stjohnsflorida

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA ational amenities and health care options, among other factors.Tourismstarted to increase,which introducedmore people to the county,but the Board of CountyCommissioners wanted away to cultivate an environment for sustained busi- ness growth.Priorities began to change in 2011,when the Board of County Commissioners created the County Eco- nomic Development Department in order to implement a proactive and sustained effort to attract new businesses, retain and expand its existing ones, diversify its economic base, and create manymore high-wage jobs. “One of the things the County Commission approved back in 2014 was a new business incentive program,” says Melissa Glasgow,Director of the county’s Economic De- velopment Department.“We wanted a program that was competitive with other areas, but was not a ‘give-away’ program to make sure that our Commission was com- fortable in utilizing the tool without feeling the need for recapturemeasures.Keeping that inmind,wewere careful The iconic 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass Golf Club in Ponte Vedra Beach. The course is home to both the PGA Tour and the Players Championship. AT A GLANCE ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA WHAT: A county with a population of 230,000 WHERE: Northeast Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean WEBSITE: www.co.st-johns.fl.us tomake sure that any incentives that were approved under theprogramwereperformance-basedandthat weonlypayout taxmoneyinwhatwecollected in taxes, and onlyafter the performancemeasures weremet in terms of development,job creation,andwages paid.” At the same time, Glasgow explains that the program was designed with great flexibility, giving the Commission the ability to negotiate for the right projects on a case-by-case basis.“It has a specific set of criteria that one can look at in order to determine eligibility,” she says.“But we also wanted to make sure that the Board felt like it had the latitude to be able to do things that may not necessarily be reflect- ed in the program.We wanted to make sure that it covered projects and incentives that were outside its scope, so they could consider any project that came forward based on its merits -whether it be capital investment, the number of new jobs,whether