Today the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency voted to approve a $2.3 million competitive incentive package to support the expansion of a local manufacturing company called Project Juggernaut. Project Juggernaut represents a Tallahassee-Leon County-based advanced manufacturing company considering expansion within Innovation Park.
Chairman Bryan Desolge said that “this is a kind of project we were hoping to attract.”
Mayor John Dailey said, “this is a game changer…when we talk about jobs this is where it starts…I strongly support this project.”
Commissioner Bill Proctor commented that he could not get excited about the project since their is no guarantee that this unnamed company will hire people in Tallahassee.
Also, on the Blueprint Sales Tax economic development allocation, Proctor said, “I did not think the 12% set-aside was for people outside of Tallahassee.”
City Commissioner Curtis Richardson said this project is exactly what the economic development part of the Blueprint Sales Tax was created to support.
The manufacturing company is looking at other locations outside of Florida. A decision by the company is expected to be made in early 2020.
Due to the sensitive nature of its current site selection process, the company has requested in writing that OEV maintain full confidentiality of certain information in accordance with Florida law.
The economic impact of the project is estimated to be $140.6 million, creating 367 construction-related and 586 permanent jobs as a result.
The $2,308,810 in Office of Economic Vitality funds will come from the portion of the Blueprint Sales Tax allocated to economic development projects. The sales tax was approved by a voter referendum.
Support for Project Juggernaut include:
- $38,400 for QTI Tax Refund Match;
- $1,465,410 for the Target Business Program;
- $805,000 to support Leon County Research and Development Authority increased Economic Competitiveness 2019-21 Strategic Plan Goals and OEV Strategic Plan.
The report to Blueprint officials indicates the company expansion will include $48 million capital investment in a new 88,000 sq. ft. manufacturing center, 239 new manufacturing and research jobs (current targets include 32 jobs by 2024 – 30% high skill / 70% middle skill, and 207 jobs of similar skills distribution by 2031) to be created between 2022 and 2029.
If Tallahassee is selected as the location, it is anticipated that the first incentive payments will be issued in FY 2021 with a second round of payments to distributed in FY 2022.
UPDATED: Blueprint to Consider $2.3 Million Incentive Package for Project Juggernaut added by Staff on
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Hey! At least it’s not millions spent on an unneeded pedestrian bridge over Monroe St. to the Edison. What the heck happened to Pennies for Potholes and 4 lanes to the International Airport via Capital Circle SW?…..How the hell do they get away with this crap?
If this company, or any other company, believes Tallahassee is a good place to do business, why do we have to bribe them to come here?
QTI Programs can be very effective and beneficial to the local economy and community. I haven’t seen the proposal details, but it is traditionally predicated on achieving incremental benchmark levels with respect to local investment and job creation. A well-crafted and balanced agreement would require sustainable time frames for the aforementioned benchmarks as well. The anonymity factor is based on competitive impacts. Once – and if – the agreement is codified, all players should be disclosed to the public.
The devil (so to speak) is in the details of the agreement itself. If there are no clear investment and job creation benchmarks and sustainability time frame guarantees, then its a bad deal.
Sorta like the urban food market at the centre of Tallahassee, or the gateway center walgreens at Tennessee and monroe?
At least New Leaf and Earth Fare – two failed organic food stores – didn’t get local taxpayer handouts before they went belly up, AFAIK.
Lucky’s wuttn’t so lucky either
Local officials say “you will know what we bought after we bought it”, better known as “you will know what’s in it after we pass it”
Most often when leftists are presenting a proposal that involves the possibility of graft, corruption, or kickbacks and a statement is floated for public consumption that we cant reveal this or that aspect of the project “according to Florida Law” it is total BS.
Why the trusting and gullible reader may ask?
Well its because they did not qualify the statement like this:
“…according to Florida Statute ###.##, sections 1 (d) and (e).
Know what I’m talking ’bout?
i.e. Children’s Services Council.
Could be something like another abortion provider. This is EXACTLY what Planned Parenthood did when planning & constructing their huge new facility out Hwy 90 – not even the construction people knew what they were building! I cringe to think that OUR tax payer dollars had anything to do with that; we know PP already get Fed funds. Bad enough all the garbage going on in D.C.; we have the same corruption etc. right here!
Sorry, typing to fast, 2 jobs a month or 20-24 year. I don’t call that a juggernaut.
David, I’ll bet even OEV don’t know the name of who they’re dealin’ wirh, just another front.
