General Outline of Incentives

Tax Incentives

Municipalities can designate developments as a Certified Project in order to provide economic development incentives. The site of the facility will be an approved Economic Opportunity Area (EOA). Businesses located within an EOA that are expanding, relocating or building new facilities and creating new jobs can apply to be approved as a Certified Project. An account representative will meet with the company to provide guidance on the application which can be completed within two hours. Once completed, the application will be reviewed for approval by the municipality during a special meeting within three business days of its submission.

• A Five Percent Investment Tax Credit is available for capital equipment, real estate or leasehold improvements. This can be directly applied against any Massachusetts tax obligation and carried forward for ten years. All Massachusetts earnings are considered, not exclusively income from the newly-based operation.
• A Tax Increment Financing Agreement (TIF) can be made for the property. This program allows municipalities to provide this incentive for stimulating job-creation development. This is an agreement made by the municipality with your company, which must be approved by the Commonwealth. The municipality will offer to abate any incremental assessment caused by your company's property expansion or improvement for a set term of years, not to exceed ten. The "certified project" designation will enable your investment in capital equipment to be exempt from personal property taxes for a set term of years. Companies are eligible to take advantage of the Investment Tax Credit for any capital investment in qualified assets during the entire ten-year term of the agreement.

Workforce

The Regional Employment Board (REB) will assist in workforce development through grants and with their nationally recognized One Stop Career Centers.

• The REB will work with your human resource staff to prepare an application to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Workforce Training Fund. This fund provides grants of up to $1,000,000 for upgrading the skills of employees. These grants have no income guidelines and are especially applicable for ongoing training needs.
• The REB will make provisions for training resources for employees who meet low-income guidelines. On-the-job training funds are available in the amount of 50% of the wages of qualified new hires while in training.
• Available support from the career centers includes the recruitment of prospective employees, along with intake and assessment of job applicants. A database of 2000 registered job seekers and pool of currently dislocated workers enrolled in sponsored training programs will be made available. The Career Center staff can also conduct a job fair, at a convenient location or the company's facility.
• The Career Center will screen all job candidates for applicable Targeted Jobs Tax Credits and other incentives available for specially qualified employees.

Financing

MassDevelopment partners with cities and towns across the Commonwealth to offer numerous services to companies interested in relocating or expanding their operations to the region these include:

• Real Estate Loans - Up to $3 million to buy, renovate, build or finance facilities.
• Guarantees - Allow the primary lender to extend credit with a loan to value of up to 90% for real estate.
• Equipment Loans - $50,000 to $500,000 for new equipment.
• Emerging Technology Fund - Loans and guarantees to help technology-based companies start or expand manufacturing operations in Massachusetts.
• TechDollars - 100% financing at low rates for technology equipment purchases and installation, available to nonprofit organizations with annual revenues up to $5 million
• Export Financing - 100% direct loans and up to 90% loan guarantees as well as exports accounts receivable insurance.
• New Markets Loan Fund - Low rate loans for real estate and equipment financing for businesses and nonprofits in low income census tracts.
• Brownfields Redevelopment - Financing for testing and cleanup to redevelop Brownfields in economically distressed areas.