The Economic Development Authority held a public hearing and a decision meeting on Thursday.

In the public hearing, Frank Campanaro spoke for TrillaMed Global and Chirag Vyas, and Kevin Chipman spoke for St. John Brewers. Vyas and Chipman founded the brewery in 2004. The brewery was given tax benefits two years ago when it expanded with a production facility on St. Thomas. The pair were now asking that benefits also be applied to the commercial part of its business.

TrillaMed Global specializes in producing medical supplies and their distribution. The federal government is a big customer. Campanaro is chief executive officer. He is a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger and a combat veteran. He emphasized to the commission his commitment to veteran causes. He said he had already been meeting with veteran groups in the territory. The headline across the TrillaMeds webpage is "Vets Serving Vets." The page also says, "TrillaMed supports more than 700 federal health care facilities with over 70,000 medical and facility products. We are a best-in-class distributor to the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and numerous other government agencies."

Campanaro told the authority that TrillaMed headquarters is now in Detroit, but he wanted it moved to the territory. He added that TrillaMed did not manufacture high-end medical supplies but did manufacture some medical supplies. Commission Member Philip Payne said it would be good if TrillaMed brought some manufacturing activity to the territory. He said, "We don't make enough stuff here."

The commission did not act on those two applications or a third one by LV USVI Investment & Management for tax incentives. Bret Schumacher, president of Land Ventures, and attorney Majorie Roberts presented the case for LV USVI.

In an email to The Source on Friday, Roberts wrote, "If benefits are granted by the EDC, LV USVI Investment and Management, which Bret Schumacher owns, will provide a range of services to its clients, all of which will be located outside the USVI."

She added that it was anticipated that services now carried out by Land Ventures would be transferred to LV USVI and be carried out here. Land Ventures is a real estate investment, holding, and development company based in Charleston, South Carolina.

In an EDC meeting following the hearing, the governing board approved Sail Rock Investments for an amended grant of incentives and Burt Global Holdings charitable contribution changes.

In an Economic Development Authority decision meeting, Haven Development, the new hotel in Havensight, was approved for Economic Recovery Fee Incentives.