Financial Advantages

Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Fuel
Sebring Regional Airport is a designated Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ #215) meaning that fuel purchased for off-shore flights is not subject to some taxes, saving up to $.50 per gallon!

Foreign Trade Zone Number 215
The Zone, designated by the FTZ Board as FTZ Number 215, not only will assist in economic development at Sebring Regional Airport/Commerce Park but throughout Highlands County as well.
A survey, conducted by the International Trade Commission, found that the presence of a FTZ was the fourth most identifiable factor in plant site location decisions. FTZs provide customs cost savings and encourage improved inventory control. Through the use of FTZs, U.S. based production is placed on more equal footing with production in a foreign country, and FTZs have had a significant impact in retaining U.S. production and employment as well as stimulating new activity in the United States.

We Are Located In A Rural Enterprise Zone
Rural Enterprise Zone businesses are eligible for numerous tax incentives. Incentives include an enterprise zone job tax credit taken against Sales & Use Tax or Corporate Income Tax; property tax credit for new or improved property; sales tax refund for business machinery and equipment; sales tax refund for building materials used to construct or rehab real property; and a community contribution tax credit program for businesses that donate to local community development projects.

Florida Incentives
New Highlands County businesses qualify for a rural jobs tax credit that provides $1,000 per qualified employee to encourage economic expansion. Also, Qualified Target Industries receive refunds on the taxes they pay equal to a minimum of $4800 per new job created, if the job pays an average annual wage that is at least 115 percent of the Highlands County average wage. By the Sebring Airport & Commerce Park having a Brownfield overlay, pre-approved applicants may receive a tax refund up to $2,000 per new average-annual-wage job created

Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) - Incentives
Sebring Regional Airport Community Redevelopment Agency, the only on-site airport CRA in the U.S., provides incentives through the CRA that cannot be provided by other airports. The Airport Authority makes available the State of Florida's Community Redevelopment incentives program to businesses leasing land and building facilities on the Airport & Commerce Park property. These incentives can include offsetting or deferring lease payments through the use of the Airport CRA's Tax Increment Trust Fund and loans for site improvements, parking lot construction and special infrastructure needs.

Financing
Funds are available for construction, purchase of machinery and equipment, and working capital to qualified applicants through the area's thirteen commercial bank offices with combined deposits of $555 million. Federal and State grants may also be available, especially to aviation-related tenants. The Airport Authority will assist you in identifying and applying for these funds. The Board of County Commissioners, in support of economic development, has established the Highlands County Industrial Development Authority to provide industrial revenue bond financing to qualifying applicants. Information on this and other financing programs can be obtained from:

Highlands County Economic Development Commission
2113 U.S. Highway 27 South
Sebring, Florida 33870
Phone: (863) 385-1025,
FAX: (863) 385-1379
E-Mail: info@highlandsedc.com