CANCER TREATMENT CENTERS OF AMERICA CHOOSES TO RELOCATE HQ TO BOCA RATON & MICROSOFT INNOVATION CENTER COMING TO SOUTH FLORIDA
So many things to report on today! Actually for the past couple of days but I have gotten backed up over here. For maximum efficiency this will be a 2 for 1 blog today as these 2 articles are certainly related. Let’s start with a follow up from a former blog. Remember a few days ago (a week?) when we discussed another corporate HQ target that was considering relocating to Boca Raton? It was another company from the Midwest and was going to bring over 200 jobs to the area? The name was a secret, as they always are until a decision is made, but no longer. It was announced that Cancer Treatment Centers of America has selected Boca Raton as its choice for its new corporate HQ. The county and state secured the deal with an aggressive economic package that totaled $1.975 million, which included $357,000 from the county and Boca Raton and $1.26 million from the state. So this becomes the 2nd company from Illinois that has been lured to Florida in the past 6 weeks and coincidentally to Boca Raton. It should be noted that Illinois recently raised taxes there making it one of the highest in the nation. Surrounding states and others like Florida have quickly and aggressively moved to lure both businesses and residents from there with more tax friendly locations. Remember, the jobs they are bringing have an average salary of over $90,000 which is almost double the county average. Plus the type of business fits perfectly with the large elderly population, healthcare, and chances are good that they will expand here over the years. So hopefully this won’t be the last of Midwestern companies to choose Florida as their new home. This leads us to the 2nd article. Perhaps the news about Houston’s possibly making Boca Raton its first city in the US to have 2 restaurants should have served as a warning that something great could be happening here in South Florida (all of Florida really but seems like more here in the South).
This might confirm it as Microsoft announced that would be placing its first innovation center in the US in an undisclosed location in South Florida. While it won’t be the first innovation center in the world as they already have 90 of them open in other countries, they mentioned that this would be a flagship location. The innovation center functions to work with Government, startup companies, academics and the community to create “synergistic environments” using Microsoft branding and products. There will be a big focus on the startup companies with an initiative called Bizspark. The program provides 3 years of free Microsoft products to startup companies. Once a company surpasses $1 million in revenue Microsoft starts charging licensing fees for the products. It has been used internationally with 50,000 companies! I would say this has been an incredible last few days for South Florida and the efforts to draw more business to the area. It is especially encouraging that it also seems like the right industries are coming, the high tech and healthcare that are the most in demand these days worldwide. Just another day in paradise indeed!
Health-care firm to move headquarters to Boca Raton
Exclusive: Microsoft plans innovation center in South Florida
Orin Rosenfeld
President
Rosenfeld Realty Advisors
9858 Glades Rd. Suite 209
Boca Raton, FL 33434
Phone: 561-756-1665
Fax: 561-470-0707
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