California Businesses Compete for State Program Funds

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) recently released the numbers for the California Competes Tax Credit program. A total of 253 applications were received with a combined tax credit request of $289 million in this last application period which closed on February 2nd.

This fiscal year, GO-Biz is authorized to award $151.1 million in tax credits of which 25% ($37.7 million) is reserved for small businesses.  GO-Biz made the first allocation of $31 million on January 15 and is scheduled to make additional awards on April 16, 2015 ($75 million) and June 18, 2015 ($31.1 million plus any unallocated amounts from the previous application periods).  The companies recommended for an award from this past application period will be posted on the California Competes website by April 6th.

Since the inception of the program, GO-Biz has awarded 85 companies approximately $60 million to create a projected 10,000 jobs and generate nearly $3 billion in investment across the state.  GO-Biz evaluates the most competitive applications based on the factors required by statute, including total jobs created, total investment, average wage, economic impact, strategic importance and more.

The next round of applications will be accepted from March 9, 2015 through April 6, 2015. For more information about the California Competes Tax Credit program including guidelines, FAQs and information on preparing an application, visit the program website. You can also request information or ask to be added to the California Competes Tax Credit email distribution list by contacting the Go-Biz staff at [email protected] or (916) 322-4051.