Alliance targets job creation

SARASOTA COUNTY — Several actions by the Sarasota County Commission could create a more skilled workforce and dozens of jobs in the area.

The commission on Wednesday approved considering giving Career Edge Funders Collaborative $300,000 over the next three years to train more than 300 local people for jobs in the manufacturing, transportation, health care and insurance industries. The county staff is expected to propose funding mechanisms for the sum during annual budget talks in the coming months, if the commission gives the allocation the final stamp of approval.

“You’re filling a demand that’s there, and there’s overwhelming demand for some of these programs,” Commissioner Christian Ziegler told a Career Edge representative present at Wednesday’s meeting. “People just want to go out, make an honest living, have an honest job and take care of their families.”

Career Edge, an organization dedicated to expanding workforce development, has trained more than 5,300 workers, helped create close to 1,500 jobs and invested $10.6 million in regional workforce development from 2011 to 2018, according to the organization. The County Commission’s consideration of the $300,000 for Career Edge comes on the heels of the city of Sarasota agreeing to contribute just over $34,000 to launch an air conditioning workforce training program in Newtown, where unemployment is notoriously high. The Argus Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes business and collaboration between the public and private sectors, is also chipping in financially to start up the four-month program slated to start in May.

Career Edge last year successfully started an automotive repair program at Suncoast Technical College and an air conditioning installation program at Manatee Technical College in which students, many of whom work during the day, received certification in the fields and went on to have sustainable, well-paying careers.

The commission also on Wednesday adopted a resolution recommending that Project Allman — the code name for a custom computer programming services company currently based in New York — be approved for the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program, and the board committed $50,000 in matching funds over a six-year period. The Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund incentive is available for companies that create high-wage jobs in targeted high value-added industries. Incentives include refunds on corporate income, sales, ad valorem, intangible personal property, insurance premium and certain other taxes. Pre-approved applicants who create jobs in Florida receive tax refunds of $3,000 per net new full-time equivalent jobs created and $6,000 in a rural community, according to Enterprise Florida, a public-private partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders to diversify and expand the economy.

The board also agreed to consider giving the company, which recently bought a digital marketing firm in Sarasota, a performance-based incentive of $100,000. The company expects to create 50 new full-time jobs in the next five years with a minimum average salary of $48,102, county officials said.

“This is a performance-based program,” Rob Lewis, the county’s director of governmental relations, said. “So we won’t be writing a check for $150,000. It will be something that the county will receive reports back on.”

The commission also adopted a resolution recommending local-based Rhodan Marine Systems of Florida LLC for the Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program, with the county providing $18,000 in matching funding. The board also approved the company’s request for a grant not to exceed $36,000. The company has outgrown its current space and plans to add 18 full-time jobs over the next five years with an average minimum wage of $48,102, county officials said.

Commissioners stressed they expect performance reports regularly to ensure the companies are keeping up their end of the bargain and boosting the economy through job creation and high wages. It’s Ziegler’s hope there will be no need in the future for the county to lure businesses to the area with incentives, he said.

“I hope at some point we get in a position where we don’t need incentives, that we can make it clear that Sarasota County is the number one place, and even if someone in some other area is offering up resources or incentives, that they’ll still want to select Sarasota County because of how great we are,” Ziegler said.