Area Development
Morgan Stanley will invest $6.6 million to expand its footprint in Hillsborough County, Florida, creating up to 110 jobs at its a new facility in the Tampa Bay suburb of Temple Terrace.

The company said it will make significant enhancements to 25,294 square feet of space at the Intellicenter at Telecom Park, with an anticipated move-in date of March 2013. The new facility will house existing local employees as well as the planned new hires.

“We are excited to expand our presence in Tampa Bay, a region with tremendous resources and a terrific local workforce including many talented, highly skilled individuals,” said Doug Ketterer, head of U.S. Field Management for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “We want to thank Temple Terrace Mayor Frank Chillura, Rick Homans and the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation, Chairman Ken Hagan and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, Enterprise Florida Inc. and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, who have all been great partners throughout the process.”

The positions will include investment advisors and financial transaction processors, paying an average wage of $55,000 per year, Gov. Rick Scott’s office said. “Florida’s economy continues to head in the right direction. Since December 2010, Florida has added over 200,000 private-sector jobs. Morgan Stanley creating jobs in Florida is great news, but we still have a lot of work to do. We want to make sure that every Florida family who wants a job, can find a job,” said Scott.

“We thank Morgan Stanley for the commitment they’ve demonstrated to our community,” said Ken Hagan, Hillsborough County Commission chairman. “Their decision to expand here will not only create new, high-wage jobs for our residents, it ensures the existing 70 positions will now remain in Hillsborough County.”

As an incentive, this past November, Hillsborough County Commissioners and the Temple Terrace City Council approved a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund incentive package for the company. The package will provide $5,000 for each new job, or a total of $550,000, with $440,000 to be paid by the State of Florida, $55,000 by Hillsborough County and $55,000 by the City of Temple Terrace. The incentives, paid over a period of six years, are performance-based, meaning no funds are distributed until the jobs are actually created at the promised wages.

“Once created, these new jobs could generate up to $6 million annually in payroll alone,” said David Pizzo, Chairman of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation and Market President, West Florida for Florida Blue. “In addition to the direct financial impact on our community, the Morgan Stanley expansion will continue to strengthen our reputation as a premiere location for the financial services industry.