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EDC Updates Tax Incentive Requirements for Four Companies, Expands Youth and Internship Provisions
The Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission on Tuesday approved a series of amendments tightening conditions on tax incentives for four companies, tying public tax benefits more directly to local jobs, youth programs, education funding, and paid internships.
On unanimous roll‑call votes, commissioners approved changes affecting Historic Heritage Holdings LLP, Neltjeberg Bay Enterprises LLC, Saint Thomas Family Partners LLP and Virgin Islands Coffee Company, LLC, doing business as Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters
A separate item involving STR Management LLC did not receive a final vote and was held for further review, and an IGY American Yacht Harbor request for additional years of tax incentives was pulled from the decision agenda so EDC officials and the company’s attorney can clarify how many more years of benefits the law allows
The commission approved amended tax-incentive terms for Historic Heritage Holdings LLP, a St. Croix project involving a boutique hotel and related financial services operations.
Under the revised conditions, the company must operate both the hotel and a designated services business providing venture capital management, investment services and family-office services for clients located outside the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Commissioners tied those incentives to phased employment benchmarks requiring the company to eventually reach a minimum of 25 full-time employees across both sides of the operation.
The agreement requires at least 10 full-time employees during the project’s first phase, at least five employees tied to the financial-services business and another 10 workers during a second phase of expansion.
The amended terms also establish employee-benefit requirements, including recognition of 13 holidays each year and six paid floating holidays for full-time workers, subject to advance approval based on business needs.
Commissioners also approved revised charitable‑contribution requirements for Neltjeberg Bay Enterprises LLC, a beneficiary that provides management and business consulting services and, in some cases, acts in a merchant‑bank role for certain clients.
Under the amendment, the company must contribute a minimum of $50,000 annually to charitable organizations that benefit youth in the U.S. Virgin Islands. At least 55% of that annual contribution for youth programs must go to the Virgin Islands Department of Education for public‑school programs and initiatives, according to the approved language.
The remaining portion of the annual contribution must support broader charitable causes in the territory, with examples cited during the meeting including a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that teaches boating and fishing skills to young people and a Virgin Islands Jaguar AAU team or similar youth sports association serving local residents.
In another vote, the EDC tightened investment requirements for Saint Thomas Family Partners LLP, a family office and investment management firm serving clients outside the territory.
Under the revised terms, the company must make a minimum capital investment of $100,000 in a benefited business, beginning no earlier than March 13, 2025, and completed within one year of the EDC chair’s signature or within one year of the start of its tax incentives, whichever comes later. The change is intended to ensure the company’s tax benefits are tied to a verifiable level of investment.
The board also approved an amendment affecting Virgin Islands Coffee Company, LLC, doing business as Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters. Under the revised language, the company must employ a minimum of one intern annually, to be paid in full by the beneficiary, from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The intern may be recruited through the Virgin Islands Hotel and Tourism Association’s Summer Employment Program, the Virgin Islands Department of Labor, the University of the Virgin Islands or directly from the local student community.
For local students and young workers, the requirement is intended to guarantee at least one paid internship opportunity each year with a coffee-roasting company receiving tax benefits through the EDC. All four amendments that reached a vote passed on unanimous roll‑call votes of the commissioners present.
Equestrian Training Center Coming to St. Croix
Local officials broke ground on the Virgin Islands Equestrian Center in Estate Body Slob Tuesday, touting the center as a place where young Virgin Islanders can develop skills in equine care, agriculture and animal science.
Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Vincent Roberts said during Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony that the center will give youth a place to learn discipline, responsibility, sportsmanship and animal care while opening the door to careers in the equine industry.
“Facilities such as this provide our youth with positive environments where they can learn, grow and build lifelong skills,” he said.
In 2024, the 35th Legislature authorized a $900,000 appropriation to the V.I. Sports, Parks and Recreation Department for the construction of an equestrian training facility. The measure was signed by Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach, who was acting as governor while Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. attended meetings in Washington, D.C.
Shamari Haynes, president of the Governor’s Millennial Council, called the center “a space where mentorship, discipline, confidence and responsibility can naturally develop.”
“And perhaps most importantly, it creates another positive pathway for young people within our community. Not every young person finds purpose in the same way,” he said. Some gravitate toward academics and others connect through sports or culture. “That is why this initiative is important, and that is why today matters.”
After several minutes of wide-ranging remarks, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. stressed the need for providing young Virgin Islanders with opportunities.
“Every kid — person, young person — that we lose on the street, we lose a wall of opportunity,” he said. “We might’ve lost the person who’s going to cure cancer, right? We might have lost a person who’s going to cure diabetes or figure out some way to worldwide peace, develop some new type of energy, because we haven’t given that young person an opportunity.”
Bryan said he wants young Virgin Islanders to have as many opportunities as possible, “because you could be the greatest concert pianist in the world, but if you never see a piano, that will never happen.”
“So you could be the greatest jockey in the world, but if you never have a chance to be exposed to horses, you will never know,” he said.
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