When it comes to luring new business to Southwest Florida and the state, economic development officials know the spiel. They talk up the quality of life, reasonable cost of living, trained workforce, zero state income tax, and so on. And when that's not enough-if there's a tie with another state, for example-the incentive carrot is dangled, many times with success.

"Incentives are often the deciding factor in the site-selection process," says Kim Prunty, spokeswoman for Enterprise Florida, a public-private partnership responsible for Florida's statewide economic development efforts. "They're a necessary evil of sorts. We would rather not have to use them but we have to be competitive with other states."

The predominant incentive is the qualified target industry tax refund, or QTI. That involves giving tax refunds of up to $3,000 per new job created, or $6,000 in an enterprise zone. Those positions, however, must pay 115 percent of the average annual wage in an area.

Since QTI began in 1995, it has influenced more than 300 projects statewide that are expected to create more than $6.1 billion in private-sector investment and 74,000 new jobs, Prunty says. Over a 10-year period, the average business receiving the incentive generates $12.59 in state tax revenue for every dollar Florida invests in the business, she says.

Southwest Florida also has benefited from incentive offerings, again largely through QTI. For instance, in Lee County since 1999, incentives have drawn 14 new companies that have created 1,673 jobs-direct and indirect-paying 154 percent of the local wage.

"Incentives are an added benefit" to what the region already has to offer, says Regina Smith, executive director of the Lee County Economic Development Office.

Other programs include a high-impact performance incentive, aimed at major, highly competitive projects, and the capital investment tax credit, used to attract and grow capital-intensive industries in Florida. Each has been used less than eight times.

Another positive about state and local incentives: They're performance-based, meaning companies have to create those high-wage jobs before they're shown the money. "Florida's programs are very conservative," Prunty says.

-Phil Borchmann