As Bay County prepares for the arrival of GKN Aerospace, they are coming up with ways to make sure the company stays in our community. Tuesday the Bay Economic Development Alliance asked county commissioners to approve an incentives package for GKN.
“$750,000 worth of incentives, performance based incentives. They have to prove these jobs and qualify these jobs and then those incentives are returned in a rebate from the taxes they pay into the property tax fund,” said Philip “Griff” Griffitts, Bay County Commissioner.
The incentives package passed with a unanimous vote by commissioners.
GKN will have to meet some milestones to be eligible for the incentives. Those include creating 170 new jobs at an annual wage of $63,000 by December of 2020.
They must also maintain each of those jobs in Bay County for at least three years after their creation.
The commission says they are confident that GKN will meet these requirements, which will have a large impact on the local economy.
“It’s just the anchor. It’s just the beginning. I think everybody knows that with success, the people around it feel success as well and this is just the start of great things for Bay County and so everybody will benefit from this project,” said Griffitts.
The package states that GKN must fully meet all the requirements before they see any of the $750,000 worth of incentives.
