Gov. Rick Scott stopped by Storm Smart in Fort Myers with Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera Thursday to tout his tax cuts for small businesses. Storm Smart designs, manufactures, and installs hurricane windows and shutters.
Brian Rist, the company’s CEO, said Storm Smart has been growing, thanks in part to Scott’s tax breaks. He said he even recently made a $300, 000 investment in new equipment for his company.
“I was very motivated and was encouraged by the tax incentives-- manufacturing incentives—that this administration has put in place,” Rist said. “It’s allowed us to grow and we have increased our employment by 20 percent.”
Stops like this have been a big part of Scott’s re-election campaign. He said policies friendly to small businesses will remain his focus.
“You know, you go to Tallahassee and you think reducing taxes, regulations, streamlining the permitting process—all those things matter, you know it matters but it’s always nice to hear the story, when somebody buys a new piece of equipment and their business grows,” Scott said.
During this stop, both the governor and lieutenant governor also took shots at former Republican governor turned Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist. The Crist campaign has accused Scott of dodging important issues for the state such as Medicaid expansion during these campaign stops.
