County approves incentive for prospect

Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners only took a couple of minutes during a special called meeting Nov. 30 to approve an incentive package to keep the county in the running for the relocation of Project Vortex.

TEAM Santa Rosa asked commissioners to approve a new incentive that would offer the company $200 per employee up to 700 employees for five years, according to Executive Director Cindy Anderson. That would equate to more than $500,000 over five years.

Commissioner Don Salter said the county needed to pass the incentive to remain competitive with other locations Vortex was considering.

“This will just keep us in the hunt,” he said.

If Vortex does decide to relocate to Santa Rosa County, County Administrator Hunter Walker said the incentive would be paid for with the $747,000 balance in the electric franchise fund.

For more on this story, see the Dec. 8 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.