EZC Approves Tax Breaks, Expands Zones on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John

On Tuesday, the Economic Development Authority’s Enterprise Zone Commission held its annual meeting virtually via Zoom, voting to modify employment requirements for BrandChamp, Inc. and Waterfront Development & Management, LLC. The commission also approved tax incentives for a property on Garden Street and voted to expand and establish new enterprise zones across the territory.

The Enterprise Zone Commission Board held its decision meeting after postponing the start of a scheduled public hearing for the Economic Development Commission.

Shaylah Anthony, program and grants compliance officer for the EZC, spoke on behalf of BrandChamp, Inc., and Waterfront Development & Management, LLC, a company seeking modification to its employment requirements for its property at #80 Kronprindsens Gade Savanne-Downstreet. According to Anthony, they were granted tax exemption benefits in March and requested to reduce the number of local residents required for their benefits.

“The beneficiary stated that upon review of the submitted application, a misunderstanding was discovered related to the interpretation of the employee commitment section,” said Anthony.

The company is requesting a decrease from their eight required local residents to two residents.

“Most of their employees are not VI residents, and you know the program requires you to have a minimum, at least, a minimum of two local residents. So when they filled out their application they had a larger amount, including the ones that are not VI residents. So it was not clear while they were filling out their application, so they are asking for a reduction,” she said.