by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The JEDC continued to debate Thursday the role of small businesses in its new incentive policies.
The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s leadership agreed that small businesses are vital to the City’s economic health. But there are a range of opinions among the commissioners and Executive Director Kirk Wendland about how best to encourage small business growth.
Commissioner Susan Hartley, a small business owner herself, favors separate consideration for small business projects. Several of the policies currently being considered by the JEDC would make it more difficult for small businesses — those with under 100 employees — to get City incentives, she said.
For instance, the commission currently scores projects competing for incentives according to how many jobs they create and how much the jobs pay. The higher projects score, the more likely they are to get City money. It’s easier for a national mortgage firm to add 50 jobs at $35,000 annually than for a family-owned restaurant she reasoned.
It’s also more difficult for small businesses to provide their employees with health insurance, another criteria under consideration.
Commissioner Charlie Appleby seconded her point during a Thursday morning workshop on the JEDC’s ongoing overhaul.
“If you have to add 50 jobs to get maximum incentives, that’s going to be a lot tougher on small businesses,” said Appleby. “Even if they have 100 employees, they’re going to have to increase their employment base by 50 percent.”
Wendland said he thought there was room on one scorecard to assess companies large and small. He said adjustments would be made so small firms do not have to invest as much private capital or create as many jobs to score well. Small businesses can also score by locating in distressed areas, particularly downtown. The scorecard specifically gives points for small businesses primed to add jobs.
“It’s been a bit of a wrestling match,” said Wendland. “But we are committed to giving small businesses an opportunity to grow.”
City incentives will be available to small businesses, but Wendland said they have to represent sound investments. The high-risk nature of start-ups sometimes make them an unacceptable gamble with taxpayer money.
Small businesses could have their greatest effect in the City’s distressed areas, and the commission agreed to a policy change that should encourage their growth in low-wage districts. The wages created by projects will be measured against wages in specific geographic areas instead of a county-wide average. That means it will be easier to get incentives to create jobs in low-paying districts.
First though, the commission will have to agree on what represents a distressed district. Appleby sneered at the JEDC scorecard that tallied a Touchton Road project as development in a distressed area.
“I work a stone’s throw away from that location,” said Appleby. “And the only problem you’ll have on Touchton is, maybe you’ll get run over by cement trucks from all the development. It’s not distressed and it should get no points. It should get negative points (for distress).”
Commission chair Ceree Harden said “it was obvious,” that part of the scorecard needed to be tweaked. Wendland pointed out that, while the area’s workers may be well paid, its residents averaged incomes of about $17,000 a year.