Funding is available through the Industry Recruitment, Retention & Expansion Fund (IRREF) grant program to grant proposals within the eight Northwest Florida counties most affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Gulf, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Wakulla counties. View SEDI frequently asked questions.

Funding under the IRREF Grant Program is limited to businesses considering locating or expanding in a Disproportionally Affected County of Northwest Florida, and for which there is significant interstate or international competition that cannot be met by other State and local economic development incentives. The IRREF Grant Program is intended to supplement state and local economic development incentives when attempting to entice medium and large enterprises - particularly those in Florida's targeted industry clusters or strategic areas of emphasis - to locate or expand their business operations within a Disproportionally Affected County. The IRREF Grant Program is not intended to substitute for state and local economic development incentives. Please see RFP for more details.

All applicants are required to participate in a pre-application conference call, the purpose of which is to discuss the project and pre-determine the applicant(s) eligibility to apply for IRREF incentives. To schedule a pre-application conference call, please contact Dr. Brice Harris, 850.474.2708 or bharris@uwf.edu.

IRREF Request for Participation >>

State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)
Created as part of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, SSBCI was designed by the federal government to help states strengthen existing loan and equity programs and/or create new programs that support financing small businesses. Florida received a total SSBCI allocation of $97,662,349.

The primary objective of Florida's SSBCI Program is to leverage private capital for Florida's small businesses, which are defined as businesses with an average 500 employees or less. After five years, Florida must show that, taken together, $10 in new small business lending or investment was generated by every $1 in SSBCI funding (known hereafter as the "10:1 private capital leverage ratio"). Therefore, Florida's SSBCI Program must generate at least $976,623,490 in new private capital for Florida's small businesses. Accordingly, to achieve the required 10:1 private capital leverage ratio, Florida's SSBCI Program will place emphasis on supporting loan and equity transactions that provide strong private capital leveraging opportunities.

Florida Opportunity Fund
Legislation passed by Florida Legislature in 2007, which created Sections 288.9621-288.9625 of the Florida Statutes, collectively referred to as the Florida Capital Formation Act, provided for the creation of the Florida Opportunity Fund ("FOF" or the "Fund"), initially as a fund of funds program that invests in venture capital funds. In 2009, The Florida Legislature expanded the Florida Opportunity Fund's mandate under the Florida Capital Formation Act to create direct investment programs that invest in businesses and infrastructure projects. The Florida Opportunity Fund is sponsored by Enterprise Florida and is managed by Florida First Partners ("FFP"). Florida Opportunity Fund investment programs include: Fund-of-Funds Program; Clean Energy Investment Program; and Florida Venture Capital Program.

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