Area Development
National law firm, Kaye Scholer, will invest at least $600,000 to establish a state-of-the-art operations center in Tallahassee, Florida, with plans to create more than 100 high-skill jobs.

The firm has not yet signed a lease for a building to house its operations center but plans to have its first group of employees on the ground and working sometime in June, Enterprise Florida said. The 100-plus new job opportunities are in many fields, including; accounting, document services, graphics, technology, library services, human resources and marketing.

“Kaye Scholer has chosen this nation’s best state for business, and we have before us a great opportunity to bring more jobs to our citizens while strengthening Florida’s economy,” said Secretary of Commerce Gray Swoope, who serves as president and CEO of Enterprise Florida Inc., the state’s principal economic development organization.

“Clients expect and deserve quality legal services delivered as effectively and cost-efficiently as possible,” said Kaye Scholer’s Managing Partner Michael Solow. “Establishing an Operations Center in Tallahassee will help us meet that need by allowing us to centralize services previously scattered across our New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles offices."

Kaye Scholer conducted a multi-state search and evaluation but ultimately selected Tallahassee for its broad, highly-skilled workforce, proximity to state government and major universities such as The Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College, Enterprise Florida officials said. In addition the firm was attracted to the area’s wide variety of office space at reasonable prices, and the quality of life and affordable housing.

“It’s a great day for the Economic Development Council when we can create new jobs in the community and add a centralized operations center to our tax base,” said Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County Chair Karen Moore. “I’m proud of the coordination among all of our economic development, workforce and educational partners who came together in support of this important project.” Organizations that helped facilitate Kaye Scholer’s move to Florida were the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County, Enterprise Florida, Inc. and the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.

As an incentive the state, through the Department of Economic Opportunity, approved Kaye Scholer for a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund, which is a performance-based incentive that is paid only after a company fulfills its job creation requirements and is confirmed by the state. The City of Tallahassee and Leon County governments are also supporting Kaye Scholer’s move to the region by each contributing to the QTI refund. Kaye Scholer is also eligible to receive a Quick Response Training grant by Workforce Florida, Inc. to assist with employee training.