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Medford could gain e-commerce zone Legislature created pilot program to give tax breaks to companies that create new jobs in Internet-dependent fields By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune Medford may become one of four new electronic commerce zones in Oregon under a pilot program created by the Legislature to give tax breaks to companies that expand or relocate here and create new jobs. With the support of many businesses who plan to use the program, Medford will apply in February to become one of the four zones designated under Senate Bill 229, said city economic development coordinator Bill Hoke, who is handling the application. The program is aimed at firms that sell products and services over the Internet or provide broadband infrastructure, such as fiber optics, Internet access and cable. They must have virtually no impact on the environment, said Hoke. It is targeted not at retail operations but "firms that mainly do business with other businesses," he added. It offers income tax credits of up to 25 percent of new investment over three- or five-year periods for firms that are operating existing enterprise zones, making a profit, meeting or exceeding area wage levels and showing at least a 10 percent increase in employment, said Gordon Safley, director of Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. The city's enterprise zone has 10 regions, most of them around the airport-Highway 62 area. The new electronic zones would be an overlay on existing enterprise zones. The bill requires the pilot program to be regionally balanced, which puts Medford into competition with Grants Pass, Roseburg and Klamath Falls, said Safley. "We're currently working with some good companies about locating here and, for some, this could be the deciding factor," said Hoke. "They're sizable employers and this program has the potential to grow quite a number of jobs if we're selected." Safley said the program could play a big part in the decision of one large firm to move here. The firm uses Internet and telecommunications technology as a big part of its mission and would create about 200 jobs, he added. "The selection of Medford would have a large impact on job creation and the growth of our area, and it gives businesses incentive to expand here instead of somewhere else," said Safley. Medford should have an edge in the competition, said Hoke, because the region has a strong, well-trained workforce, good secondary education for worker training, an adequate bandwidth already in place, a lot of companies already engaged in electronic businesses and a successful enterprise zone already functioning. "We've already demonstrated we can grow a business and bring additional jobs here. (Choosing Medford) would help the state, as well as help this region," Hoke said. The program was explained to area business leaders Monday night by Pat Allen, head of the small and emerging business section of the state Economic and Community Development Department, Safley said. Some 20 to 25 business owners attended and will express their support for the program in the application, he added. The program allows firms to claim a property tax exemption of up to $2 million a year. It also offers a tax credit for advanced telecommunications firms of up to 20 percent of the cost of their facilities. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.