INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – The Board of County Commissioners today approved a jobs grant agreement with an unnamed manufacturing company that plans to open a facility in the Vero Beach Enterprise Zone slated to employ 52 people by the end of 2014.
“The company currently has its manufacturing, shipping and assembly operations in another state, and its R&D in Orlando,” Community Development Director Bob Keating told the Board in recommending approval of the agreement. “It plans to move assembly, shipping and R&D to Indian River County.”
Keating said the company is allowed by state law to remain anonymous without giving a reason, but that it might be doing so in order to keep competitors in the dark about its plans.
Keating said the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce, the county attorney’s office and other county staff have researched the company to try and determine if it or its executives have legal or financial problems that might put the company or its plans at risk, making it an undesirable economic development partner for the county.
The due diligence included getting a Dun and Bradstreet credit/financial report for the firm and checking public and government records for criminal violations, civil suites, bankruptcies or other difficulties. Keating said no problems were uncovered.
According to public records, the company plans to have 10 employees in Indian River County by the end of this year, add 15 more in 2013 and another 27 in 2014.
Under the terms of the county’s jobs grant program, the employment figures qualify the company for a $268,000 grant. Locating in the Enterprise Zone earns it a 10 percent bonus, for a total of $294,000.
Helene Caseltine, director of economic development at the IRC Chamber of Commerce, said the new jobs will pay an average of $35,000 and eventually contribute $2 million annually to the local economy.
“You will be getting a good return on your investment,” she told the Board.
If the company sticks to the proposed employment schedule, the county will make its first payment of $20,533 in fiscal 2012-14, followed by $52,433 in the next fiscal year, $98,266 the year after that, and $77,733 in fiscal 2016-2017. The final payment of $45,833 will be handed over in fiscal 2017-18, if all goes according to plan.
“The first payment isn’t made until the jobs have been in place a year,” said Keating. “That is one of the advantages of our jobs grants. They are pay for performance.”
Since 2009 the Board has approved approximately $2.3 million in grants to companies expanding or relocating in Indian River County.
