Clean Tech Zone Can Bring Good Jobs to Long Beach

monokristalline Solarzelle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday in City Council, my colleagues approved my item asking the City Manager to report on how the City of Long Beach can implement a Clean Tech Zone that will attract industries large and small to locate in Long Beach -- industries that are focusing on clean technology such as solar, green products, wind, etc.

This idea came from researching what other cities are doing.The City of Los Angeles has established the Clean Tech Corridor as a national center for cleantech research and development and industrial manufacturing. The CleanTech Corridor supports the development of a business cluster dedicated to cleantech manufacturing processes and technologies for the 21st century. The Cleantech Corridor is a 4 mile long district on the eastern edge of Downtown LA, stretching from the Los Angeles State Historic Park in the north, to the CleanTech Manufacturing Center in the South, and including both the east and west banks of the Los Angeles River. 

The City of San Diego launched a new Cleantech (Clean Technology) Initiative in an effort to promote the expansion, attraction and retention of businesses that develop products and technologies that provide environmentally sustainable solutions.

The Sacramento Clean Tech Zone offers the following incentives to businesses:

• Expedited permitting provided by Development Services Department and eligible
   companies may receive redevelopment and job training funds offered by regional
  partners. In addition, all companies may be eligible for Small Business Administration
  (SBA) loans, Industrial Development Bonds (IDB) and venture capital funds
   
  Other benefits include:

o   Enterprise

·        Sales tax credits on qualified property

·        Wage tax credits for five years for hiring eligible employees

·        100 percent Net Operating Loss Carryovers available up to 15 years

·        Rapid Depreciation of Equipment

·        Financing Assistance, Hiring Assistance through Sacramento Works!

o   Foreign Trade (FTZ)

·        Duty-free treatment for items that are processed in FTZs and then exported

·        Duty payment is deferred on items until they are brought out of the FTZ for sale in the U.S. market

o   Recycling (RMDZ)

·        Below-market-rate revolving loan program for RMDZ-eligible activities

·        Free product marketing

o   Green Technology Small Business Loan Programs

·        Industry-targeted SBA 7(a) loans available through Grow Sacramento Fund

·        Zone-allocated SBA 504 loans available through Greater Sacramento Community Development Corporation

·        Community Development Block Grant funds to be available at very favorable terms for eligible businesses

 o   Specialized Business Financing Programs

·        City-issued industrial development bonds

 

 
I have already met with the President of the Green Business Council in Long Beach -- Kent Peterson, who was very enthusiastic about the possibilities of Long Beach moving this forward.

Related articles

• Los Angeles Plans Cleantech Complex