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Business Incentives
Seminole County continues to lead the way in offering many incentives for business to relocate here and for existing county enterprises to expand. The Economic Development Department of Seminole County initiated a Jobs Growth Incentive Fund in 1995 for companies creating new jobs. Seminole County will consider awarding funds for expenses such as impact and permit fees, relocation costs, equipment purchases, land acquisition, building construction, loan interest pay-down, lease-hold improvements or any other legitimate business expense as determined by the Board of County Commissioners. Special consideration will be given to projects seeking to locate in targeted redevelopment areas. The US 17-92 Community Redevelopment Area, a special district established in 1997 to assist in the “revitalization” of one of the county’s major thoroughfares, has many programs to help businesses relocate to the 17-92 corridor. Known as the SEED Program (Seminole Economic Enhancement District), businesses can receive special financing and expedited permit approvals, helping business find market-ready sites and many others. For more information on the SEED program, contact John Metsopoulos at 407-665-7133 or email Jmetsopoulos@seminolecountyfl.gov. Another incentive project, SeminoleWay, is in the early stages of planning strategic land use and economic development along the 417 Corridor and across I-4 to the Port of Sanford. Similar to the major improvements planned for 17-92, the SeminoleWay Committee, made up of government, business and civic leaders in Seminole County, is working on attracting high paying jobs and businesses to the corridor. The idea is to emphasize mixed-use development to join business, educational institutions and residential areas together in a modern community, allowing for continued robust economic growth, easing the tax burden on homeowners and protecting the environment. Seminole County officials are not thinking only in terms of domestic business, but looking across the globe to help local business be even more successful. “Globalization” is one of the buzzwords for business in the new century and Seminole County is leading the way to increase its international profile. The county has set up eight Foreign-Trade Zone sites, which are specially designated areas, in or adjacent to a U.S. Customs Port Of Entry, considered to be outside the Customs Territory of the U.S. The FTZs, created by Congress in the 1930s, have come into their own as the world has become a smaller place with the incredible advancements in transportation and communication in the last decade. Local businesses can establish contacts with international clients and suppliers in these zones without having to worrying about U.S. customs duties in most cases. Another advantage of FTZ 250, as it is known, is being anchored by one of the fastest-growing airports in the nation, Sanford International Airport. The speedy expansion of the airport has led to the growth of the five mini-hub sites in the City of Sanford, including the Airport Commerce Park. Businesspeople interested in taking advantage of the benefits available can get all the help they need from the Sanford International Airport, Seminole County Economic Development Authority and the City of Sanford. For more information, contact Diane Crews at the Sanford Airport Authority Zone 250 at 407-585-4002 or email dcrews@osaa.net; Bill McDermott, Seminole County Economic Development at 407-665-7132 or email WMcDermott@seminolecountyfl.gov or Robert Tunis, City of Sanford Economic Development at 407-330-5607 or email tunisr@ci.sanford.fl.us. Seminole County has partnered with the Seminole County Port Authority and the Orlando Sanford International Airport to establish small business incubator space for new start-up companies. The partnership is complimented by the Seminole Community College Small Business Development Center located at the Port. Over the six year history of the SBDC, over 2,000 business clients have been assisted and $18.3 million in capital investment secured. The Seminole County Port Authority has been a Central Florida leader in Commercial Property for Lease by assisting small business interests since 1977, when a multi-tenant building program was initiated. These small business facilities provide low investment commercial lease facilities at the Port of Sanford with immediate occupancy and variable lease terms. Recently a new generation of commercial property warehouse facilities was created called the Central Florida Small Business Center, which expanded the small business program by offering a host of business support services to its clients. Manufacturing, warehouse and distribution facilities as small as 1,500 square feet (or multiples thereof) are available. The mission of the Seminole County Port Authority is to provide modern lease facilities for the small business community involved in manufacturing, distribution or warehousing. These small business facilities provide low investment commercial lease facilities at the Port of Sanford with immediate occupancy and variable lease terms. The Port Authority primarily serves the small business community of Central Florida by offering leases for facilities from 1,500 to 4,500 square feet in the Small Business Center, with incentives to small emerging business that have qualifying business plans. To date, almost 210,000 square feet of modern facilities are complete, capable of housing up to 89 tenants and comprising 48% of the Authority's building inventory. Occupancy rates of these competitive facilities have exceeded 95% over the past decade because of the pro-business attitude of management and the Board of