Community Renewal Good Stories - Charleston

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Tax Incentives Make Florist Bloom

Charleston, South Carolina, RC

Is the RC a good place to launch a successful business? Ask Manny and Clara Gonzales, owners of Tiger Lily Florist in the Charleston RC.

Each year from 2000 to 2003, readers of the Charleston City Paper voted Tiger Lily Florist the "Best Florist in Charleston." The following year, Tiger Lily was chosen Charleston's 2004 Small Business of the Year.

The Tiger Lily site-an abandoned, 1930s-era gas station at Spring Street and Ashley Avenue-had been vacant for 10 years, with environmental and soil contamination from underground fuel tanks. Manny and Clara Gonzales were able to rehabilitate the property while preserving its historic architecture, thanks to the help of the Charleston RC's CRD and other tax incentives.

The $425,000 CRD allocation helped the Gonzaleses purchase and rehabilitate a neighborhood eyesore and provided a key spark to the redevelopment of the city's Spring/Cannon Street corridor. The RC tax incentives were major determinants in their decision to purchase and renovate at this location, according to Manny Gonzales.

Tiger Lily Florist is a full-service shop that prides itself in providing client satisfaction through its innovative flower designs and some of the finest fresh flowers from around the world. "It is these qualities that have helped us become the florist of choice for Charleston's elite hotels, restaurants, wedding and special event planners, and downtown residents," said Manny Gonzales.

"Because of the RC tax incentives, we can put more Renewal Community residents to work," said Gonzales, who plans to employ five RC-based employees by 2004. The business will be able to claim yearly RC wage tax credits worth as much as $1,500 for each employee. The RC tax incentives enable the Gonzaleses to pay competitive wages and provide generous benefits packages.

"What makes this project unique is that Tiger Lily is a community-based small business that has embodied the true spirit and intent of the RC tax incentives by hiring local RC residents while becoming a good neighbor within this historic Charleston neighborhood," said Anthony Moore, Sr., manager of the Charleston RC.

For more information on the programs of the Charleston RC, please contact RC Manager Anthony Moore, Sr., at (843) 720-3836.