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Business Incentives

The Economic Development Group has assisted numerous companies obtain millions of dollars in state and local incentives ranging from grants providing needed road access to training highly skilled maintenance mechanics in programmable logic control. Our toolbox includes all of the incentives provided by the State of Florida and by local communities. We are also able, on a case-by-case basis, to provide incentives to qualified companies from our own resources.

Most of the incentives are based on companies paying their employees 115 percent of the average annual wage and have job creation requirements. The average annual wage in Polk County is $35,008 or $16.83 per hour. 115 percent of the average annual wage is $40,259 or $19.36 per hour.

A wide variety of incentives are offered by the state of Florida, including:

Targeted Industry Incentives

Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund (QTI)

  • Available to approved companies that create high wage jobs in targeted high value-added industries
  • Includes refunds on corporate income, sales, ad valorem, intangible personal property, insurance premium, and certain other taxes
  • New or expanding businesses in selected targeted industries or corporate headquarters are eligible

 

Qualified Defense and Space Contractor Tax Refund (QDSC)

  •  Gives approved Florida defense, homeland security, and space business contractors a competitive edge in consolidating contracts or subcontracts, acquiring new contracts, or converting contracts to commercial production

 

Capital Investment Tax Credit (CITC)

  • Used to attract and grow capital-intensive industries in Florida
  • An annual credit, provided for up to twenty years, against the corporate income tax
  • Eligible projects are those in designated high-impact portions of the following sectors: clean energy, biomedical technology, financial services, information technology, silicon technology, transportation equipment manufacturing, or be a corporate headquarters facility
  • Eligible projects must also create a minimum of 100 jobs and invest at least $25 million in eligible capital costs

 

High Impact Performance Incentive Grant (HIPI)

  • Negotiated grant used to attract and grow major high impact facilities in Florida
  • Provided to pre-approved applicants in certain high-impact sectors designated by the Governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (OTTED)
  • Project must: operate within designated high-impact programs of the following sectors – clean energy, corporate headquarters, financial services, life sciences, semiconductors, and transportation equipment manufacturing; create 50 new full-time equivalent jobs in Florida in a three-year period; and make a cumulative investment in teh state of at least $50 million in a three-year period

 

Workforce Training Incentives

Quick Response Training Program (QRT)

  • Designed to assist new value-added businesses and provide existing Florida businesses the necessary training for expansion.
  • A state educational facility – state college, area technical center, school district or university – is available to assist with application and program development or delivery and will also serve as fiscal agent for the project
  • Company may use in-house training, outside vendor training programs or the local educational entity to provide training
  • Reimbursable training expenses include: instructors’/trainers’ wages, curriculum development, and textbooks/manuals
  • Visit Workforce Florida to learn more about the QRT program

 

Incumbent Worker Training Program (IWT)

  • Provides training to currently employed workers to keep Florida’s workforce competitive in a global economy and to retain existing businesses
  • Available to all Florida businesses that have been in operation for at least one year prior to application and require skills upgrade training for existing employees
  • Priority given to businesses in targeted industries, Enterprise Zones, HUB Zones, Inner City Distressed areas, Rural Counties and areas, and Brownfield areas
  • Visit Workforce Florida to learn more about the IWT program

 

Infrastructure Incentive

Economic Development Transportation Fund (”Road Fund”)

  • Designed to alleviate transportation problems that adversely impact a specific company’s location or expansino decision
  • Award amount based on the number of new and retained jobs and the eligible transportation project costs, up to $3 million
  • Award made to the local government on behalf of a specific business for public transportation improvements

 

Special Opportunity Incentives

Rural Incentives

  • Offer increased incentive awards and lower wage qualification thresholds in Florida’s rural counties
  • Rural Community Development Revolving Loan Fund and Rural Infrastructure Fund exist to meet the special needs that businesses encounter in rural counties

 

Urban Incentives

  • Offers increased incentive awards and lower wage qualification thresholds for businesses locating in many urban core/inner city areas that are experiencing conditions affecting the economic viability of the community and hampering the self-sufficiency of the residents

 

