Agenda - 05-18-2010 - 8b - Laserfiche WebLink

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General Fund Transfers from new electric sales $1,120,068 Total Net Present Value 1 $2,060,756 The first grant is expected to be made in October, 2010. Grants are expected to total $607,017 over the 10 -year term of the agreement. The first compliance reports are due in March, 2010. Nearly one year after the agreement was reached, HelioVolt built its first factory for manufacturing high - performance thin film solar energy products. The 122,400 SF LEED - Certified facility is located in the Expo Business Park in southeast Austin and opened in October of 2008. The company expected to add 150 jobs with the construction of the plant. Although the company originally expected to begin operating in 2008, it has encountered delays, and now expects for its products to become available in 2010. Since the signing of the agreement, the City has extended further mutually- benefiting incentives. On September 24, 2009, City Council approved, with a 7 -0 vote, a rebate not to exceed $62,125 to HelioVolt for the installation of energy efficient equipment. With funding available from the Operating Budget of Austin Energy, there was no anticipated fiscal impact. The motion was recommended by Austin's Environmental Board and Resource Management Commission. More commentary from Professor Oden describes the distinguishing nature of the agreement with HelioVolt. "With the HelioVolt deal, the city decided to put aside the former requirement that incentives can only be offered to large establishments of over 500 employees. Given changes in the economy, this new targeting of small to medium -sized companies is a smart policy." Recommendations Orange County Commissioners and staff can benefit from understanding the incentive process utilized by the City of Austin. A few recommendations can be gleaned from the process itself but also from Austin's hard lessons learned in recent years. The City of Austin encouraged the inclusion of minorities in hiring and recruitment practices, either through direct employment or the utilization of minority -owned businesses in supply chains or contractual arrangements. To accomplish this goal, the City did not decree only one means to an end. Instead, companies are allowed to select from one of three alternatives. Allowing firms to choose from several alternatives introduces flexibility into an otherwise rigid evaluation process. .. . Loa ... im There are ways to ground a company that go beyond the mere location and production within Orange County. If you have a client company and link it carefully to workforce development providers — the Regional Partnership Workforce Development Board, for example— this can help meet public goals of low unemployment and a higher - skilled workforce with the needs of the client. And, if companies simply can't move closer to UNC, there are offices, such as the Office of Economic and Business Development that proactively takes the campus to them. These are two examples by which a new company can become enmeshed in the life of Orange County beyond its normal operations. 971Page