Economic Development News

Martin County's economy has been in decline since 1988.

So says Ron Bunch, executive director of the Business Development Board of Martin County.

This is not just Bunch's opinion. It's also one of the conclusions of the 2008 Policom Corp. study commissioned by the BDB to analyze historic economic trends and identify future economic opportunities.

The bottom line? A lack of economic diversity and a shortage of targeted, "contributory" businesses - those that do more than 50 percent of their business out of state and, therefore, bring new money into Martin County - has made the local economy overly dependent on the vicissitudes of the service and housing industries.

Today, Martin County is paying the price for decades of failure to recruit and retain companies that compete nationally and internationally.

Consider:

• 12.4 percent of Martin County residents are unemployed. An additional 11 percent to 18 percent are underemployed.

• There were 2,082 foreclosures in Martin County in 2009. By comparison, there were 154 foreclosures in 2004.

• 27 percent of Martin County residents have no health insurance.

• The House of Hope reported a 50 percent increase in requests for emergency financial assistance in 2009.

Granted, the recession has exacerbated financial hardships for local residents, businesses and governments. But, the truth is, our economy has been built on a shaky foundation.

To spearhead economic development, the BDB is proposing an innovative idea: Using incremental tax revenues from existing economic development projects to fund qualified, targeted businesses or capacity building projects.

The BDB plans to ask the County Commission to set aside a minimum of 50 percent of the new tax revenue from the Florida Power & Light solar project in Indiantown (at least $1 million annually) to generate capital for the economic development fund. A percentage of new revenue from future projects also would be invested in the fund.

These funds would then be used in four ways:

• To help "close the deal" with prospective businesses. This might include land purchases, lease concessions, and leveraging other state and federal funds.

• Grants to businesses that create jobs based on specific wage requirements.

• Tax abatements for targeted, contributory businesses. (Tax abatements need to be approved by referendum.)

• Fee relief (to encourage reuse of vacant or underutilized commercial and industrial space). This might include business permits and other fees.

Naysayers may contend Martin County can't afford to divert tax revenue from the general fund to an economic development fund. Such short-sighted thinking is one of the reasons the local economy is on life support.

Remember how the county splurged with new-found money in the height of the building boom? Now the County Commission has an opportunity to take a conservative approach, wisely investing the funds in businesses that can bring in jobs, create local wealth and yield new tax revenue.

The County Commission should support the BDB's innovative proposal.