Middle Market Companies Grow with Cash from Government Coffers

When it comes to government incentives, 2018 could be described as a financial “polar vortex” as Amazon sought to make lightning strike twice by partnering with local governments to establish its second world headquarters.

Middle market companies may be asking, as many certainly have, where is mine?  You will need to do more than merely ask for it, but those same federal and state programs available to Amazon can support, launch, and ensure success of middle market growth strategies.  

A happy day at the IEDC includes another ribbon cutting or press release about more jobs coming to Indiana.  Recurring announcements of record-setting numbers of jobs being created confirm the success of IEDC’s efforts to help Hoosier businesses expand or to attract new businesses to the heartland found within our borders. In 2018, IEDC supported projects targeted to create over 30,000 new jobs and $7 billion in capital investment.

Headlines have certainly been grabbed by Infosys and other mega companies, and they deserve the recognition for the hundreds of high paying jobs they will create.  Yet, aggregate job creation by middle market companies using incentives exceeds those by the top handful whose stories are told by the national financial press.

The public policy supporting these programs may require that you look outside of your own backyard.  Some programs are made available only to areas considered economically stressed.  A New Market Tax Credit, for example, will contribute over 20% to your capital stack if the project is located within zip codes identified as economically distressed.  The Opportunity Zone program in Indiana covers 156 low-income census tracts.

On the other hand, your backyard may be exactly the right place to find other caches of cash to support your growth.  The EDGE program provides employers with payroll credits to spur job creation. Your access to the supply chain network can be enhanced, in cooperation with local government, by infrastructure improvements through Indiana’s Industrial Development Grant Fund.

Those at an earlier stage of development can benefit from Indiana’s Venture Capital Investment Credit, with approved credits of $12.5 million and talk of increasing this amount, or can look to the Next Level Fund to help launch a new technology business.  

A few success stories from 2018: ClusterTruck establishing a new headquarters and an expanded workforce just off the Circle, Aardvark Straws building a new plant in Ft. Wayne, NTN Driveshaft renovating its plant in Columbus, Delco Foods opening a processing and warehouse facility in Whitestown, and Eagle Railcar Services using New Market Tax Credits and industrial recovery credits to establish a state of the art railcar servicing center in Washington.

If you have growth plans, join those who have tapped into the growth incentive programs offered by Indiana to help launch your new product line, expand to a new facility, train your new workers or entice that venture capitalist to invest in you and your next big thing.