Nearly $670,000 in job growth incentive tax credits have been awarded to a technology company that may be locating and building in Colorado.
Members of the Colorado Economic Development Commission have approved the incentives on the premise that the company, once set up in the Centennial State, will create upwards of 200 new jobs with an annual average wage of $112,000.
The exact identify of the company has not yet been disclosed, prompting speculation about its name and plans to do business in the state. Instead, the effort to get the company to build in Colorado has simply been referenced as “Project Balloon.”
The commission, for reasons of confidentiality, does not publicly disclose the names of incentive recipients until deals have been officially finalized.
Thus far information released about the company only reveals that it develops “transformative, affordable technology platforms and systems.”
It is also known that the company in question is comprised of two segments, one of which is centered on its microwave electronic products and modular systems and turbine technologies; while the second segment consists of unmanned ground and seaborne command and “communications system businesses.”
An earlier statement issued by the commission said that the project would support “the state’s economic goals by supporting the growth of an aerospace and defense company.” The incentives package is said to be particularly important because the company is also reportedly said to be thinking about setting up a location in Pennsylvania.
The Colorado Economic Development Commission was created by the Colorado State Legislature and is given a $5 million appropriation by lawmakers to fund incentive packages that assist the expansion efforts of existing business, while also trying to encourage businesses from other places to move to the state.
Besides the job incentive tax credit, the commission offers a tax credit for new businesses moving into rural areas, and a job training grant, among other efforts.
In recent months incentives approved by the commission have led to the decisions by the Santa Clara, California-based Agilent Technologies to build a $275 million manufacturing facility in Frederick, Colorado, and the Zivaro technology services company to expand its operations in Colorado Springs.
By Garry Boulard
