by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission sent two proposals to City Council Thursday to create 130 jobs.
C2C Solutions, part of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, proposes to add 55 jobs and expand its operation that provides support and administrative services in reviewing Medicare and Medicaid applications that have been denied.
The company operates under a federal government contract and acts as an arbiter, said Joe Whitaker, JEDC business recruitment and retention coordinator.
The company said in its project summary it was competing for a contract that would necessitate the jobs.
The Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund request it submitted for commission approval Thursday listed 55 new jobs at an average annual salary of $45,834 plus benefits of $14,678.
The tax refund would be $3,000 per job and would become effective only after the jobs are created and verified, said Whitaker. The jobs would be phased in over a two-year period and the refund would be paid over six years.
The City would be responsible for 20 percent of the $165,000 refund, $33,000, with the state providing the balance of $132,000.
Whitaker said C2C also is proposing a $900,000 capital investment to expand its office space in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield building along Riverside Avenue.
The commission unanimously approved the QTI request after Holland & Knight Partner George Gabel, attending his first JEDC meeting as a commissioner, recused himself from the vote.
“I’m not off to a very good start. My law firm represents Blue Cross,” he told JEDC Chair Zimmermann Boulos.
The commission also approved a $3,000 per job QTI request from Ringtail Technologies Inc. to create 75 engineering, manufacturing, marketing and administrative support jobs.
The Belize-based company has developed a wireless system to provide Internet, telephone and television service using UHF and VHF frequencies.
The average wage would be $45,834 plus $4,100 in benefits.
The QTI would total $225,000, with the state’s share being $180,000 and the City’s part $45,000.
The jobs would be created over a three-year period and the refund would be available over seven years.
Ringtail also is applying for a $150,000 Brownfield Bonus and a $60,000 Quick Response Training grant from the state.
The company proposes to lease 23,200 square feet in The Library at 122 N. Ocean St. Ringtail would be the first major tenant in the building, the former Haydon Burns Public Library.
Bill Cesery, a partner in the development group that purchased the building from the City and has been seeking financing to convert it to a new use, said approving the QTI for Ringtail would not be enough of a catalyst to secure financing for the development.
“We’re working on an SBA loan and a New Market Tax Credit,” said Cesery. “This would be a help, but I don’t know that this alone would get us started.”
Cesery said the group is exploring a Historic Preservation Grant from the City, which he said might make the project more appealing to commercial lenders.
Whitaker said there are numerous properties Downtown and in Springfield that could support Ringtail’s plans.
“We’d like to see the project in the old Haydon Burns (Library), but many times when applicants come to us, they’re still making location decisions,” said JEDC Executive Director Ron Barton.
Barton also told the commission that the JEDC monitors funding for Historic Preservation Grants and there would “probably be no action on historic grants until after July 1 when the new mayor takes office.”
The next meeting of the JEDC is scheduled May 12, when Barton said he plans to provide an update on progress at Cecil Commerce Center.
356-2466