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Pennsylvania Direct Financial Incentives 2010

Pennsylvania's economic development, finance and tax organizations provide a range of incentive programs to initiate new business and commercial investment. Specific programs include Building PA, the New Pennsylvania Venture Guarantee Program, and Keystone Opportunity Zones.

Feb/Mar 10
Economic Stimulus Programs:
Business in our Sites
A $300 million statewide loan and grant pool was created by the issuance of bonds. This money was made available to communities statewide to help them develop shovel-ready sites to accommodate expanding businesses, thus building the local and regional economy and ultimately creating jobs.

Building PA
Provides mezzanine capital for developers for real estate assets in small- to mid-sized Pennsylvania communities.

New Pennsylvania Venture Guarantee Program
Guarantees to top-tier venture capital partnerships for investments in growth-stage Pennsylvania companies. The goal of this program is to increase the amount of equity financing available to businesses throughout the Commonwealth.

First Industries Fund
A loan guarantee and grant program aimed at strengthening Pennsylvania's agriculture and tourism industries. The program is administered by both the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) and the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Second Stage Loan Program
Loan guarantees for working capital for two- to seven-year-old manufacturing, biotech and technology-oriented companies.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Guarantee Program
The program provides credit enhancement to improve market access and lower capital costs through the use of guarantees to the issuers of bonds or other debts.

Infrastructure and Facilities Improvement Program
A multi-year grant program that will provide grants to certain issuers of debt in order to assist with the payment of debt service.

Elm Street
Grant funds for planning, technical assistance and physical improvements to residential and mixed-use areas in proximity to central business districts.

Main Street Program
Grants to municipalities to help a community's downtown economic development effort through the establishment of a local organization dedicated to downtown revitalization and the management of downtown revitalization efforts by hiring a full-time professional downtown coordinator.

Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) Program
Provides grant funds to community/university partnerships to generate job growth through tech transfer and entrepreneurship. Focused around campuses and property around colleges and universities.
Section 108 Program

Section 108 enables state and local governments participating in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to obtain federally guaranteed loans to fund large economic development projects and undertake revitalization activities. Under Pennsylvania's initiative to use Section 108, the loans are guaranteed by the Commonwealth, committing the use of future CDBG funds to pay off the loan in case of default.
Housing and Redevelopment Assistance
Provides state-funded grants for community revitalization and economic development activities at the local level. The program assists the community in becoming competitive for business retention, expansion and attraction.

Additional Direct Financial Incentives:
Community Economic Development Loan Program
Low-interest loans for projects in distressed communities, stimulating self-help initiatives and helping people build assets at the individual, family and community levels.

Customized Job Training Program
Grants for specialized job training to existing or newly hired employees.

Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITCP)
Tax credits to eligible businesses contributing to a scholarship organization, an educational improvement organization and/or a pre-kindergarten scholarship organization.

Export Finance Program (EFP)
The Pennsylvania Export Finance Program provides small businesses with access to pre-export working capital and post-export accounts receivable financing through a direct loan program.

Infrastructure Development Program
Grant and low-interest loan financing for public and private infrastructure improvements.

Industrial Sites Reuse Program
Grant and low-interest loan financing to perform environmental site assessment and remediation work at former industrial sites.

Job Creation Tax Credits
A $1,000 per job tax credit to create new jobs in the Commonwealth within three years.

Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ)
Provides state and local tax abatement to businesses and residents locating in one of the 12 designated zones.

Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund (MELF)
Provides low-interest loans to acquire and install new or used machinery and equipment, or to upgrade existing machinery and equipment. Companies must be engaged in manufacturing, industrial, agricultural processes, direct mining operations, information technology or medical facilities.

Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP)
Tax credit program to encourage businesses to invest in projects that improve distressed areas.

Neighborhood Assistance/Neighborhood Partnership Program (NAP/NPP)
Corporate tax liability credit for businesses that sponsor a neighborhood organization to develop and implement a neighborhood revitalization plan by contributing a substantial amount of cash per year over an extended period of time.

Neighborhood Assistance/Enterprise Zone Tax Credit (NAP/EZTC)
An incentive program that provides tax credits to private companies investing in rehabilitating, expanding or improving buildings or land located within designated enterprise zones.

Opportunity Grant Program
Grant funds to create or preserve jobs in the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (PEDFA) Tax Exempt Bond Program
Tax-exempt and taxable bonds, both in pooled transactions and stand-alone transactions, to be used to finance land, building, equipment, working capital and refinancing.

Pennsylvania Capital Access Program (PennCAP)
Loan guarantee through participating banks to be used to support a wide variety of business purposes.

Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA)
Low-interest loan financing through Industrial Development Corporations for land and building acquisition, construction and renovation, resulting in the creation or retention of jobs.

Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVEST)
Low-interest loans for design, engineering and construction of publicly and privately owned drinking water distribution and treatment facilities, storm water conveyance and wastewater treatment and collection systems.

Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority
Low interest loan financing to businesses owned and operated by ethnic minorities.

Pollution Prevention Assistance Program
Assistance for small businesses to implement pollution prevention and energy-efficiency projects, enabling these businesses to adopt or install equipment or processes that reduce pollution, energy use or raw materials.

Research and Development Tax Credit
Allows companies holding qualifying Research and Development Tax Credits to apply for approval to sell those tax credits and assign them to the buyer(s).

Small Business First
Funding for small businesses, including low-interest loan financing for land and building acquisition and construction, machinery and equipment purchases, and working capital.

Technology Investment Programs:
Ben Franklin Technology Partners
Provides entrepreneurial support and financial assistance to technology firms and early-stage technology companies in Pennsylvania.

Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) Technology Development Grant
Grants to help groups or consortia of Pennsylvania companies position themselves at the cutting edge of emerging technologies and establish a competitive advantage through the use of advanced e-business systems.

Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) Venture Investment Program
Investment in venture capital partnerships investing in early-stage Pennsylvania technology companies.

Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) University Research Funding
Grants designed to promote stronger synergy between university-based research and development and the transfer of technology as it relates to economic and work force development.

Guaranteed Free Training Program (GFT/WEDnetPA)
Basic skills and information technology training for eligible employees of new and expanding businesses.

?Workforce Leadership Grants
Improve the supply of, and create a pipeline for, technology-based industries in Pennsylvania that will require highly skilled technical workers to compete in a globally competitive technology-based economy.

Business Management and Technical Assistance Incentives:
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs)
Technical assistance and consulting services to current and prospective entrepreneurs.

Governor's Action Team (GAT)
The Governor's Action Team is a single point of contact for businesses that are considering Pennsylvania as a site for a facility location or expansion. The team works with domestic and international businesses, as well as professional site consultants, on projects involving significant investment and job creation opportunities.

Industrial Resource Centers (IRCs) Created in 1988, the Industrial Resource Centers receive annual commonwealth funding to provide an array of technical assistance to small and medium sized manufacturers in Pennsylvania. These services are provided by the IRC's directly or through a network of regional consulting firms.

International Business Development
Pennsylvania representatives are positioned throughout the world to attract foreign investors and help Pennsylvania companies promote their exports overseas.

Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP)
Supports technology-based economic development by engaging, guiding and empowering companies throughout the commonwealth by advocating objective and experience-based technical and workforce solutions that enable clients to succeed and thrive, stimulating economic growth for Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania State Contact:
Governor's Action Team
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
400 North Street
Commonwealth Keystone Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
(717) 787-8199
Fax: (717) 772-5419

Incentive and tax information is provided to Area Development by each state's economic development or commerce agency for information purposes only and is subject to revision at any time by the state government. Please contact the state agency directly for full requirements and offerings.

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