The deal brokered by Gov. Jeb Bush to entice the Scripps Research Institute to expand is expected to cost taxpayers at least $400-million.
By ALISA ULFERTS
Published October 10, 2003
Click here to find out more about the Scripps Research Institute.
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush boarded a plane July17 and headed to California with an audacious idea.
Behind closed doors, Bush told one of the world's largest private research companies that he was prepared to make a deal.
Open a facility in Florida, he said, and taxpayers will build you a brand new lab and spend millions of dollars on high tech equipment.
We'll even pay your employees' salaries for eight years, he said. The cost to taxpayers: at least $400-million.
The Scripps Research Institute hadn't seriously considered expanding, until they heard the offer. They quickly agreed.
Now all Bush has to do is sell it to the Legislature.
The governor on Thursday called lawmakers into special session Oct. 20-24 to approve the deal, and many of them seemed ready to embrace it.
Bush, whose office compared the economic impact of the biomedical research company to Disney World or the Kennedy Space Center, wants to take $310-million of the $1-billion in federal economic stimulus money Florida got earlier this year.
"This is our chance to catapult past other states and other countries," Bush said Thursday during a news conference announcing the deal.
Scripps is not the only company Bush wants to lure to Florida. He says he has other deals in the works and wants the Legislature to create a $190-million economic development fund to help close them.
But the Scripps deal stands out. The governor's economic development office could not cite another time Florida offered to pay the salaries for a company to move to the state.
Bush said the company's presence in Florida will ripple through the state's economy.
Scripps chose Palm Beach County for its new facility, and projected hiring 31 people the first year. The number would grow to 545 employees within seven years and 2,800 within 15.
The state projects another 3,700 jobs also would be created, such as research materials suppliers and waiters at local restaurants.
Bush expects other biotech companies to locate to Florida, creating 44,000 high-wage jobs.
Palm Beach County is a big player in the deal.
Scripps would move into temporary quarters next year and construct a 364,000-square-foot facility on 100 acres by 2006. Palm Beach County and its business development board would pay for the temporary quarters and the new facility at a cost of at least $100-million.
Bush engineered the Scripps deal himself after spending four hours at the institute.
"The governor found us and then we found him," said Scripps president Richard Lerner.
The institute frequently is approached to open branch facilities but Florida made the most sense, Lerner said.
"We think we're in the right state with the right leader," Lerner added.
As part of the deal, Florida would spend $50-million to $60-million on new technology, plus millions on the salaries of some of the scientists and other workers. Communities throughout the state, including Hillsborough County, submitted bids. Scripps chose Palm Beach largely because that's where its employees wanted to go, Lerner said.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell said he's excited about Scripps' programs for students and teachers.
"A lot of our high schoolers may have the opportunity to work there," Newell said. The County Commission still has to approve its end of the deal and scheduled an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss it, Newell said. The county is considering several sites for the facility, he added.
The deal appears to have strong legislative support. Scripps' research appeals to Senate President Jim King because he has made expanded biomedical research a high priority. The company also is noted for its Alzheimer's research, which appeals to House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, who secured funding for an Alzheimer's center in Tampa in memory of his father, who died of the disease. Both said they support Bush's proposal.
House Democrats also praised the deal, as did Florida Taxwatch, a business-backed government watchdog.
Senate Democratic leader Ron Klein, whose district is in Palm Beach County, appeared with Bush during the news conference announcing the Scripps deal and is an enthusiastic supporter. But he opposes creating a new economic development fund. That $190-million should go to education, he said.
The Scripps deal involves partnerships with the state's 11 universities.
James "Bernie" Machen, the new president of the University of Florida, met with company officials for an hour Thursday. He plans to fly to California to meet with the company. "It's a great opportunity," Machen said.
Bush's announcement came just days after the Florida School Boards Association asked him to call a special session to increase state education funding. Bush said Thursday he opposes that.
"We're still going to ask for a special session and we certainly hope the Legislature will consider spending some of that money on economic development for schools," said Wayne Blanton, director of the association. "I believe it would be wise to show these companies that we are willing to put a major investment in schools."
- Times staff writers Scott Barancik and Anita Kumar contributed to this report.
