## Visit before you choose your place.

Business visits and relocation scouting

Reach Ampersand Island by ferry, private boat, or helicopter, then use the visit to answer practical questions: where customers will find you, how freight or foot traffic moves, who you can hire, and which incentive path fits. Use the trip to sharpen your plan before applying in NavGrant.

Plan Your Visit

Compare Incentives

Illustrated Ampersand Island business visit route with harbor, districts, and planning markers

## Make the trip useful before you book it.

Ampersand Island is small enough to read in a day and varied enough that place matters. Mermaid Bay feels different from Captain's Cove. Mariner's Bluff solves a different business problem than Anchor's Rest. Your arrival mode matters too: ferry for scheduled visits, private boat for waterfront operators, helicopter when timing or executive travel requires it. A focused visit helps you test the assumptions that will show up later in a lease, hiring plan, project budget, and grant narrative.

Start with the district and industry pages, then ask the Authority which stops and local contacts match your project.

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Illustrated Ampersand Island visit route map with district stops, ferry, boat, helicopter, and lighthouse

Ask About a Visit

## Plan a focused island visit

Start with fit

Read the district, industry, and incentive pages before you ask for meetings. You will get better answers when your project shape is clear.

Walk likely districts

Compare customer flow, service access, freight movement, nearby employers, and the businesses already operating around your target site.

Meet the Authority

Bring your location needs, rough budget, timeline, hiring assumptions, and the questions that could change your decision.

Leave with a grant path

Choose the closest program fit, gather the required details, and continue the formal application in NavGrant.

## Where to spend your scouting time

District visit guide

Use each stop to answer a different business question. The point is not sightseeing. It is proof that your plan fits the island.

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Mermaid Bay

Test visitor demand, hospitality fit, and local service traffic.

Use this stop if your plan depends on visitors, dining, lodging, events, retail, or coastal experiences. Watch how people move between the beach, restaurants, lodging, and local shops.

Visitor foot traffic

Hospitality partners

Retail and service adjacency

View Districts

Illustrated Mermaid Bay district on Ampersand Island

Captain's Cove

Check docks, freight movement, suppliers, and operations access.

Use this stop if your business needs port access, logistics partners, marine services, storage, equipment movement, or a workforce familiar with waterfront operations.

Port and dock access

Logistics partners

Waterfront workforce needs

Illustrated Captain's Cove district on Ampersand Island

Mariner's Bluff

Look for talent, research links, workspace fit, and tech activity.

Use this stop if your company relies on software, research, product development, specialized hiring, or partnerships with other innovation-focused employers.

Talent and workspace fit

Research partnerships

Innovation network

Illustrated Mariner's Bluff district on Ampersand Island

Anchor's Rest

Review clean infrastructure, energy sites, and long-term resilience.

Use this stop if your project involves renewable energy, sustainable facilities, storage, eco-tourism, or equipment that needs resilient island infrastructure.

Clean infrastructure

Energy and storage sites

Sustainable operating model

Illustrated Anchor's Rest district on Ampersand Island

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## What a visit gives your application

Grant readiness

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Location proof

You can explain why your chosen district supports customers, operations, and community impact.

Workforce context

You can name the roles you need, where hiring pressure may show up, and what training support would help.

Cost clarity

You can turn broad relocation intent into a better budget for lease costs, buildout, equipment, and launch timing.

Program fit

You can decide whether Ahoy, Entrepreneurs!, Navigator Expansion, or Anchors Aweigh is the right path before starting NavGrant.

## Business visit questions

Do I need to visit before applying in NavGrant?

No. A visit is not required. It helps when your application depends on district fit, site costs, hiring plans, freight access, or local partners. Apply in NavGrant when you have enough detail to support the project.

What should a business relocation visit include?

Walk the district you expect to choose, compare nearby businesses, note access for customers or freight, review workforce assumptions, and bring questions to the Island Economic Development Authority before you open the grant application.

Where should visitors start?

Start with the district that matches your business model: Mermaid Bay for visitor-facing companies, Captain's Cove for maritime and logistics, Mariner's Bluff for technology, or Anchor's Rest for clean infrastructure and alternative energy.

How do I reach Ampersand Island?

Business visitors can reach the island by ferry, private boat, or helicopter. Choose the route that matches your schedule, cargo needs, and the district you plan to scout first.

Can the Authority help plan meetings?

Use the contact page for questions before you apply. The Authority can help you focus the visit around program fit, district questions, and the information your NavGrant application will need.

## Bring the trip back to NavGrant.

Once you know your district, industry fit, project cost, timeline, and hiring plan, continue the formal grant workflow in NavGrant. For questions before you apply, contact the Authority.

Open NavGrant Grants

Contact the Authority