Enterprise Florida — the other side of the incentives
When I retired to Florida in 2002, the last thing onmy mind was starting another company.
Years ago, I founded and built a national pharmaceutical research company starting froma small office above my garage in Wilmington, N.C., so I knew first-hand the challenges in building a startup in this field.
To be successful we needed access to scientific workers in the area, an international airport with connections to export markets and a local university willing to work with new businesses. Ideally, we would be located near a large research institute and other biopharma companies that we could partner with on projects.
As a retired entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience, I became restless. Our new home in South Florida wasn’t known for drug development, but there seemed to be a growing realization that the state needed to diversify its key industries beyond tourism, construction and real estate.
To attract companies in targeted high-wage industries like ours, the state of Florida invested heavily in the Scripps Research Institute and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, and those companies brought in scientists and research projects thatwere complimentary tomy goal of supporting clinical research for rare diseases impacting children.
As part of state and local efforts to build this industry in Florida, the town of Jupiter partnered with the state to set up a fund to help startups with “seed” loans, and neighboring Palm Beach Gardens developed a similar fund. Both invested inmy new specialty pharmaceutical company, nowc alled Sancilio& Company, Inc., and provided the incentive loans to help us locate in Palm Beach County.
The capital allowed us to growand hire nearly 50 people in less than two years. I’m proud to say both loans were paid back within three years. At the same time, we secured enough money fromlocal investors to grow our company to more than 100 scientists and support staff.
Aswe continued to grow, states like Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina began soliciting us with their own incentive programs to relocate. We wanted to expand again, and if it hadn’t been for Enterprise Florida’s growth-based incentive funds, we would have been forced to relocate to one of the more business-friendly states that had been courting our company.
But with the help of Enterprise Florida, wewere able to stay right here in Palm Beach and add an additional 80 highwage jobs.
Today, SCI employs nearly 200 people, has several new drugs in clinical development and continues to add scientists and support staff.
So given our company’s history, Iwas shocked to learn that the Florida House is considering legislation to defund Enterprise Florida!
How could any state legislator not see the advantages of having a growth incentive program for small businesses to growin Florida? Without such a program, SCI would be located in Louisiana right now. If Enterprise Florida’s incentive programs go away, competitor states will attract our new and expanding businesses away, reversing all of the greatwork done by the state to build businesses in biopharma and other high-wage, high-growth industries.