ve learned, talk openly about what’s difficult, and help someone else move forward without first calculating what’s in it for them.
That’s what made ENRG JAX interesting to us.
CONNECT. LEARN. ACT. is how ENRG describes the experience: build relationships with leaders who understand what it means to run a company, learn from their collective experience, and leave with the clarity and resources to actually do something next.
Sometimes the most valuable person you meet at a business event isn’t your next customer. It’s the person who helps you see your problem differently.
Get Involved with ENRG JAX
ENRG JAX is looking for visionary business owners in the Jacksonville area who are focused on moving their businesses forward — and who believe growth is even stronger when business owners help one another succeed.
If you’re willing to bring real challenges to the table, share what you’ve learned, listen to different perspectives, and help other entrepreneurs do the same, ENRG JAX would like to meet you.
Because Help First only works when the right people are willing to bring something to the room.
Interested in being part of it? Learn more or request an invitation at ENRG JAX. Bring a real business challenge, an open mind, and a willingness to Help First.
