Business Incentives: Tax Exemptions, Grants and Loans

The Urban and Rural Strategic Investment Zone provides a compelling business recruitment tool designed to attract large capital intensive traded sector businesses. The program provides consistent criteria and a streamlined approval process.

Highlights include:

• 15-year property tax abatements on facilities and equipment to any "traded-sector" business. Examples include production, manufacturing, high tech and others.
• Applies to large capital investments — $25 million minimum in the rural zone and $100 million in the urban zone.
• Requires the company to pay a community service fee equal to 25% of the tax savings per year to local public service providers to offset community impacts. The community service fee is capped at an annual maximum of $2 million in urban areas or $500,000 in rural areas.

Clackamas County Urban Zone
Unincorporated urban Clackamas County and the cities of Lake Oswego and portions of Happy Valley.

Clackamas County Rural Zone
Unincorporated rural Clackamas County, portions of Happy Valley and the cities of Sandy, Molalla, Estacada and Canby.

These are Regional and Rural Investment Funds (grants and loans) focusing on economic development. Priority is given to projects that:

• create or retain jobs
• leverage outside capital investment for business development
• demonstrate ongoing sustainability
• support minority and women owned companies
• projects that achieve an average wage level at or above the county minimum average wage

The Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments provides assistance to area small businesses with all of the commonly used government finance programs. These federal, state and local resources are designed to be used in partnership with private lenders — such as banks — to provide the financing needed by companies to expand or start new ventures.