HOUSE OVERSIGHT 033562 Florida when this happens, he's much less likely to pay exorbitant state taxes on the whole amount. If he still lived in New York City? Fuggedaboudit. It's the job of Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Palm Beach Business Development Board, to ensure that hedge fund and private equity managers are informed of these benefits, in the hopes that they, and their firms, will become Palm Beach County's newest residents. She's developed a red-carpet tour that goes beyond looking at office space and real estate to include meeting headmasters at private schools, the school-district superintendent and the mayor and speaking with the governor's staff and CEOs who have moved their operations here. Plus, of course, a few nights on the town. In the winter, when the well-to-do from all over the Northeast visit Florida for charity balls, the board hosts dinners and parties for prospective relocators and local captains of industry. Last year, Smallridge and company sponsored a soiree aboard a $70 million yacht that featured Veuve Clicquot, caviar and live jazz. Guests—who included the CEOs of a national IT company, a major finance company and a land developer, venture capitalists, hedge fund managers and the creator of Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage division—took private tours with the captain of the yacht. Smallridge is also working with former hedge fund CIO Dr. Rainford Knight to develop a club for local investment managers called SocialAlpha that encourages bankers in Palm Beach County's ritzy social scene to get to know each other. Even Florida governor Rick Scott has gotten involved, sending personal letters to friends and prospects from the Northeast (the governor is a former Greenwich resident and businessman) to convince them of Florida's merits. Smallridge and Governor Scott are hoping to induce a snowball effect, and so far, it seems to be working. Every financier who moves south chips away at the primary reason to remai