- December 15, 2025
Palm Coast officials will present their own tweaks to the program at the next workshop.
City Councilman Frank Meeker’s Bounty for Business program took a step back Tuesday when city officials couldn’t reach consensus on details to a program he feels could help fill vacated storefronts through Palm Coast.
Meeker’s concept was first presented in August 2010, when he recommended a bounty, or reward, for Palm Coast residents who attract businesses to town to help fill empty storefronts.
Council members discussed some details Feb. 28, and Beau Falgout, senior economic development planner for the city, presented more in-depth plans Tuesday. The end result was for the City Councilman to come up with their critiques of the plan as well as potential solutions. Each plan will be discussed at an upcoming workshop.
Tuesday’s proposal by Falgout included three options to reward members or businesses who bring jobs to Palm Coast.
The first option included $500 per employee created/retained for the recruiter or business, with a maximum reward of $10,000. That included $100 at the business’ opening, $100 at the 18-month mark, and $300 after 36 months. If the number of employees decreases, the business is no longer eligible.
The second option suggested a $500 flat fee to the person doing the recruiting. The incentives to the business were $75 at business opening, $100 after 18 months, $300 after 36 months, and a maximum of $9,500.
The third option was a $500 flat fee to the person recruiting.
Councilman Bill McGuire’s biggest issue was that the posse member would get paid when the business opened.
“The idea here is that we attract jobs that are going to be here,” McGuire said. He suggested shortening the payout timeframe down from 18 months. “It has got to be something where everybody wins. ... I don’t think it’s a good idea to give money right on Day 1.”
Councilman Jason DeLorenzo and Mayor Jon Netts were adamant that rewards should only be given for bringing in primary jobs. Netts also had no interest in using taxpayer dollars to reward businesses that come into town and compete with existing businesses.
Also, the original proposal only disqualified the five City Council members as well as City Manager Jim Landon. Netts said several others shouldn’t qualify, including the county’s new economic leader, Helga van Eckert.
Netts said people who are getting paid to do their economic development jobs should be excluded. McGuire agreed: “You can’t throw money at people who are already tasked with doing this.”
In a follow-up interview Wednesday, Meeker said the council is making progress, but not as much as he hoped.
“I think the program is becoming more complicated than it needs to be, but I think we’re working things out,” he said.
He said his program is designed to offer something different from what other existing economic development organizations do. Targeting specific businesses is a “huge mistake,” he said.
Meeker added: “If you’re limiting the number of people who can participate or the businesses we can go after, it makes the whole program pointless.”
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