A plan to encourage overseas investors in a Levy county development was presented to the Nature Coast Development Council (NCBDC) recently. The plan, called Florida Overseas Investment Center (FOIC), is based on a federal program started in 1991. Under current regulations, an investment of $500,000 in a rural area entitles the investor to apply for a Green Card with the INS. Investors will not take an active role in the business nor will the plan bring in workers.
Roy Norton, who is an owner/manager of the Cedar Key Village project, described the type of project available for overseas investors. The project must create at least ten jobs. Additional job creation can be documented by an econometric model. Hospitality industry projects have started in Alabama, California, Hawaii, and Vermont. However, to date there have been no projects in Florida.
Norton said that Jay Peak Ski Area in Vermont is an example where thirty-five investors put in a total of $3.5 million. An economics professor at Cornell University will construct an econometric model of how such a project would create jobs in Levy County.
Partnership in the Florida Overseas Investor Center would be available to the NCBDC. An investor fee of $35,000 to $60,000 would cover administrative expenses, brokerage and filing fees with the INS, as well as a share going to NCBDC. Fourteen overseas State of Florida offices (a public/private partnership) will solicit investors. Other Levy county projects could be included in the FOIC.
Investor will be required to be in the United States for at least one day each year. Furthermore, the investor must be able to prove that the $500,000 was acquired legally.
The NCBDC has not taken action on the proposal, but according to two council members the plan will be discussed at the June meeting. | 