Teleseminar: What You Wish You Knew About Your QTI Project

Last week I presented a FREE teleseminar to Florida businesses to help with their QTI incentive projects.  This FREE teleseminar was developed after hearing the concerns of businesses that there is no guidance for the QTI program after a project is awarded.  These businesses faced the challenge of not knowing enough to successfully track and report their QTI goals to the State.

In this 1-hour teleseminar, we covered the following:

- Four major reasons why businesses do not get their FULL scheduled payment.

-  General requirements of the QTI program. 

- Review of the 60+ page QTI agreement.  The agreement terms were broken down into simple day-to-day language that the "ordinary" person would understand. 

- Why it is important to track incentive goals each year to ensure that the company WILL meet the requirements to receive FULL payments each year.

The next teleseminar is scheduled for the month of August.  Stay tuned for more information on dates and times.

If you would like to find out more about this and other services offered by MarLynn Consulting, give us a call at (850) 727-0293.  We look forward to partnering with you on ALL of your incentive project needs.



Margo Thomas
MarLynn Consulting Group, LLC
2012 Start-Up Business of the Year

Margo Thomas, owner of MarLynn Consulting is an expert in economic incentive grants compliance management.  For nine years, she assisted the State of Florida in analyzing incentive data to determine if a business met the requirements to qualify for its scheduled payments.  Today, she helps businesses in incentive programs like Florida's QTI track and report their project goals to the State. She provides guidance and training to businesses participating in economic development incentives to ensure they receive ALL of the money awarded under their incentive project agreement.

Darden gets approval for its first QTI payment

Congratulations Darden!!

Thanks to the Economic Recovery Extension (ERE), Darden was able to extend its QTI job requirements until the economy picked up.  As a result of the extension, Darden's QTI project agreement was not terminated.  The State allowed them to extend the job creation portion of the agreement by two years.  Today, Darden's 2011 QTI claim hass been approved for a $210,187 QTI refund payment.  Had the State not granted the ERE, Darden may not have had the incentive to begin hiring again.  With Florida's unemployment still at a high rate, it is awesome news when an existing Florida business is given an opportunity to reduce some of its costs.  If you think of it, this payment should encourage Darden to begin hiring its next phase of employees.

Click on the link below to see the full article in the Orlando Sentinel.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-05/business/os-darden-new-jobs-20120405_1_darden-restaurants-tax-incentives-olive-garden

What Not To Do With Your QTI Project

In my last blog post for Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, I explained that the biggest mistakes usinesses make with their incentive projects (like QTI) are:

1. Not tracking project commitments
2. Not communicating
3. Assigning an inexperienced Project Manager
4. Submitting inadequate documentation

View full post here http://bit.ly/tbaJ2E.

Ask Margo: Frequently Asked Questions About Economic Incentives (Part II)

As I stated in last week's post, I’ve been receiving calls from a number of businesses enquiring about their incentive projects and voicing their concens. I promised to provide some additional questions/concerns that you may be interested in. Again, this post is a continuation of  Frequently Asked Questions.

The following list encompasses questions I’ve received over the years, as well as others that may not have been asked yet, but will come up. If your burning question is not included, email them to me at info@marlynnconsulting.com and I will add your question to the list.

What happens if I miss my QTI goals and don’t qualify for the scheduled payment?

Usually, if a company does not qualify for one of its payment, that business will LOSE its QTI project. What this means is that the business’ annual QTI claim application will be denied. You will not receive a payment for the year you miss one or more of your incentive commitments and you will also lose any remaining payments scheduled under your incentive agreement.

However, if the State has approved an Economic Recovery Extension (ERE), you may be provided an opportunity to apply for the extension if your project is denied.

What is an Economic Recovery Extension (ERE)?

Usually when there is an extreme economic downturn, the State’s Legislators approve an ERE to assist QTI Businesses whose project goals may have been negatively affected. The ERE allows a business that was unable to meet one or more of its job requirements to extend the project’s job commitments by one or two years.

My payment was denied, what happens now?

With most incentive programs, if a business’ scheduled payment is denied because it did not meet one or more of its project’s commitments, that business’ incentive project will be terminated. What this means is that business will not receive the payment for that year. Nor, will it receive any remaining payments scheduled under its incentive agreement.

The QTI program has a concession that allows you to extend your job requirements by one or two years. However, the extension is not always available. For the other programs, this extension is not an option. If your incentive requirements are not met, you will LOSE your project and forfeit ALL remaining scheduled payments.

What if I don’t qualify for my Quick Action Closing Fund payment?

The Closing Fund program is a little bit different than the QTI and other incentive programs, in that businesses approved for a Closing Fund project are paid at the beginning, once the project is approved. In this case, if your business does not meet one or more of its Closing Fund goals, you will be responsible for repaying the State a portion of the money you received – plus interest and penalty.