NJ Awards EisnerAmper Grant to Create Jobs

 

Companies in New Jersey that are interested in applying for the state's business tax incentives and grants may want to consult EisnerAmper [1], a New York‒based accounting firm that maintains four locations in New Jersey.

 

EisnerAmper has received a $1.826 million Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) grant [2] from New Jersey to create 100 new jobs over a two-year period. The firm was also awarded $1.147 million in tax credits through a Business Retention and Relocation Assistance Grant (BRRAG) [3] as an incentive for the firm to remain in in the state and retain the 255 employees now working in its Edison office.

 

EisnerAmper will move from Edison to nearby Metropark, considered a distressed urban site. 

 

The BEIP grant can equal 100 percent of the expected state tax revenue that will be generated from the new jobs. BRRAG offers grants as credits against business tax liability. 

 

To qualify for the employment incentive grant, a business must demonstrate (1) that the BEIP grant is a "material" factor for expanding or relocating jobs in New Jersey; (2) that it is financially viable; and (3) that it will create a minimum of twenty-five new jobs, or ten new jobs if the business is within the high-tech or biotechnology industries.

 

New Jersey has actively sought to retain businesses of all sizes in the state with business incentive programs. Another recent recipient is the national retailer Burlington Coat Factory. The company had considered a move to Pennsylvania but has accepted a $41 million tax credit package from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority [4] that will tie the company to the state for at least another fifteen years.

 

Business incentives are popular with the state legislature, which has shown a willingness to enact frequent changes. New Jersey increased the allowable amount per employee for tax credits in 2010 from 80 to 100 percent for the BRRAG program, and in January, the state enacted a new and different incentive program ‒ Grow New Jersey Assistance Program [5]. Honeywell International, a large technology company headquartered in Morris County, New Jersey, has applied for the new program, which will potentially result in a larger benefit than the BRRAG program, according to NorthJersey.com [6]. The BRRAG program has a $40 million cap. 

 

The leases on EisnerAmper's four New Jersey locations will be up within two years, which means that, according to a report in the Woodbridge Patch [7], "they would be considering whether to consolidate their New Jersey offices into a larger, renovated facility in Metropark, or move out of state, depending upon what the state could do for them financially." In its application, EisnerAmper estimated that keeping the company in the state would result in a net benefit of $48.7 million to New Jersey. The cost to move from their current location in Edison to Metropark, a distance of five miles, was estimated at $8.685 million.