Disney Moving 2000 Jobs To Business Friendly FL

FL Gov. Ron DeSantis now has Mickey on His 'A' Gift List

Walt Disney Co. expects to receive nearly $580 million in tax credits for moving about 2,000 California jobs to Florida, reports The L-A Times.

The Burbank-based media giant applied for and was approved to receive an estimated $578 million in credits from the state of Florida over the next 19 years, according to documents obtained from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The credits are for building and operating a regional campus near Lake Nona to house the roughly 2,000 workers.

The tax credit application was submitted Dec. 26, 2019, and approved Feb. 10, 2020, according to documents viewed by The Times. Disney announced the plan to move 2,000 California jobs to Florida last week. The company described Florida as having a “business friendly climate” and said the new facility would help consolidate operations and promote collaboration among staff.

In a statement, Disney said it was “utilizing an existing incentive offered by the state of Florida in the development of the new regional hub where we will be bringing more than 2,000 professional roles to central Florida and making a sizable investment in this community where we have a long standing presence and commitment.”

According to the tax credit application, Disney plans to invest about $240 million in building the 300,000-to-400,000-square-foot facility and an additional $624 million in office equipment, computers, furniture and other expenses over the next three years. The average wage of the workers in the facility will be $120,000 per year, the application says.

The 2,000 positions that will be relocated from Burbank and Glendale offices represent less than 5% of Disney’s total staff in California, according to Disney officials. Relocating employees will be offered moving assistance, Disney officials said. The move will take place over the next 18 months, they said.

The positions that will be moved to the Lake Nona campus include jobs in digital technology, finance, communications, human resources and product development, Disney officials said. Most of the Glendale-based Imagineers — the staff who design theme park attractions — will be moved to the Florida campus, Disney officials said.