(The Center Square) – Tennessee gave out an average of $5,895 in FastTrack incentive grants for promised job in 2023, down from $7,385 in 2022, according to data from Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
Overall, the 2023 numbers are just below the $5,754 average per job between 2018 and 2023.
FastTrack grants are state grants sent to companies to help offset the costs of expanding or moving into the state with the goal of increasing the number of full-time jobs and the average wages of jobs available in an area.
The 2023 numbers show incentive grants in urban and rural areas averaged roughly the same incentive per job.
The department says there are 102 new projects that received a total $76.3 million in taxpayer funded incentives in 2023 with nearly 13,000 job commitments and nearly $3.9 billion in promised capital investments.
Economists question the effectiveness of financial incentives to private businesses to expand or come to a new state but state and local governments continue to expand the incentives.
The TNECD recently asked Gov. Bill Lee for $78 million in funding for its FastTrack business incentive program next budget year.
Overall, the department asked for $137.3 million in one-time funding along with a $27.4 million increase in its annual funding request. This year’s FastTrack request is lower than in previous years, in part, because items that were previously funded through the program will become separate budget items next fiscal year.
