NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville’s Industrial Development Board recently approved a $30 million, state-funded grant for Starbucks in exchange for pledging to create 2,000 new jobs. However, state records show when other companies have failed to deliver on similar promises, Tennessee hasn’t always been able to recover the taxpayer dollars.
The $30 million taxpayer-funded grant for Starbucks will be distributed through Tennessee’s FastTrack Grant program, which gives companies millions in tax dollars in exchange for job creation.
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Since 2016, the state has paid more than $750 million in tax dollars to companies moving to Tennessee under the FastTrack Grant program.
“These are really good wage jobs: tech, logistics, administrative, and accounting,” Stuart McWhorter, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD), said of the Starbucks deal. “These jobs create career ladders for Tennesseans and help retain college graduates in Nashville and the Tennessee region.”…