Excelsior Jobs Program

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Objective

The Excelsior Jobs Program encourages businesses to expand in and relocate to New York while maintaining strict accountability standards to guarantee that businesses deliver on job and investment commitments. 

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Overview

Firms in the Excelsior Jobs Program may qualify for five fully refundable tax credits.  Businesses claim the credits over a benefit period of up to 10 years as established in the preliminary schedule of benefits.  To earn credits, firms must first meet and maintain established job and investment thresholds outlined in Program Eligibility below:

Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit:  

  • A credit of up to 6.85% of wages per net new job.
  • For a qualified green project or green CHIPS project, a credit of up to 7.5% of wages per net new job.

Excelsior Investment Tax Credit:

  • A credit valued at 2% of qualified investments.
  • For a qualified green project or green CHIPS project, a credit of up to 5% of qualified investments.
  • For investments in child care services, a credit up to 5% of qualified investments.

Excelsior Research and Development Tax Credit:

  • A credit of 50% of the portion of the Federal Research and Development tax credit that relates to expenditures in NYS up to credit up to 6% of research expenditures attributable to activities conducted in NYS. 
  • For a qualified green project or green CHIPS project, a credit of 50% of the portion of the Federal Research and Development tax credit that relates to expenditures in NYS up to 8% of research expenditures attributable to activities conducted in NYS.

Excelsior Real Property Tax Credit: 

  • Available to firms locating in certain distressed areas and to firms in targeted industries that meet higher employment and investment thresholds (Regionally Significant Project).

The Excelsior Child Care Services Tax Credit: 

  • A credit of up to 6% of net new child care services expenditures for the operation, sponsorship, or direct financial support of a childcare services program.
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Program Eligibility

Applicants must operate predominately in the following strategic industries and create the minimum new jobs for the strategic industry or firms in certain strategic industries who retain jobs and make significant capital investments.  

  • Scientific Research and Development firms creating at least 5 net new jobs*
  • Software Development firms creating at least 5 net new jobs*
  • Financial services (customer service) back office operations creating at least 25 net new jobs
  • Agriculture firms creating at least 5 net new jobs*
  • Manufacturing firms creating at least 5 net new jobs*
  • Back office firms creating at least 25 net new jobs
  • Distribution firms creating at least 50 net new jobs
  • Music Production firms creating at least 5 net new jobs
  • Entertainment Companies creating at least 100 net new jobs
  • Life Sciences Companies creating at least 5 net new jobs
  • Other firms creating at least 150 net new jobs and investing at least $3 million
  • Firms in strategic industries exclusive of Music Production and Entertainment that make significant capital investment that have at least 25 employees; manufacturing firms who retain at least 5 employees are also eligible to apply for participation in the Program

* Eligible strategic industry for enhanced green project tax credits

Green Project

To be eligible for enhanced green project tax credits, a company must be eligible for the Excelsior Jobs Program operating in strategic industries inclusive of agriculture, manufacturing, software development, and scientific research and development and engage in a “green project”.

A "green project" means a project that makes products or develops technologies that are primarily aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions or supporting the use of clean energy.

"Green project" shall include, but not be limited to, the manufacture or development of products  or  technologies or  supply  chain  components  primarily for renewable energy systems as defined in section sixty-six-p of the public service law, vehicles  that use  non-hydrocarbon fuels and produce zero or near zero emissions, heat pumps, energy efficiency, clean energy storage and other  products  that significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing the utilization  of  depletable  resources  or  by improving industrial efficiency.

"Green project" shall not include a project primarily composed of (i) necessarily local activities such as retail, building construction, or the installation, deployment or adoption of an energy product or technology at an end user's site, or (ii) the production of products or development of technologies that would produce only marginal and incremental energy savings or environmental benefits ancillary to the core function of the product or technology.

Child Care Credits

To be eligible for the enhanced childcare investment tax credit or the childcare services tax credit component, a company must be eligible for the Excelsior Jobs Program operating in and conducting an Excelsior project in one of the qualified strategic industries and operating or sponsoring childcare services to its employees. 

"Child care services" means those services undertaken or sponsored by a participant in this program which are proximate and convenient to the project location and meeting the requirements of "child day care" as defined in  paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section three  hundred ninety of the social services law or any child care services in the city of New York whereby a permit to operate such childcare services is required pursuant to the health code of the city of New York.

"Net new child care services expenditures" means the calculation of new, annual participant expenditures on child care services  whether internal or provided by a third party (including coverage for full or partial discount of employee rates), minus any revenues received by the participant through a third-party  operator (i.e. rent paid to the participant by the child care provider) or employees and which are proximate and convenient to the project location. For the purposes of this definition, expenditures for child care services that a participant has incurred prior to admission to this program shall not be eligible for the credit.

Green CHIPS Project

"Green CHIPS project" means a project meeting all of the following criteria: (1) is within the semiconductor manufacturing and related equipment and material supplier sector; (2) includes sustainability measures to mitigate the project's greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime under a Green CHIPS sustainability plan; (3) provides for the payment of not less than federal prevailing wage rates for its project construction; (4) makes specific and actionable commitments to worker and community investment under a Green CHIPS community plan; (5) will create at least five hundred net new jobs and make at least three billion dollars in qualified investment prior to the conclusion of its preliminary schedule of benefits; and (6) will maintain a Green CHIPS benefit-cost ratio of at least fifteen to one as calculated for the overall project term.

Green CHIPS projects are eligible for up to 20 years of Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits.  Such projects are eligible to enter a phase one of a project ten-year benefit term.  In addition, provided they are in good standing with all requirements, are also eligible to enter a phase two of a Green CHIPS project, and therefore to initiate a new and separate ten-year schedule related to phase two, provided that phase two will create at least five hundred net new jobs beyond those created in phase one, and that phase two will make at least three billion dollars in qualified investment beyond the investment total associated with phase one.

For additional information about Green CHIPS projects please visit esd.ny.gov/green-chips