Myrtle Beach moves toward incentives for some new businesses

City Council gave initial approval Tuesday to a new set of incentives for technology firms, medical businesses and experiential retail to locate inside the city of Myrtle Beach.

The ordinance, which will have to be approved again before it is enacted, offers an incentive for up to 2 percent of construction costs if one of the preferred business types locates inside the city of Myrtle Beach. An additional 1 percent is possible if businesses locate along Kings Highway in an empty building, along Carver Street, in the “south mixed use area” from 9th Avenue North to Family Kingdom or in some parts of the International Aerospace and Technology Park.

Incentives are capped at $2 million.

Councilman Phil Render, who has long spoken in support of diversifying the local economy with more medical jobs, said during a morning workshop that he is in favor of the measure.

“I take my hat off to staff for digging this out,” he said.

City Manager John Pedersen said the city has used similar incentives successfully in the past in the south mixed use area, enticing the project from Buchanan Hotels that has located at 6th Avenue South. The new base-line incentives are not limited by geographic area, however.

“We want to make sure we’re attracting some of the young talent we have in this community to stay here,” he said.

Those who apply for the incentives would have to submit a business plan to the city, have a building permit issued within six months of council’s approval and complete work within 24 months of the first permit. The incentives from the city would be given in the form of vouchers, valid for up to five years, that can be used to pay for city fees for items like business licenses or to pay water and sewer bills.

Some finer details of the proposal may change before it reaches council a second time, however.

“I’m thinking about some of these very sophisticated buildings—medical technology—that may exceed 24 months,” Councilman Wayne Gray said.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach moves toward incentives for some new businesses."