Enterprise Zone Incentives

  • Offers an assortment of tax incentives to businesses that choose to create employment within an enterprise zone, which is a specific geographic area targeted for economic revitalizations
  • Includes a slaes and use tax credit, tax refund for business machinery and equipment used in an enterprise zone, sales tax refund for building materials used in an Enterprise Zone, and a sales tax exemption for electrical energy used in an enterprise zone

 

Brownfield Incentives

  • Offers incentives to businesses that locate in brownfield sites, which are underutilized industrial or commercial sites due to actual or perceived environmental contamination

 

Other Incentives

Jobs for the Unemployed Tax Credit Program (JUTC)

  • Provides incentives to businesses throughout Florida to hire qualified employees who were previously unemployed
  • Available to all businesses that are identified as a “target industry”
  • Businesses may claim only new hires that were previously unemployed for a minimum of 30 days, and that remain employed after a 12-month period at an average of 36 hours per week

 

Local Government Distressed Area Matching Grant Program (LDMG)

  • Assists Local Governments in attracting and retaining targeted businesses
  • Targeted businesses are required to create at least 15 full-time jobs and the project must either be new to Florida; expanding operations in Florida; or leaving Florida unless it receives local and state government assistance

 

Tax Advantages

Florida has…

  • NO corporate income tax on limited partnerships
  • NO corporate income tax on subchapter S-corporations
  • NO state personal income tax guaranteed by constitutional provision
  • NO corporate franchise tax on capital stock
  • NO state-level property tax assessed
  • NO property tax on business inventories
  • NO property tax on goods-in-transit for up to 180 days
  • NO sales and use tax on goods manufactured or produced in Florida for export outside the state
  • NO sales tax on purchases of raw materials incorporated in a final product for resale, including non-resuable containers or packaging
  • NO sales/use tax on co-generation of electricity

 

Florida offers Sales and Use Tax Exemptions on…

  • Machinery and equipment used by a new or expanding Florida business to manufacture, produce or process tangible personal property for sale
  • Labor, parts and materials used in repair of and incorporated into machinery and equipment
  • Electricity used in the manufacturing process
  • Certain boiler fuels (including natural gas) used in the manufacturing process
  • Semiconductor, defense and space technology-based industry transactions involving manufacturing equipment
  • Machinery and equipment used predominantly in research and development
  • Labor component of research and development expenditures
  • Commercial space activity – launch vehicles, payloads and fuel, machinery and equipment for production of items used exclusively at Spaceport Florida
  • Aircraft parts, modification, maintenance and repair, sale or lease of qualified aircraft
  • Production companies engaged in Florida in the production of motion pictures, made for television motion pictures, television series, commercial music videos or sound recordings

 

Testimonials
"The county's business environment and the ongoing support of the CFDC have helped us achieve [our] goal for many years and we look forward to our continued partnership."
- Charles Matthews, VP Operations, Florida's Natural Growers
"We initially targeted Polk County because of its obvious logistical advantages, but we were immediately impressed by the tremendous support and cooperation we received from the CFDC. A building can be built anywhere, but what makes a project...successful is a cooperative relationship with community leaders and the availability of a dedicated and reliable workforce."
- David Behm, VP, Aldi Inc.
"From a personal and business perspective, being new to Polk County has been a very positive experience. We are excited to live and work in Polk County and look forward to what the future has to bring in terms of growth and opportunities."
- Stacy Hackworth, Facility Manager, Ferguson
"We found the economic development atmosphere and support from Polk County to be a true asset in our decision to locate our new, state-of-the-art facility in Lakeland. When you are building the most advanced manufacturing facility your industry has ever seen, you have to have confidence in the long-term commitment of the community. We found just that in Polk County and are pleased to be one of their newest business neighbors and partners."
- Ross Dalton, President, GTECH Printing Corporation
"In 1962, State Farm opened its doors in Winter Haven, which is now our Florida headquarters. We are so proud to be a part of this great Polk County community. Polk County provides State Farm with a workforce that brings diverse talents and experiences to provide the quality service our State Farm customers expect and deserve."
- Jim Thompson, Sr. Vice President, State Farm Insurance