TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

German Company Gets Tax Incentive

ADVERTISEMENT

By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: July 2, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE - From Germany to Brooksville.

R&M ShipTec, which makes interior walls and doors for passenger ships, plans to relocate its European headquarters to an existing 16,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Hernando County Airport.

And county commissioners Tuesday voted unanimously to give the manufacturer a tax incentive to ease the move.

R&M plans to create 15 jobs in its first year of operations and ramp up to 30-50 jobs by the third year, Michael McHugh, director of business development, said.

The company is eligible for a qualified target industry tax refund issued by the state after the company demonstrates the creation of jobs which equal at least 115 percent of the Hernando County average wage.

The state pays 80 percent of the incentive and Hernando County contributes the remaining 20 percent, which, in this case, is $9,000 over the next four years. The county doesn't pay it unless the company creates the jobs.

The company's positions will pay an average of $31,798 per year. The capital investment for the project will exceed $1 million.

Commissioners roundly praised McHugh for his recruitment efforts and threw their support behind the incentive request.

"This is the way we build our economy," Commissioner David Russell said.

County Commissioner Chris Kingsley said he would like to carve out time on a future agenda to highlight the work McHugh and his department have done in encouraging new business and diversifying the economy.

"We've actually seen an up-tick in foreign countries expressing an interest in Florida and Hernando County," McHugh said.

That's due in large part to the current exchange rate, which is favorable to relocation, McHugh said.

McHugh stressed that this is the fifth company in the past month to announce plans to locate here. Just last week, his office announced that an aerospace parts manufacturer, Intrepid Inc., was coming to the Airport Corporate Park.

McHugh said these companies may be small, but they definitely play a part in the bigger economic picture.

And it also helps whittle away the high unemployment rate in the county, he said.

"We have more workers than we have employment here," he said.

Also at Tuesday's county commission meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to approve:

• The final pay request from Bandes Construction Co. of $99,058 for the Spring Hill Fire Rescue Station 3 renovation project, for a final contract price of $1.4 million.

In April 2006, commissioners awarded the contract to Bandes for $1.3 million. The company renovated the existing fire station at 13240 Spring Hill Drive and added an apparatus bay and living quarters.

Since then, the board approved 11 change orders for an increase of $95,618 to the existing contract.

• A job description for the vacant Human Resources Department director and proceed with posting for the job, which will pay $69,000 to $109,000.

The county hopes to have someone on board by September.

Former director Barbara Dupre was forced to resign in April after a scathing audit and outside legal review found numerous management deficiencies in her department.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT