INITIATIVES
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood."
Daniel H. Burnham
STRATEGY
Operating under a tax increment financing structure, the Zone receives an allocation annually of revenue generated from an increase in commercial and industrial properties in the City of Titusville, and in the unincorporated areas of north Brevard County.
It uses these funds to provide grants and aid to businesses and groups, to induce capital investment and job creation for the area.
In redirecting these funds to stimulate the local economy, the Zone seeks to:
* Recruit new businesses to the area;
* Help existing businesses expand;
* Redevelop existing industrial and commercial properties;
* Support entrepreneurial initiatives and local coworking spaces;
* Facilitate the development of infrastructure that can lead to greater commercial and industrial investments; and,
* Devise and support workforce training programs.
In taking on these initiatives, the Zone hopes to move closer toward fulfilling its mission of advancing economic development and diversifying the local economy.
“However beautiful the strategy,
you should occasionally
look at the results.”
Winston Churchill
The initial task of the Zone was to create a strategic plan that would identify programs it could implement to achieve its mission of a diversified local economy in North Brevard.
In 2012, the Zone board of directors finished work on its Economic Development Plan, which was subsequently approved by the City of Titusville and the Brevard County Board of Commissioners. That plan, a copy of which can be viewed by clicking here, contained five program components:
1. A program for firms creating a high number of high-wage jobs;
2. A program to induce the redevelopment of vacant and/or blighted commercial and industrial properties;
3. A program to create pad-ready industrial sites, and build an industrial building on a "speculative" basis:
4. A program to stimulate small business development and expansion; and,
5. A "strategic initiatives" section to address other aspects of economic development, such as workforce development and entrepreneurial nurturing.
Each component has a goal, an implementation strategy to accomplish the goal, program guidelines, and performance measures that the project is expected to reach. The submission of a request for funding or of a completed "Application for Assistance" does not entitle or guarantee that the applicant will receive funding. Rather, that decision resides with the nine-person board of directors, and upon concurrence by the Brevard County Board of Commissioners and the City Council of Titusville in certain circumstances.
For more information regarding the process of requesting funds from the Zone, please contact staff at 321.960.1458.