Run by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, the empowerment zone
project uses $17 billion in tax incentives to encourage businesses
to move to blighted areas and, once they get there, to stay and
grow. In Jacksonville, the zone includes downtown and much of the
surrounding area, such as LaVilla, Springfield, Talleyrand and East
Jacksonville.
Newman hopes Colomer USA's 300,000-square-foot manufacturing
center qualifies for the project.
"It would be terrific for us," Newman said. "We will chase it
really hard."
In addition to Colomer USA, at least four other manufacturers in
areas covered by the zone have expressed interest in expanding --
and adding jobs -- if such incentives were made available, said Lad
Daniels, president of the First Coast Manufacturers Association.
City officials said it was too early to tell how many jobs would
be created through the empowerment zone. Sharon Ashton, spokeswoman
for Mayor John Delaney, said it would depend on how many companies,
such as Colomer USA, apply for the tax breaks.
Jacksonville has been trying to snag an empowerment zone
designation from the federal government since the program was
launched in 1993. The city tried and failed again in 1998;
yesterday's success was on the city's third try.
The money for the project, which stems from a bill signed in
2000, is divided between businesses existing in the areas and
businesses looking to move there. The empowerment zones will last
through 2009. The six cities chosen with Jacksonville are: Pulaski
County, Ark., home to Little Rock; Fresno, Calif.; Syracuse and
Yonkers, N.Y.; Oklahoma City; and San Antonio, Texas.
The empowerment zone project works similarly to the state-run
enterprise zone program. Officials at HUD chose the cities based on
the area's poverty level, unemployment rate and population loss. The
agency also looked for cities already working to improve urban
areas.
Eligible companies will be offered a variety of tax breaks, such
as a $3,000 credit for every new employee who lives in a
neighborhood in the empowerment zone or credits up to $5,000 per
person for hiring anyone in a welfare-to-work program. Other breaks
include higher business expense write-off limits, tax deductions for
pollution cleanup and tax-exempt bonds to secure low-cost expansion
loans.
Federal and local officials conceded there is one benefit the
empowerment zone can't bring: an early end to the national
recession. For example, Cindy Hildebrand, owner of CF Machine and
Tool, a small manufacturing center near Interstate 10 and Lane Ave.,
said she won't be taking advantage of any opportunities in the new
project, even if her company is accepted as part of the empowerment
zone.
Hildebrand said she has used government programs to help her grow
in the past, such as a small business loan through the Jacksonville
Economic Development Commission. But Hildebrand is thinking about
survival, not growth, as product orders at her company, which
repairs assembly line equipment, continue to dwindle.
"[Expanding] is just not something I can do right now,"
Hildebrand said. "It's not really part of my business plan."
Still, Jacksonville city officials, including Delaney, said they
were pleased with finally being picked as an empowerment zone.
Delaney and several city council members have long tried to convince
businesses that relocating to the inner city will boost the overall
First Coast economy.
"This is an economic boost that will go a long way toward
revitalizing these neighborhoods," Ashton said, Delaney's
spokeswoman. "This would be a real big hammer or saw in the toolbox
the city could use to encourage business to go to these urban
areas."
Staff writer Mark Gordon can be reached at or via
e-mail at mgordon.
