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Lexington Jobs Fund reports awards, repayments and $1.64 million available for new incentives
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Summary
At the Sept. 16 committee meeting, staff summarized the Jobs Fund history, eligibility rules and performance figures: 31 awards (22 active), program incentives of about $4.07 million, and $1,641,957.34 currently available for new awards, officials said.
Troy Black, administrative specialist in the mayor’s office, presented the annual Lexington Jobs Fund update Sept. 16, describing the program’s purpose, eligibility and recent performance.
Black said the Jobs Fund, established by Ordinance 150 three-twenty '13 in December 2013, provides incentive funding to businesses that locate in or move to Lexington, Fayette County and commit to creating and retaining a minimum number of jobs. The program emphasizes early-stage startups, advanced manufacturing, technology, shared-service operations and healthcare. Under the program’s guidelines as presented, forgivable loans can be up to $100,000 and regular repayable loans up to $250,000; recoverable awards are repayable or forgivable within 10 years and subject to quarterly payments and annual compliance reporting.
The report to the committee showed the Jobs Fund record as presented: 31 awards with 22 active agreements; the presenter reported “321 jobs committed, 295 jobs created,” an expected average wage of $33.60 and an actual average wage of $35.99. Total incentives awarded were reported as $4,067,538 (presenter phrased as “$4,000,000 $67,538”), new payroll committed was listed as $17,800,000, and repaid principal and interest were reported as $1,077,656.26 and $169,282.53, respectively. The presenter said those repaid funds increase the program’s capacity and that $1,641,957.34 was currently available for new awards.
Black provided a program summary: of the disbursed loans and forgivable loans, $3,097,538 was active and continuing, $640,000 was closed and $330,000 had been approved but not yet drawn. He listed current repayment activity and named companies making payments: Fuji, Avail, Childhood Neurology, Hydra, Water Warriors, Wellware, Silver Fern, Space Tango, Simply Works, Think Health and Fusion. He also noted Space Tango, Helios and another firm had fully repaid loans.
Committee members asked about compliance and whether recipients were meeting reporting and payment obligations; Black said 11 recipients were making payments on schedule and that compliance reports documenting employee counts, mean hourly wage and employee residency in Lexington were up to date.
Ending
Council members praised the Jobs Fund’s return on payroll-to-incentive investment and urged continued focus on ensuring local residents benefit from job creation.
