In an ongoing effort to improve California’s business climate, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) today announced that the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) committee approved $91.4 million in tax credits for 114 companies expanding and creating jobs in California. The awards will help these companies create a projected 8,223 jobs and generate over $828 million in total investment across California. View the complete list of approved companies and award amounts.
“Thanks to the California Competes Tax Credit and the hard working staff at GO-Biz, California continues to recruit new companies and help existing companies grow and add jobs in the state,” said GO-Biz director and committee chair Panorea Avdis. “In just three short years, over 680 companies have made commitments to expand in the state and GO-Biz continues to field inquiries from businesses around the world that are interested in moving to California and creating good-paying jobs.”
Chair Avdis convened the committee – which includes Treasurer John Chiang, director of the Department of Finance Michael Cohen, Senate appointee Denise Zapata and Assembly appointee Madeline Janis – at the California Department of Food and Agriculture auditorium in Sacramento. The committee voted to approve all 114 tax credit agreements.
In 2013, the California Competes Tax Credit was created by Governor Brown to focus on helping businesses grow and stay in California. This fiscal year, GO-Biz allocated over $240 million in total tax credits. Since 2014, GO-Biz has allocated $492.5 million to 688 companies projected to create 70,747 new jobs and make $14.4 billion in new investments.
About California Competes
The California Competes tax credit is part of the Governor’s Economic Development Initiative (GEDI) which Governor Brown signed legislation to enact in 2013 (AB 93 and SB 90). 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. Companies are exempted from paying state income taxes in the amount awarded.
About Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)
Established in 2012 by Governor Brown, GO-Biz serves as California’s single point of contact for economic development and job creation efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit: www.business.ca.gov.
From GM below
- Investing $14 Million in New Cruise Automation Development Facility
- Expanding Self-Driving Technology Research and Development
SAN FRANCISCO — General Motors today announced that it will add more than 1,100 new jobs and invest $14 million in a new research and development facility for Cruise Automation in San Francisco. These investments will allow Cruise Automation to expand development of self-driving technologies that will transform personal mobility.
“Expanding our team at Cruise Automation and linking them with our global engineering talent is another important step in our work to redefine the future of personal mobility,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Self-driving technology holds enormous benefits to society in the form of increased safety and access to transportation. Running our autonomous vehicle program as a start-up is giving us the speed we need to continue to stay at the forefront of development of these technologies and the market applications.”
Cruise Automation and GM engineers are currently testing more than 50 Chevrolet Bolt EVs with self-driving technology on public roads in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Arizona; and metro Detroit.
The new investment will include repurposing an existing facility in San Francisco that will more than double Cruise Automation’s research and development space. The Cruise Automation team plans to move into the new space by the end of the year and hire more than 1,100 new employees over the course of the next five years.
“We are excited to significantly expand our footprint in California and continue on our rapid growth trajectory,” said Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise Automation. “As autonomous car technology matures, our company’s talent needs will continue to increase. Accessing the world-class talent pool that the San Francisco Bay Area offers is one of the many reasons we plan to grow our presence in the state.”
California Governor Jerry Brown’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) allocated an $8 million tax credit to GM Cruise for this expansion. The incentive was approved by the California Competes Tax Credit Committee at a meeting in Sacramento.
“GM’s investment is further proof that California is leading the nation in the design, engineering and deployment of autonomous vehicles,” said Panorea Avdis, director of the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “Today, GM joins hundreds of other companies that have received a California Compete Tax Credit award in return for adding good-paying jobs in the state, and we look forward to working with them on their continued expansion in California.”
GM acquired Cruise Automation in March 2016 to strengthen the company’s software development capabilities and accelerate development of self-driving vehicle technology.
