Florida Looks at New Economic Development Tools

According to a recent news article, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has proposed an ambitious $630 million grab bag of economic-development goodies for just about any company threatening to leave the state or hoping to move here.

The biggest chunk — $250 million — is for an innovation incentive fund that would help Florida compete for major research and development projects. The projects would have to create a minimum of 1,000 jobs and provide $500 million in new capital on their own, and the state grant would have to be matched by the local community.

The governor also wants $75 million in tax credits to be used as guarantees against risk to help raise venture capital from investors. The fresh capital would be distributed to top venture capital firms that would filter the money down to smaller firms to invest in early stage, Florida-based start-up companies. The credits would be sold to reimburse investors if the companies fail.