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Business Florida 2011 - The Regions
Southwest - Partnerships Mean Success
Collaboration brings innovation, investment and expanding businesses to Southwest Florida.
 Financing for future growth is easier for foreign-owned companies like DieselMist in Port Charlotte now that the Charlotte County Economic Development Office has been named an “EB-5 Regional Center.” [Photo: DieselMist] |
TEAs make foreign investment attractive
The Charlotte County Economic Development Office received confirmation in mid-July 2010 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of its status as an "EB-5 Regional Center." The designation allows qualified non-U.S. citizens to more easily obtain green cards in exchange for a minimum investment of $500,000 in targeted employment areas (TEAs), such as the Enterprise Charlotte Airport Park, or $1 million elsewhere in Charlotte County.
To further qualify for the program in Charlotte County, the investments must pertain to certain "sought-after" activities/facilities, such as transportation and infrastructure, warehouse and cargo terminals, biotechnology and related high-technology manufacturing, solar panel manufacturing, water treatment plants, office buildings, hotels, film and television production, renewable energy technologies, healthcare, financial services or agriculture.
One company looking to take advantage of the new program is DieselMist Corporation, the subsidiary of a UK-based company that brought its North American headquarters to Charlotte County in 2009. DieselMist's dual-fuel system utilizes patented microprocessing technology, which makes possible the mixture of diesel fuel with cleaner, cheaper propane in retrofit diesel engines, thus reducing both fuel costs and harmful carbon emissions.
 "The FIRST Initiative program made expansion of operations in Bonita Springs a logical choice." — James Gillis, president and COO of Source Interlink |
FIRST in line for Lee County incentive dollars
In July 2010, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved $1 million in funding from its FIRST Initiative program, a $25-million performance-based incentive program created to encourage business growth, for the local expansion of Source Interlink Companies Inc., an integrated media, publishing, merchandising and distribution company.
As a result, Source Interlink will create or transfer 350 positions from other locations to its Bonita Springs headquarters, where the firm's finance, human resources, IT, tax and senior executive functions are already located. The consolidation is expected to increase the number of full-time company employees in Lee County from 260 to 610 within two years and provide an estimated $334.6-million impact on the community over five years. The average employee wage will be 179% of the Lee County average.
"Our partnership with Lee County has been a principal factor in our decision to consolidate operations to the Bonita Springs world headquarters," says James Gillis, president and chief operating officer of Source Interlink. "We evaluated several consolidation alternatives, but the FIRST Initiative program made expansion of operations in Bonita Springs the logical choice."
Small businesses get a boost
According to a U.S. Census Bureau 2007 report (the most recent data available), nearly 60% of Lee County businesses with paid employees had four or fewer workers on staff. Now, thanks to a grass-roots effort under way in Fort Myers, many of these "microenterprises" may soon be getting the help they need to prosper and grow.
The new Southwest Florida MicroEnterprise Project is a partnership of five organizations formed to provide training and loans to local startup business owners of low to moderate incomes. The program is designed to serve entrepreneurs in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties who might not qualify for a Small Business Administration-backed loan or who need loan amounts that are too small to attract an SBA lender.
Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida coordinates the program. Training is provided by the Southwest Florida Enterprise Center, the city-owned business incubator. Local volunteers from SCORE serve as coaches and mentors to small business owners. Training funds are made available through Southwest Florida Community Foundation, while ACCION USA handles loan activity.
Applicants accepted into the program must undergo a 12-module business and management training course, which uses curriculum developed by the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation, a specialist in supporting entrepreneurship. Graduates of the project ?may be eligible for financing of up to $30,000 and continue to receive mentoring as they build their businesses.
