Homestead's 280-acre Park of Commerce & Rockefeller Foreign Trade Zone The City of Homestead warmly welcomes new businesses and developers into our wonderful area. We are a vibrant and growing community located between the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and tranquil Everglades, in exciting Miami-Dade County. We have the unique combination of a contemporary lifestyle with small town feel ... Making Homestead an ideal place to grow your business.
Homestead boasts a variety of incentives that can provide valuable financial assistance to a relocating, expanding or new business. The incentives coupled with our outstanding climate, developable land and geographical location make our city your "ideal location."

To make the process easier, contact Gemma Torcivia at 305-224-4483. She can help you with growing your business in Homestead, everybody's hometown.

An Empowerment Zone is a Federal initiative to create areas of economic opportunity. Advantages to locating in an Empowerment Zone:

• Tax Exempt Bond Financing: Up to $130 million in special tax exempt bond financing , outside the state volume cap, providing lower than market interest rates for large-scale business expansion and job creation projects.
• Qualified Zone Academy Bonds: Tax credits for companies that hold State & Local Government issued bonds to raise funds for qualified public schools or academic programs within a public school at the secondary level or below.
• Brownfields Tax Incentives: Environmental clean-up cost deduction provides businesses with an incentive to clean up certain sites that are contaminated with hazardous substances.
• Deductions: Increased Section 179 Expensing up to $37,000, for investments in capital and equipment.
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit: This Federal tax credit program provides businesses with incentives of up to $2,400 for each eligible employee and up to $3,000 for each eligible summer youth employee.
• Welfare-to-Work Credit: This credit provides businesses with an incentive to hire long-term family assistance recipients.

• Community Development Revolving Loan Fund: Loan at low interest rates and flexible terms, available in designated areas for business and industrial development efforts that create jobs.
• Urban Jobs Tax Credit Program: Up to $1,000 tax credit per regular full-time job created by new businesses with a minimum of 20 new jobs, or existing businesses with a minimum of 10 new jobs. WAGES program participants receive an additional $500 credit.
• Industrial Development Bonds: Revenue Bonds issued by the county providing long term financing at approximately 75% of the existing prime interest rate. The bonds range from $2 million to $10 million.
• Enterprise Bonds: Small-issue revenue bonds, below the prime interest rate, with financing between $250,000 and $2 million for land, building, equipment and renovations.
• Jobs For Hiring WAGES Incentive Fund: Creates a performance based mechanism to offer a company up to $2,500 for hiring WAGES clients.

The Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program: A tax refund of up to $3,000 per new job created (up to $6,000 if located in an Enterprise Zone).

Quick Response Training Program: Customized start-up training grants, averaging $500 to $600 per new employee.

Economic Development Transportation Road Fund Program: Up to $2 million for public transportation improvements as an inducement for a company's relocation or expansion. State & Local Enterprise Zone Incentives

The Enterprise Zone in the City of Homestead is a designated area within Miami-Dade County, offering financial incentives to businesses that locate or expand there. Following are specific Enterprise Zone incentives that can assist relocating or expanding companies in their efforts:

• Property Tax Abatement: Up to 100% of local property can be abated by Miami-Dade County for a company moving into, or expanding within the Enterprise Zone and creating five or more jobs.
• Refund of Impact Fees: A refund of road, police, fire, emergency services and water and waste water fees for firms receiving county property tax abatements for property improvements (within a municipality and authorized by the city).
• Enterprise Zone Property Tax Credit: 96% credit against corporate income tax up to $50,000 on any ad valorem property taxes not abated by local government, for a period of up to five years.
• Enterprise Zone Jobs Tax Credit: 15% credit for corporate income tax or sales and use tax on wages paid to each new employee who is a resident of the Enterprise Zone.
• Sales Tax Refund: A 97% refund of sales tax up to $10,000 in business property and building materials purchased for use by the company.
• Credit on Corporate Donations: A state tax credit of 50% of the value of donations, for Florida corporations making donations toward community development and low-income housing projects.