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Economic
Development
The City of Green
Planning Department is a major and active promoter of economic development
for the community. Economic development in the City has many facets and
program offerings, which include business retention and expansion support,
general business assistance, and various tax incentive programs. The
City of Green Planning Department should be your first point of contact
and reference for economic development in our community.
Local
Business Retention & Expansion
Our City is a member of the Summit Business Partnership,
a business retention program sponsored by the Summit County Department
of Development and administered locally by Planning Department Staff.
The main goal of the City and the Summit Business Partnership is to retain
and grow those firms and businesses that are already located in our community.
Economic development generates the highest return on investment when economic
development professionals work to retain and grow the companies already
located in the community; therefore, proactive company outreach and frequent
business visits are a regular part of the City’s objectives in promoting
a sound business climate for local enterprises.
The Summit Business Partnership process of retaining businesses in our
community is three-fold and consists of finding out all we can about the
current companies in a targeted business sector, responding in a timely
fashion to immediate and long-term needs of businesses, and developing
programs and policies that make our city a more competitive place for
companies to operate.
Business
Assistance
The City has the ability to connect local enterprises to many regional
and state business development programs. Organizations such as the Green
Chamber of Commerce, Summit County Department of Development,
the United States Small Business Administration Cleveland
Office, and the State of Ohio Department of Development
(ODOD) offer assistance on starting a business in the State of Ohio,
developing business plans and financial projections, marketing, and even
monetary grants/incentives. The City of Green Planning Department Staff
can assist with obtaining information about available programs and making
contact with the appropriate people or organizations.
The City of Green Planning Department also provides confidential assistance
in the area of site selection. Our City is home to a number of business,
commercial, and industrial parks along with various business districts
and stand alone site locations. Our professional and knowledgeable staff
would be glad to gather the information needed and provide you with current
data to make a sound decision about our community and what we have to
offer potential companies.
The City also subscribes to ProCure, a web-based database
system used to store information about available industrial, commercial,
retail, and office real estate in our community. In one aspect, the ProCure
database provides a means for persons looking to start a commercial venture
in our community, the opportunity to search and review available sites
and buildings. In another aspect, the Procure program provides the City
with a direct link to economic development leads from the State of Ohio
Department of Development. When we receive a lead through ProCure from
the State, the matching profile for the available local building or site
listed in the database is forwarded to them. The State’s lead project
manager then works with the client and local officials in completing the
site or building selection process.
Business
Development Incentives
•
Enterprise Zone Program
The City of Green Enterprise Zone Tax Incentive Program (EZ Program)
allows qualifying companies that demonstrate sound financial responsibility
and business experience to receive certain levels of real and personal
property tax abatement when new significant investments in land, buildings,
and/or machinery and equipment are made. The EZ Program is in place
to help offset the high cost of business start-up activities, as well
as to assist existing businesses grow and remain competitive.
An Enterprise Zone Agreement is negotiated between local officials and
the prospective company and must be finalized and executed before any
portion of the project construction begins. The schedule of abatement
is based upon factors such as real and personal property investment,
job creation, and payroll investment. Companies that qualify for real
or personal property tax incentives must continually meet the agreed
upon terms as stipulated in their individual agreement, annually go
before the Tax Incentive Review Council, and provide compensation if
warranted to the affected local school district.
• Community Reinvestment
Area Program
The City authorized legislation, which was certified by the State of
Ohio, to designate acreage in the southeast corner of the city as a
Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). The CRA, which encompasses the CAK
International Business Park and the AKCAN Industrial Park, was enacted
to encourage commercial re-investment and economic development in this
mainly industrial area of the community. The CRA Program is a direct
incentive tax exemption program benefiting property owners who expand
facilities, remodel facilities, or locate new facilities in the qualifying
area. The CRA tax incentive exemption percentage and term is negotiated
and finalized between the property owner and the local political authorities
prior to the project going forward.
• Tax Increment Financing Program
Our community has established a tailored Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
Program, which permits the City to declare improvements to certain parcel
of real property to be a public purpose and allows us to recoup the
increased taxes from the new development to finance various public improvement
projects. The TIF economic development mechanism is anticipated to promote
economic development, encourage private investment, increase employment
opportunities, expedite construction of public improvements, and enhance
property values in specific areas of our community.
• Foreign Trade Zone
The original site of Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) #181 was established in
1991 within the Green community at the CAK International
Business Park and is comprised of 143 acres of industrially zoned
land surrounding the Akron-Canton Airport. The FTZ regulations (both
Federal and State Regulations apply) at this business park exempt goods
in transit, which are not for U.S. commerce, from duties, taxes, or
import quotas. The Foreign-Trade Zone designation grants a corporation
unique development opportunities within the City of Green by providing
local manufacturing or industrial facilities located in the zone quicker
access to foreign trade products, in addition to the advantage of reduced
taxes, duties, and/or insurance costs on those goods.
• ODOD Grant & Loan Programs
The City of Green Planning Department is able to link local businesses
looking to locate in the City with the following business incentive
programs through the State of Ohio Department of Development. The State
of Ohio offers many economic development incentives
in addition to the Ohio Enterprise Zone, Tax Increment Financing, and
Community Reinvestment programs.
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