Careful, y’all, that Juggernaut is a big ‘un.
What’s with all the Secrecy? WHAT IS THE COMPANIES NAME? This looks like another Boondoggle to me. Does the phrase “We must PASS IT to know what’s in it” sound familiar?
Maybe it’s a Cheesecake Factory!
I am still at a loss as to how the penny sales tax extension funded these kind of non infrastructure projects.
The Office of Economic Vitality? This is sort of new. What, do they build roads or sewer plants or sidewalks or harden utilities? Oh, I know. Someone who worked at the City has a spouse that is on the Blueprint Citizens Advisory Committee and hosts fundraisers for the Mayor. Got it.
Now Blue print is incentivizing private sector businesses?
Is this kind of like the CRA?
Also – who voted in Blueprint as the 3rd rail of local government? Show of hands please!
God what a dirty little town. FBI? Please?
What he said!^^^ What a bunch of crapola. How about letting a viable company finance their own expansion?? Tax payer money should NOT be used for this. What a dirty little town indeed!
I am not one to believe in these kinds of subsidies, but having been an Economic Development Director in another State I hope some day the Congress will use its commerce clause power to prohibit payment of pubic money to private companies for the purpose of luring them to a different location or having the effect thereof. Most often the companies themselves just use them to reduce their own expenses. (Startups are a distinct group which deserve some government support in many cases)
But I know they are presently part of how business is done. But I’d not be giving a deal that provides all of the subsidy until all of the jobs appear. Usually it is structured so they get more when they add more jobs. So I hope that they aren’t getting all of the subsidy six years before the jobs as suggested by the report.
I am with you on using “pubic money to private companies” for the purpose of luring them to Leon County. I would prefer to just give them the needed Building / Remodeling Permits for free and leaving it at that as the only incentive to getting them to come here (no Tax Breaks and no Cash).
How bad must the applications must have been. When a “Jaggernaut” for Tallahassee is a company that will add 2-2.5 jobs a year to the economy. Wake up Tallahassee we continue to fall further and further behind with this leadership.
what she said
stop the corruption
y’all goin to jail for playin’ with other people’s money like it’s one’a them Monopoly games- no get-outta-jail-free card fer you
cain’t wait to watch the perp walk sittin’ back in my LaZBoy© with a cold, refreshing Miller Lite©
May I add:
The Danfoss Turbocor deal is working out, as they are expanding operations right here in Tallahassee. They get many parts from China, however, with very recent trade deals, and the terrible coronavirus amd its subsequent coverup in China, manufacturing will blossom in the US.
Furthermore, with the very recent axing on ‘navigable waterways’ by the current administration (‘navigable waterways’ being defined as any ditch or dry wash with a ‘definable bank’) we are now free to mine our own rare-earth
materials.
The Outpost Pegmatite Structure alone rivals all Chinese deposits combined.
Let us be thankful for a rising economy and flourishing manufacturing here, with our own people and resources.
Upskill is a good guess
Specialties: Smart Glasses, Wearable Technology, Augmented Reality, Mobile Technology, UAVs, Super-computing, National Intelligence.
I’m all for it if the kickbacks end.
Reminder: pacer.gov shows ~650 sealed indictments in Northern Florida District. ~140,000 nationwide. Indictments can carry more than one name, RICO.
Quick somebody needs to get in touch with the nefarious officials at this mysterious local manufacturing company code named “PROJECT JUGGERNAUT” and let the nefarious officials know if it’s still OK to dump money into the Vegas HAH HAH accounts or if a new set of more secret accounts with a catchy name has been set up.
BTW wasn’t “PROJECT JUGGERNAUT” the name of a nefarious orginazation set up to dominate the world in a 1980’s James Bond movie?
Where is the transparency? Who, what, where, when????
Who are the players?
I hope this is not another Bing where Gabordi was told 30 minutes after the article appearing that it wasn’t all they were promoting and it took Gabordi 90 days to investigate that it was just a bunch of local PR hacks duping the public.
Follow the money for instance look at the decision to County made regarding Waste Pro. Waste Pro’s providing sub service and is corrupt yet the county renewed the contract. I would rather pay $48 more a month with a new company than go with Waste Pro again. Surely the new company would take on the rank-and-file. But the Leon County Commissioners didn’t want to give up their Mega contributions from Waste Pro so nothing changes.
Due diligence is needed here proceed with caution.
Yep.
The dingaling
got punked by Bing.
What is the NAME of this Company that OUR Tax Dollars are GOING TO?