|
|||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
States hope incentive tools translate to luring companies Kansas City Business Journal Imagine a herd of animal health companies thundering to a Corporate Woods-style campus for animal health companies in metropolitan Kansas City. State Sen. Chris Koster, R-Harrisonville, wants to provide public financing for such a development. So Koster plans to introduce legislation in December that he termed an industry-specific equivalent to tax increment financing, the tax diversion mechanism that's supporting Kansas City's downtown renaissance. Koster said he wants to build on the existing base of knowledge and talent at companies such as Durvet Inc. in Blue Springs. "We have a unique window of time where we can emphasize (animal and plant health companies) or let the opportunity pass us by," he said. The proposal would earmark qualifying employers' state income tax withholding for a fund that would provide support for such investments as scientific scholarships and partnerships among health companies and universities. Koster likened the tool to the Kansas Economic Growth Act of 2004 and said he wants to establish an organization similar to the Kansas Bioscience Authority, which is financed by the act. Although stressing that he doesn't intend to start an incentive-fueled "race to the bottom" with Kansas, Koster said he's sick of losing business to the neighboring state. "We're losing because they have more powerful and progressive economic incentives," Koster said. "Whether or not we like to admit it, we are in competition with one another. Refusing to engage in the competition, while it may make political hay in Jefferson City, only puts us farther and farther behind." Steve Kelly, director of the Kansas Commerce Department's Business Development Division, said the state's biosciences financing act is powerful -- the only industry-specific funding mechanism in Kansas. "If you have a bioscience company in Goodland, its taxes would flow into the pot just as would a company in Johnson County," Kelly said. "As long as you're successful in growing the industry, it's like compound interest." The Kansas act, which reinvests withholding taxes in the state's biosciences economy, is expected to raise about $600 million in the next decade. So far, more than $24 million has been authorized -- $6 million in 2004, $11 million in 2005 and $7 million in the first half of 2006. The Bioscience Authority is chartered separately from the Commerce Department and has a board and decision-making process. The authority also has autonomy to make appropriations. Clay Blair, the authority's chairman, said he wants to provide infrastructure for wet lab incubators -- "facilities for entrepreneurs to gravitate to." "The communities recognize the need and the opportunity, and we provide some incentives," Blair said. The authority provided $1 million this year for a Manhattan life sciences initiative to match that city's $5 million bond issue. In October, the authority's board will review an application to designate a proposed biotech park in Shawnee as the state's first biosciences development district. Blair said he's "very interested" in supporting Shawnee's financial commitment. Jim Martin, executive director of the Shawnee Economic Development Council, said biosciences companies are eligible for the largest property tax breaks available in the city -- as much as 75 percent for 10 years on investments of at least $15 million. The abatement is designed to attract high-growth companies and high-paying jobs, he said. In Olathe, the city proposes donating as much as 100 acres for a biosciences incubator and office park. Construction could begin within two years. Tim McKee, the Olathe Chamber of Commerce's vice president of economic development, said the park's animal sciences expertise, conveyed through a Kansas State University satellite campus, would differentiate it from other life science centers. "With all the universities and state schools, we have a niche in the animal sciences that other parts of the country don't have," McKee said. Kansas Bioscience Authority programs
|
Home | Benefits of the Corridor | Outstanding Business Climate | Concentration of Companies | Ground-Breaking Research | For more information, contact: © Kansas City Area Development Council. All rights reserved. |
