County Jobs Grant Program Revised

Oct. 24, 2017

The Indian River County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved revising the methodology used in payment calculations for the county’s Local Jobs Grant program.

The Jobs Grant is a local incentive program available to new and expanding businesses meeting eligibility criteria, such as wages, number of new jobs and inclusion in the county’s Targeted Industry list.  The program, paying $3000 to $7000 per new job depending on wages paid, is performance-based, meaning the funds are paid to the company after the jobs are in place. It mirrors Florida’s Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund program, and can be used as the local match requirement under QTI.

“We’ve had a number of Jobs Grants awarded over the years, especially to local businesses adding new jobs, which is great,” explained Commissioner Peter O’Bryan, the Board’s Vice-Chair and Economic Development Liaison. “However”, he continued, “as new hires come and go, as you often see with start-up and growing firms, keeping track of each individual employee can be incredibly difficult and time consuming for staff, which is how the program was initially developed. This revision streamlines the calculations, making it much simpler for the company to comply and for our staff to calculate the yearly payouts.” 
Stan Boling, Director of the county’s Community Development Department, added “This revision does not change the overall program policy or the maximum dollar amount the Commission may approve for an eligible company, but merely simplifies the payment calculation process.”

Helene Caseltine, Economic Development Director with the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce, is pleased with the approved program revision.  “The Local Jobs Grant is, by far, our most popular incentive program, especially since our existing businesses can use it as they expand their operations and hire new employees.  I’ve seen the massive spreadsheets county staff uses in their payout calculations, and this is a tremendous improvement for them and for the applicants!”

For more information on locating or expanding a business in Indian River County, call Helene Caseltine at the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce at 772-567-3491.