More than three-quarters of Martin County businesses say they don’t have room to expand.

If they can’t grow where they are - and if they think it’s too cumbersome to get permits - they’re likely to leave. That’s a conclusion of a new report commissioned by the Business Development Board of Martin County.

The assessment of Martin County’s competitiveness - or, more accurately, lack thereof - highlights challenges to business recruitment and expansion, including the high costs of building permits and a lack of move-in-ready space.

It would cost about $70,000 in permitting fees to build a 30,000-square-foot business in Martin County. In the Charleston, S.C., area, it would be about $26,000.

The firm that completed the report, Cary, N.C.-based Sanford Holshouser Business Development Group, used a mock project - dubbed Project Onyx - to gauge Martin County’s standing. It lined up the county against Orange, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, plus parts of four other states, including South Carolina.

The consultants highlighted three keys to making Martin more enticing:
* Make business facilities more readily available by fast-tracking permitting, for example.
* Offer more workforce training, and make it affordable.
* Develop local incentive programs such as property tax breaks.

An Asheville, N.C.-based company paid $3.8 million this month for Freedom Plastics Inc.’s plant in Fort Pierce.

Tags: Add new tag, beach, Business development board, development, fees, Martin County, property, taxes

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