The toolbox, a handyman's place for things to finish a tough job. Different jobs demand different tools, but a toolbox puts everything at your fingertips in case your needs change. The toolbox is an apt metaphor for business incentives given by local development organizations, according to a recent survey conducted by the Minneapolis Fed.
Incentives are often the way to close the gap and the deal.
My frustration is that incentives have often become part of the opening of the deal as opposed to the way to close a deal. To gauge the use of business incentives and check the pulse of competition among cities for expanding businesses, the Minneapolis Fed e-mailed a survey to 260 economic development professionals in the Ninth District. Due to factors of survey sampling and question methodology, this survey is not, and should not be considered, scientific in its conclusions. However, given the volume of input, the survey provides a useful snapshot of the tools local development practitioners are using, and why. Given different tax and regulatory structures, most states and local communities have different sets of incentives available to them.