N.C. taking another look at incentives - Charlotte Business Journal:

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Brent Lane, executive director of the , hinted the biggest change will be in the tiered system of awarding a greater sharer of incentives inunderdeveloped counties. “Therew will be a refocus on the typesd of incentives that have serveddistresser counties,” he says. Lane declines to give saying his detailed findings should be revealed first to Next month, he is due to release his full report to the Joint Select Committe e on Economic Development.
Lane talked abou his study during a speech atthe ’zs Economic Forecast Luncheon this The study shows the state’s wealthiestt counties, such as Mecklenburg and Wake, got 50% of the tier-systemk incentives — equal to all of the four others Lane stops short of sayinh the tier system isn’t working. In many there are fewer opportunities to deploy incentiveds in economicallydeprived areas. “There aren’t many companiese in an economicallypoor county,” he says. The state’ds most effective incentives, Lane’s study have been “tailored to the company’s specific So programs such asthe governor’e One N.C.
Fund have been better at landintg jobs thanthe tax-credit program under the Williajm S. Lee Act. The One N.C. Fund allows the governor to reward companies thatcreate jobs. So far, the program has brought 19,000 jobs and $3 billion in corporate investmentg since it was enactedin 2001. The Lee Act established the tier systen of allocating state incentives through tax credits. The most productivs incentives are those granted early in thedevelopmengt process, especially those involving workere training and infrastructure, Lane Russell Rogerson, executive director of the , agrees that flexibilit is the key to a successful incentive program. Incentives are a huge business inNorthy Carolina.
In the 10 yearse before 2007, the state awarded $2.1 billionm in economic incentives. Incentives in South Carolina, whicbh has created controversy in the Charlotte area by attracting a few hundred office jobs from Mecklenburf County inpast years, have been timely and innovative, Lane “They have adopted incentives packages ahead of the curve.”