Suffolk plans incentives to lure tech companies

By Dave Forster
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 9, 2009

SUFFOLK

The city hopes to boost its profile as a high-tech hub by offering incentives for companies in the computer and science fields.

Northeastern Suffolk is already a hotbed for modeling and simulation research, with U.S. Joint Forces Command and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center.

To augment that, a plan is under way to create zones where new or expanding technology companies can get rebates on business license fees and personal property taxes. The Economic Development Authority reviewed a proposal Wednesday and plans to consider it next month.

The two proposed zones would cover large swaths of northern Suffolk and the greater downtown area to expand the reach of the city's existing tech corridor, said acting Economic Development Director Kevin Hughes.

"We want to show them we're forward-thinking," Hughes said.

The zones expire after 10 years. About 20 localities in Virginia have one or more, including Franklin and Newport News. Hampton had two that expired last year but has a third that will last until 2012, said Amber Callahan, the city's marketing and research manager in economic development.

Buena Vista, a city of about 6,500 people southwest of Charlottesville, has two zones.

"It's not something that we've seen businesses locate here as a result of, but it's certainly a nice tool to have to help seal the deal," said Tim Reamer, the city's economic development director.

Cities can tailor their incentives. The initial proposal in Suffolk would require businesses to have at least five employees in the city and require it to fill at least 2,500 square feet of new or vacant space or expand by that much.

The list of businesses that would qualify include modeling and simulation, computer systems design, scientific research, software and Internet publishing, data processing and telecommunications.

"We wanted to be clear that it's not just, 'Hey, I use a computer, so I count as technology,' " Hughes said.

City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn asked her economic development staff to run some numbers on the potential impact of the incentives on revenues.

Historically, companies that would qualify for the incentives have opened in the city at a rate of about two per year, Hughes said.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.

Why ?

Submitted by jimm53479 on Thu, 07/09/2009 at 9:09 am.

Why would a company want to come to a city like Suffolk with all of it's crime. You know if a newspaper delivery man is not safe on Brewer Ave. the whole city is in one heck of a mess. I sure don't plan to come home anytime soon.

Need Small Business Incentives

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/09/2009 at 7:52 am.

Waviers on business licenses and personal property was created for the "Big" corporations in Suffolk. But, the small tech business can not get any type of incentives for any local city. I recently quizzed an Economic Director in another city about incentives for a small business to open in their area. I was told, you are not "Big Enough" and have not been in business for a long time period. So, where are the incentives for the small tech business? If the feds decide to closed the Joint Command Center in Suffolk. You'll see all of the "Big Corporation Contractors" pull-out of Suffolk very fast. Suffolk should not put all their eggs in one basket. The small business owners will be around after the "Big Corporations" bail out of Suffolk.
"It's NOT a good time to be in Suffolk!"

So there has been a long

Submitted by Ethan on Thu, 07/09/2009 at 12:09 am.

So there has been a long history of these tax/license fee waivers, there should be statistics as to weather or not they work? Come on reporter, give us more? Suffolk is already at a loss because it's serviced by Charter communications and not Cox (Cox has business cable modems with some features that are beneficial, savings over a T1 circuit of $300+ a month). I'm not sure what Charter offers, but they've definitely lagged in the past. The business license is a $50 waiver, the property taxes a bit more. If JFCOM wasn't in Suffolk, those offices for Lockheed, SAIC, Echostorm and others wouldn't be there either. While I love tech, I don't see this gimmick really working. And I know why.