Grants Available for FL companies to Participate in Trade Exhibitions

If you have a business that produces a product you'd like to export to other countries, it may be a good idea to  participate in one of Enterprise Florida's trade events.  These trade events give you access to businesses in other countries who may need your product.

Attending these events may take some investment on your part.  However, there are grants available to assist you in this endeavor.  You can apply for a grant to help you defray some of the associated costs.  Here is a link to a flyer for more detailed information and a copy of the grant application.

http://www.eflorida.com/download/SBA_docs/SBA_Target_Sector_Grant_Flyer.pdf

Good luck on taking your export company to the next level!

You Can Boost Your Business Through Training - Here's How

In this article, a Florida small businesss touts the benefits in providing training for his employees.  He also highlighted how he was able to recoup some of the total cost of training by participating in Florida's workforce training grants.  To read the full article, click on the following link: http://on.tdo.com/TJRF0o

Florida's Quick Response Training (QRT) To Be Increased to $12M

The Quick Response Training (QRT), a tool Florida uses to help businesses train their workforce may be getting a boost this year. 

During an economic downturn, many businesses wonder how they can afford to train their team.  However, with programs such as the workforce training grants, a business may have an opportunity to increase the skills of its employees at a reduced cost.  Grants like the QRT allows a business to subsidize 50 - 75% of its direct training costs for a year.  

To read the full article, click on the link: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=538134

This significant increase in program funding would help many business owners.  The catch though is, how do small businesses take advantage of these opportunities?

State may try to recover Digital Domain incentive money

I read an article written by a Palm Beach Post Staff Writer indicating that the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is considering clawbacks for incentives paid to Digitial Domain Media Group. According to the article, Digital Domain was paid a total of $20 million in four installments in 2009, 2010 and 2011 under the Quick Action Closing Fund incentive program.  Unfortunately, the company did not meet the overall requirements for the program and thus, was responsible for returning a portion, if not all of the funds to the State.  Here is a link to the full article http://bit.ly/S6NoU4.

This situation with Digital Domain shouldn't scare businesses from participating in economic incentive programs.  However, I strongly urge businesses to make realistic estimates of what they'll be able to accomplish.  Many businesses overestimate their goals to qualify for a larger award amount.  This is definitely not a sound strategy when pursuing incentives. 

I would say though, that this situation should encourage businesses to hire a firm who fully understands the incentives process and requirements BEFORE they start pursuing these incentives.  If you are considering economic incentives, give us a call.  We have the experience you'll need to make the BEST decisions as it relates to your incentives.

New Economic Incentive projects in Bay County

Two economic incentive projects are expected to be approved for the Bay County area. These projects will create a total of 291 jobs.  State incentives include a total of $873 in QTI dollars.  Click on the link below to see the full story.

http://www.newsherald.com/news/economic-105553-incentives-panama.html