Directors. The success of the Port's Small Business Center paved the way for the development and construction of a 10,500 square foot facility which houses the Small Business Development Center, offering office and/or laboratory space as small as 144 square feet to the small business market. This program is under the direct control of Seminole Community College, and offers a host of small business support and assistance services to its clients. For more information, visit their website at www.seminoleinc.com. The central location of the Port of Sanford offers ease of access to the Central Florida commercial market, with convenient interstate connection to other major markets in the state. In addition, an on-site private marina provides first class dockage and boat storing facilities with immediate access to the beautiful St. John's River along with a scenic waterfront restaurant. Job creation and retention have always been the overriding management factors which guide the administrative process of the Seminole County Port Authority. As a sub center of the University of Central Florida's Small Business Development Center, Seminole Community College's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has been actively serving the entrepreneurs of Seminole County since 1993. The SBDC office acts as the lead support agency for the Seminole Technology Business Incubation Center and the Central Florida Business Incubation Center. To learn additional information on this program please visit the Web site at www.seminoleinc.com.The SBDC can provide contract training programs at your site or at Seminole Community College's campus in such areas as: *Financing (SBA and Conventional Loans) *Marketing *Business Plans *Patents and Trademarks *Franchise Information *Selling to the Government *HubZone Empowerment Contracting *Program Management *Human Resources *Business Start-Up *International Business *Small Business *Innovation Research Programs (SBIR) *Small Business Technology Transfer Programs (STTR) *Buying and Selling a Business
Another way to network and discover innovative concepts is a second joint venture with the SBDC- the Seminole County Library’s small business seminar program. Business seminars are held for two hours every other week. Branch locations and dates vary and topics include Business Startup 101, Business Plans 101 and Entrepreneurship: Are You Ready? Since the program’s inception in spring 2005, 55 seminars have been held, with a total of 1,410 attendees. Of those, nearly 58 percent have gone on to start a small business and nearly 43 percent of those businesses started have been in business for six months or longer, while 25 percent of seminar attendees have finalized a business concept and are now in the planning stages. Besides the free business seminars and business book club, the Seminole County Library also has plenty of business resources available online, 24 hours a day. They include Business Matters, the library’s business web portal, which provides local business startup information — obtaining licenses, demographics, research, contacts and local support — frequently asked questions for new business startups, a business startup checklist with step by step guidance, directories and other references. Seminole County has also developed a new electronic online Request for Quotation (RFQ) bidding system for vendors that will make the procurement process for submitting bids and doing business with Seminole County Government easier and more convenient. This new system comes at an ideal time since the Board of County Commissioners is trying to increase the competitive process during times of budgetary constraint. This online RFQ bidding system will be used for those countywide procurements of basic goods and services from $10,000 to $50,000, resulting in greater internet visibility, efficiencies and bidding competition. The new system is expected to add to last year's competitive savings of $11.3 million to Seminole County tax payers. Vendors interested in doing business with Seminole County Government can register by visiting: www.seminolecountyfl.gov/purchasing. Seminole County taxes are lower than in neighboring counties. Overall, Seminole County officials reduced county taxes by $20.6 million last year, a significant savings for business and residents and there are many more tax incentives available. Seminole County officials realize that keeping taxes low and minimizing regulations while offering financial incentives and speedy approvals are the keys to showing businesspeople that Seminole County understands the needs of the business community. Workforce Central Florida
Workforce Central Florida, also known as WCF, has helped over 4,700 employers connect with more than 54,000 job seekers each year. It is also the region’s largest permanent placement agency. They partner with Central Florida businesses with innovative solutions to promote success in today’s highly competitive workforce and also assist those job seekers with the proper tools to find or advance their careers. In the partnership provided to employers WCF offers tips in helping them “stretch training dollars”. WCF literature states, “Many managers set a date, pick a topic, train and then hope for the best. But how is that training affecting the organization’s bottom line? Is the training increasing productivity? Is it improving employee retention? Does it help to establish a competitive edge for the company? Are the organization’s training dollars well spent?” These are all points that WCF reviews when helping employers hire, train and retain their workers. WCF is also very specific about their solutions. Other literature adds, “Review the company’s needs, set measurable objectives for training