Firm praised by Scott now faces legal woes

FORT MYERS — A company Gov. Rick Scott was praising more than a year ago for creating jobs is now delinquent in its property taxes and has never met its hiring goals.

The Fort Myers News-Press reported Sunday that Altair Training Solutions was supposed to be a multimillion- dollar enterprise with facilities in Hendry and Collier counties where it would offffffffffffer training for law enforcement and military combat personnel.

Altair’s owners, Michelle and Brian Jones, said they would bring 150 jobs, with an average annual salary of more than $62,000, to Hendry County. In May 2015, Scott visited a company location in Immokalee to highlight the job growth promised by the company.

The Joneses’ short history in Southwest Florida is mired by lawsuits, liens, judgments, several defunct businesses, foreclosures and a bankruptcy. Brian Jones’ military career was embellished in published reports, marketing materials and even by state and local offifficials, inferring experience in special operations that he lacked.

Altair, brings in $ 275,000 a year in revenue and has 20 employees. The newspaper reported that lenders had foreclosed on a $3.7 million property purchased by the company in Hendry County and that the state terminated Altair from a tax incentive program in late 2015.

If Altair met certain goals it was supposed to get refunds from the state for money it paid in income tax, sales tax, property taxes and workers’ compensation insurance premiums. In all, Altair could have qualifified for $806,000 in refund payments.