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Maine is full
of opportunities to create or expand a business. You
know about Maine’s quality of life and work
ethic, but you may not know about Maine’s state-of-the-art
telecommunications infrastructure, its world-leading
efforts in fields such as biotechnology and composite
materials, or its customized workforce training programs.
Several organizations throughout the state stand
ready to help you learn what Maine has to
offer and to assist your business expansion needs.
Maine has
added several incentives to its economic development
program, not the least of which are the Pine
Tree Development Zones. In addition to existing incentive
programs, the new zones have the following benefits:
An enhanced ETIF (Employment Tax Increment Financing)
program that returns a company 80% of the state income
tax withholdings of 5 or more net new qualified employees
for up to ten years;
A 100% refund of corporate income tax and insurance
premium tax for years one through five, and 50% for
years six through ten;
A local option TIF (Tax Increment Financing) that
may return some or all of the new property taxes to
a company and will not be counted against a municipality’s
existing TIF area and value caps;
Reduced electricity rates, as requested by Central
Maine Power Company, Bangor Hydro Company and Maine
Public Service Company, and approved by the Public
Utilities Commission; and
(Effective July 1, 2005) A 100% sales and use tax
exemption for zone-related construction materials
and equipment purchases.
Eligible businesses include
firms engaged in manufacturing, financial services,
and Maine’s seven targeted technology sectors:
biotechnology, aquaculture and marine technology,
composite materials technology, environmental technology,
advanced technologies for forestry and agriculture,
information technology and precision manufacturing
technology.
These incentives complement Maine’s other business
incentive programs that include financing, research
and development, tax reimbursements, technical assistance,
and workforce training. For more information on Maine’s
business assistance programs, visit the State
of Maine’s Office of Business Development web
site.
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