and decide how to evaluate it, establish how much to invest in training, create the training program, decide which employees to train, facilitate training, apply skills in the workplace and evaluate the training program.” They also note that evaluation of the training program is important so “you can tweak it if necessary.” WCF’s Employed Worker Training Program is a flexible program designed to provide financial assistance to employers that recognize the importance of investing in their employees. WCF awarded more than $71,600 in Employed Worker Training (EWT) awards to local employers in March 2008. The Employed Worker Training awards were given to a total of 15 local businesses and will assist in the payment for professional training of 467 employees. The businesses that received awards invested more than $207,600 of their own resources toward these trainings. Another program launched by WCF and Partners for a Healthy Community(PHC) is “Are You Man Enough to be a Nurse.” This campaign according to WCF targets young men in school, along with men looking to make a career change in Central Florida and encourage them to consider a nursing career. “PHC modeled its marketing plan after a successful campaign with the same name from the Oregon Center for Nursing and purchased the rights to the attention-getting tagline. The campaign imagery is comprised of eight male registered nurses from three of the five PHC hospital partners, Orlando Regional Healthcare, Florida Hospital and Health Central, and a future RN student. The RNs are diverse in age, ethnicity and specialty including critical care, ER, medical oncology and cardiac, and campaign graphics show their many hobbies such as rock climbing, surfing and music.” Partners for a Healthy Community is a consortium of healthcare providers, educational institutions and community partners funded by WCF whose mission is to increase the supply of trained healthcare professionals in the Central Florida region covering Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Sumter counties. Gary Earl, president and chief executive officer of WCF said, “It is estimated that the number of job openings for nurses, in the USA, will increase from 213,500 in 2010 to 340,000 by 2020 and the nursing shortage is a national problem and reaching out to men is one of the many solutions needed to solve this challenge.” Although budget cuts recently forced WCF to consolidate and close two regional offices they are now in the business of coming to the consumer. Their mobile bus travels the area to deliver services to employers and job seekers in a much more innovative way. “We will do this while continuing our strong customer focus and encouraging more employers and job seekers to take full advantage of our services via our website and uses of technology.” WCF presently serves five Central Florida counties, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Sumter. In addition to consolidating and closing two offices, WCF will begin to offer more and more services on their website, like a Virtual Job Fair. Job seekers can go to www.WorkforceCentralFlorida.com/JobFair to virtually send resumes to employers. If they don’t have access to a computer, they may access in any WCF Office. To learn more, visit www.WorkforceCentralFlorida.com.
Manpower – Altamonte Springs
Manpower in Altamonte Springs is one of many offices in the country. In fact, Manpower and Manpower Professional collectively have 4,100 offices. Manpower is located in 73 countries and Manpower Professional has offices in 38 countries. They have 400,000 customers worldwide and employee 30,000 total worldwide. In 2006 alone the company placed more than 200,000. They offer assistance in finding employment, and also valuable tips on resumes, interviews and more all free of charge.
Spherion - Lake Mary
Spherion in Lake Mary also offers help in recruiting and staffing services and workforce management solutions. Website information indicates that they are committed to recruiting and staffing excellence, Spherion provides integrated staffing solutions to meet the evolving needs and priorities of companies and job candidates. Offering the flexibility of temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire positions, as either full or part time jobs, Spherion has placed millions of talented people in a multitude of jobs spanning every industry. From administrative/clerical, light industrial and contact center talent to seasoned professionals in accounting and finance, technology, engineering and manufacturing, legal, sales and marketing and human resources, Spherion efficiently and effectively delivers the right people for all employment opportunities. The Company’s broad-based experience in recruiting is founded on an in-depth understanding of the workforce trends and the issues that drive performance. Spherion combines its unique expertise and knowledge with a commitment to service excellence to deliver optimal workforce solutions that exceed expectations and integrate seamlessly within any organization. Snelling Staffing Services - Sanford
Snelling Staffing Services is a full-service staffing agency placing temporary, contract, temp-to-hire and career candidates. Serving virtually every kind of business both large and small, Snelling fills a diverse span of needs from clerical and accounting, to manufacturing and distribution. Snelling’s website information shared that “the staffing industry provides U.S. companies with over 2.9 million workers oer day.” They also note, “The fact is, no one does a better job of meeting or exceeding your staffing needs than Snelling. We’ve been a leading provider of staffing service for over 50 years.”
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