Businesses can qualify by hiring 10 new employees or increasing the number of employees by 10 percent over the previous 12 months. They can also qualify with investments of $1 million or a 100 percent increase in investment over the previous 12 months. In return, businesses receive a tax credit of 1.2 percent over four years.
The Office of Economic Development is currently accepting applications for the tax credit. The first application deadline, for businesses that made the necessary investments in business personal property in 2012 is July 1, 2013.
Launched in April, the program will run through 2017. The program is funded by the de-TABOR-ization allowed by the passage of Measure 2A in 2012.
"We've received a healthy response from businesses," says Derek Woodbury, Marketing & Communications Specialist at the Denver Office of Economic Development.
It's not open exclusively to businesses based in Denver in 2012, adds Turid Nagel-Casebolt, Enterprise Zone Manager with the Office of Economic Development. "If you are a business that's new to Denver, you qualify as well. It is meant to spur new investments."
Nagel-Casebolt says it's too early to project what impact the program might have on job creation in Denver.
Woodbury says businesses of all sizes should take a good look at the program and its requirements. "If you have five employees and you added one job last year, you're set," he notes.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Eric Peterson with tips and leads for future stories at eric@confluence-denver.com.
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