FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2013

CONTACT: DEO Communications, 850.617.5600, media@deo.myflorida.com

FLORIDA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE PROJECTS NOW AVAILABLE ON EASY-TO-USE ONLINE PORTAL

Provides unprecedented transparency and access to Florida’s economic development incentives program

TALLAHASSEE – Continuing its commitment to efficiency, accountability, and transparency, the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) today announced that details of every Florida economic development incentive project with an executed contract are now available online and easily accessible to Floridians. The Economic Development Incentives Portal provides unprecedented access to the performance measurements required in economic development incentive contracts and each company’s progress toward reaching their contractually required job creation goals. The addition of these projects represents the most updated version of the portal, which initially launched July 2012, and is accessible at www.floridajobs.org/incentivesportal.

“This unprecedented incentives portal provides the public with the ability to track the performance of companies that receive state money and to see exactly how their tax dollars are making a positive impact and creating jobs for Florida families,” said DEO Executive Director Jesse Panuccio. “Every company’s contracted performance can be viewed in a transparent, accountable, and easy-to-navigate manner.”

Highlights of the Economic Development Incentives Portal include:

• Every non-confidential incentive project with an executed contract since 1996 that received or is on schedule to receive payments from the state of Florida.
• The ability to search for projects by type of incentive, company name, county, and/or approval date.

Projects will be updated each July once their performance data has been audited and confirmed. Confidential projects, as defined by Florida Statutes, will be included once their exemption from the state’s public record requirements has expired and will be added to the portal on a quarterly basis.

The Economic Development Incentives Portal is a collaborative effort between DEO and its economic development partner, Enterprise Florida, Inc. A public-private partnership, Enterprise Florida identifies companies for job creation in targeted growth industries in which incentives can be vital to securing the business recruitment or expansion opportunity.

Incentives Help Florida Families

Visitors to the Economic Development Incentives Portal will get to see firsthand the success that incentives have played in attracting jobs and capital investment dollars to Florida. For completed incentive contracts in the last three years, the economic benefit for the previous four years while the project was active was 86 percent higher than projected. The companies which receive performance-based incentives created 52 percent more jobs than required, paid an average wage 59 percent higher than required, and received 13 percent less in incentive payments than projected (according to the state’s 2012 Annual Incentives Report). Additionally, for each dollar invested by the state, the economic benefit to Floridians is $12.12.

About Incentives

Florida competes globally to bring jobs to the state from companies that have other location options. Economic development incentives are components of a toolkit designed to address various business needs in a competitive environment. A competitive economic development project is one in which a business has identified multiple locations that can meet its needs. Incentives may be used to reduce costs associated with a site, facility, or equipment. Incentives can help facilitate the location of businesses in Florida and are designed to promote job creation, job retention, and capital investment in Florida.

A core principle of the state’s economic development incentive program is that businesses are paid based on verified performance meaning that no tax refunds or direct dollars are paid until job creation or capital investment numbers are audited and confirmed. All new incentive agreements have sanction and clawback provisions to help protect the state’s investment. While performance requirements are typically phased and met over multiple years, performance is measured and audited annually.

About DEO

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity combines the state’s economic, workforce, and community development efforts. This new approach helps expedite economic development projects to fuel job creation in competitive communities. For more information, including valuable resources for employers and job seekers, please visit www.floridajobs.org.

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