$8M incentive sought for 330-employee aerospace project

A high-tech aerospace company indicated to be Blue Origin is looking for $8 million in incentives from the North Brevard Economic Development Zone. The money would help it build a 330-employee facility at Exploration Park near the Kennedy Space Center.

The company is referred as "Project Panther" in a report submitted to Brevard County commissioners.

But U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson last month confirmed to FLORIDA TODAY that Seattle-based Blue Origin is the company the state has been wooing under the code name of Project Panther.

The state is proposing that Blue Origin set up a rocket-manufacturing site in Exploration Park, a planned research and industrial complex outside KSC's south gate, and launch from Launch Complex 36, a state-run pad on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The company, founded in 2000 by Amazon.com chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, is considering other states for the project, including Georgia and North Carolina.

Blue Origin considers Space Coast to build, launch rockets

Documents filed with the county say the company behind Project Panther would make a capital investment of $205 million to $220 million. Its new jobs would pay an average of $89,000 a year.

The company is seeking the $8 million in incentives in "support for infrastructure-related improvements."

Money to pay for the incentives would come from the North Brevard Economic Development Zone, which the County Commission created in 2011 to help spur economic development in northern Brevard County. The zone uses property tax money generated by commercial and industrial development in that part of the county to help do that.

According to information provided to Brevard County commissioners, this project would involve the construction of a 155,000-square-foot facility "to be used for the design and manufacture of a high-tech aerospace product. The site being considered, to be located in Exploration Park, will need to be constructed. Offsetting development costs is crucial to this project."

The report said members of the Brevard County Commission and North Brevard Economic Development Zone board "will be offered detailed briefings on this projects" if they agree to sign an agreement not to discuss the identity of the company.

"Briefing for the County Commission members will also provide for direct interaction with the client, in order to ensure detailed answers can be provided in a confidential setting," the report added.

The report said the $8 million requested "represents a small portion of the investment being made by other economic development partners, as well as the company itself."

Project Eagle in Titusville approved for $2.5 million in incentives

According to the proposal, North Brevard Economic Development Zone would make the payments over a 10-year period.

"Grant funding is tied to performance, specifically the completion of the proposed facility," the report said.

The company also would not continue to qualify for the incentives if it doesn't meet its employment targets.

Brevard County Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis, a critic of the North Brevard Economic Development Zone since its inception, quickly pounced on the news.

He said the monetary policies of the zone are out of control, and it is the taxpayers who will be on the hook.

"What is happening in our county is stunning," Ellis said Saturday in an e-mail to FLORIDA TODAY. "We are simply being looted."

Dale Ketcham, chief of strategic alliance at Space Florida, on Saturday wouldn't discuss the company behind Project Panther, citing a non-disclosure agreement he signed. However, economic incentives will play an important role for the company whenever it makes a decision on where to locate, he said

"No incentives, no Panther," Ketcham said. "Unilateral disarmament in the face of economic competition is not a strategy for success."

The proposed resolution related to the incentives indicates the project "will provide a needed economic boost to an area of the county adversely impacted by the end of NASA's space shuttle program."

The agenda item describes Project Panther as being established in 2000 and funded primarily by private investment — which is the case with Blue Origin.

This is the second major incentive request related to the North Brevard Economic Development Zone in the last month.

In late-April, the zone's board unanimously approved and the Brevard County Commission voted 4-1 to approve $2.5 million in incentives for attracting a high-tech manufacturer to Titusville. Most of that money would be used to help pay construction costs.

The unidentified company — being referred to as "Project Eagle" — hopes to open a 150-employee manufacturing facility at the county-owned Spaceport Commerce Park, near Space Coast Regional Airport in south Titusville. Those jobs would pay an average of $48,000 a year.

FLORIDA TODAY staff writer James Dean contributed to this report.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 and dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByDaveBerman and on Facebook at facebook.com/dave.berman.54.

County Commission meeting

The Brevard County Commission plans to discuss the project at its May 26 meeting at the Brevard County Government Center, Building C, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. This agenda item is scheduled to be discussed at 10 a.m.