JOBZ program comes to county
Itís aimed at business growth, expansion
Posted: 2/10/04
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Have you got a production facility that you would like to locate in Caledonia?
How about an expansion of your business in Houston?
Want to start a trade business in Spring Grove? Or expand one in Eitzen?
Then Joyce Iverson would like to hear from you She is coordinating the Houston County portion of JOBZ Minnesota.
JOBZ stands for Job Opportunity Building Zones. The program was introduced by Governor Tim Pawlenty in December 2003 to stimulate business activity in rural Minnesota.
Businesses in a zone will operate in an environment nearly free of state and local taxes The goal is to help new and expanding companies lower their overall costs, which should help them grow.
To qualify for the exemptions, businesses must start up in the zone, relocate from outside the zone, or expand.
Here is the breakdown of the 279 JOBZ acres for the four Houston County cities that are participating:
ï Caledonia, 187;
ï Eitzen, 53;
ï Houston, 16;
ï Spring Grove, 23.
The land was chosen based on availability and feasibility of getting infrastructure.
Iverson, the community development coordinator for Southeastern Minnesota Development Corporation, will be sending out packets with JOBZ information to all major Houston County businesses once the guidelines are in place. Final state guidelines came out two weeks ago.
ìWeíre familiarizing ourselves with those and making sure the application weíre providing fits,î Iverson said on February 6. Caledonia, Houston, and Spring Grove already have their own local business subsidy criteria. Eitzen will hold a public hearing to set up its criteria next month, Iverson said.
She has given some JOBZ applications out. She is also working on a scoring sheet that will rank applications, in the event there are too many applicants for the available JOBZ land. That would be a good problem to have, Iverson said.
For more information on the JOBZ program, contact Iverson at 507-725-3450, or e-mail her at joyce.iverson@semdc.com.
Information on the JOBZ program is also available at positivelyminnesota.com.
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