SB 271 / Chamber Supports
They say, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Certified Technology Parks (CTPs) are once again asking the General Assembly for help in ensuring their long-term viability.
Senate Bill 271, authored by Sen. Brian Buchanan (R-Lebanon), resembles bills we’ve seen in previous sessions. Those, however, died at the hands of former House Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown, who retired last year.
The legislation would increase from $100,000 to $500,000 the amount of state and local income tax revenue that high-performing CTPs may capture and redeploy for their benefit. CTPs are unique business models in that the better they perform, the more resources they demand. Why? Because CTPs’ primary mission is to serve as an incubator for young and small businesses that eventually outgrow the space in which they initially thrived. This means that CTPs must backfill revenue generating tenants with new (pre-revenue) startups – a chicklet with an egg, if you will.
The Indiana Chamber offered both written and oral testimony in support of SB 271 to the committee on Thursday. In short, our arguments centered around two primary points: (1) the incentive that CTPs receive is new money that would otherwise be unavailable but for CTPs repurposing vacant or underutilized real estate in the community; and (2) CTPs have a track record of improving Indiana’s lagging entrepreneurship and average wage metrics.
Resource: Adam H. Berry at (317) 264-6892 or aberry@indianachamber.com
