Santa Rosa OKs tax incentives to bring in 400 higher paying jobs
February 9, 2007
A company that could bring 400 jobs paying higher-than-average wages to Santa Rosa County is one step closer to getting tax incentives that could seal the deal.
The Santa Rosa County Commission approved a resolution Thursday stating that an effort known publicly only as "Project Crystal" would qualify for two programs to receive state tax breaks. The state must sign off on the project's eligibility before the company will make its final decision.
Shannon Ogletree, industry recruiter for the TEAM Santa Rosa Economic Development Council, described the business as a call center for a Washington state-based "broadband technology company."
"Think of it as like BellSouth or Mediacom," he said. "If you have issues connecting to the Internet, you call up tech support and say, 'I can't get onto my wireless router. Walk me through the steps.' "
Project Crystal would like to begin operations as soon as this summer, he said.
County Commissioner Don Salter said the business would be an asset to the local community.
"Their salaries will be higher than most in the county," said Salter, who heads the commission's economic development efforts. "We hesitate to even call it a call center. It would probably be comparable to the Navy Federal Credit Union customer service center in Escambia County."
Ogletree said Santa Rosa is among three sites the company is considering, along with locations in Texas and Arizona.
One of the attractions for the company locally is a 40,000-square-foot building at the Santa Rosa County Industrial Park in East Milton previously used as a call center for CitiFinancial, which closed last year.
"That building had about a $3 million upgrade (by CitiFinancial) to make it an upscale facility," Salter said.
Ogletree agreed: "Basically, all this company has got to do is bring in computers and they're ready."
The company has pledged to pay $15.78 or more per hour, Olgletree said. That's 115 percent of the $13.73 average hourly wage in Santa Rosa, which is a requirement to be eligible for the state's qualified target industry tax refund program. Project Crystal is also eligible for that program because it is classified as a "technical service."
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