Grow Smarter Job Creation and Talent Attraction Program
Grow Smarter
Grant Overview
The Grow Smarter Job Creation & Talent Attraction program provides awards to companies with 49 employees or less that hire new employees at salaries above Pinellas County's average wage. Companies must be identified with one of the city's five target industry clusters: Marine and Life Sciences, Specialized Manufacturing, Financial Services, Data Analytics, and Creative Arts and Design.
For each new job created at 115% or more of the average county wage, the incentive amount is $3,000 per new job. Greater awards are available to companies paying higher wages. For each new job created and filled by a resident of the City of St. Petersburg, there will be a bonus $2,000 incentive paid and for each job created and filled by a resident of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area, there will be a bonus $3,000 incentive paid. Employees hired under this Program must remain employed by the company for at least twelve months for the company to claim the incentive. The incentive will be paid at the end of the twelve-month period.