A state committee on Thursday approved $24 million in tax credits for 21 companies investing up to $314 million to add as many as 1,970 L.A. jobs.
The companies include Burlingame –based electric bus maker Proterra and online streaming service Hulu, based in Santa Monica.
Proterra was awarded $7.5 million in tax credits towards its pledge to create 432 jobs at plants in City of Industry and Burlingame, according to state documents released earlier this week. Hulu was awarded $4.3 million in tax credits for its pledge to add 410 jobs at facilities in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Novato.
These California Competes tax credits are specifically earmarked for companies creating jobs in California. The tax credits replace the enterprise zone program that was dissolved five years ago.
Each year, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or Go-Biz, receives scores of applications and then recommends a slate of companies to receive tax credits based on the number of jobs to be created and the total investments to be made. The agency then convenes a committee that holds a hearing to review the recommendations.
In cases like Proterra and Hulu, where the jobs and money will flow to several locations of a company, Go-Biz does not break down how many jobs and how much in tax credits are earmarked for each facility. The totals of 1,970 jobs to be added in L.A. County and $24 million in tax credits awarded are really theoretical maximums; the actual jobs and amounts flowing to local facilities is considerably less.
Among the other major tax credit recipients approved Thursday were Honey Science Corp. of downtown Los Angeles, which received $2.5 million in tax credits for its pledge to add 254 jobs at facilities in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara; Compass, a New York-based online real estate listing firm which was awarded $1.5 million in tax credits to add 77 jobs at offices in Beverly Hills, San Francisco and San Diego; and Survios Inc., a Culver City-based software company that received $1.9 million in tax credits for the addition of 200 jobs.
The committee also approved the return of $500,000 in tax credits originally awarded to facilities in the county including $250,000 from online ad firm Connectivity Inc. and $250,000 from aerospace company Honeywell International Inc. Both companies indicated they would not be carrying out their investments as pledged in the tax credit agreements.
Statewide, Go-Biz awarded $91.4 million in tax credits for 114 businesses projected to create 8,223 jobs and make $828 million in investments.
Public policy and energy reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.
