As seen in this article, “Incentives legislation could create designation to encourage economic investment in businesses tied to military, aviation.
The industries would benefit under legislation aimed at overhauling New Jersey’s business incentives. Under an Assembly version of the measure, defense and aviation would be among the state’s ‘targeted industries,’ allowing such businesses to qualify for bonus tax credits under a revamped Grow New Jersey program.
The legislation, dubbed the Economic Opportunity Act, amounts to an overhaul of New Jersey’s corporate incentives that aims to loosen the geographic limitations of previous programs, such as Urban Transit Hub; promote development of key industries; and place a greater focus on job creation.
The bill also calls for creating a new aviation district – namely, within a 1-mile radius around Atlantic City International Airport – in which businesses are eligible for ‘mega project’ designations, said Ted Zangari, a Sills Cummis & Gross attorneys who helped craft the measure. The designation qualifies projects for even greater base awards, provided they have at least 1,000 new or existing jobs, or 250 jobs with a $20 million capital investment.
Zangari, the real estate attorneys, said the call to cluster New Jersey’s defense industry becomes more urgent with the prospect that the military in 2015 will conduct another base realignment and closure nationwide, similar to the one that closed Fort Monmouth in 2011. He said ‘the best way to insulate ourselves from being on the chopping block’ is to cluster as many defense contractors, create as many private-sector jobs and inspire as much capital investment as possible.
‘We really should see this race against time until 2015 as our rallying cry to make sure we effect these defense-aerospace clusters – even more urgently than we were already looking to create them’ for job creation, he said.”
