Incentives
Through SmartWorks, Franklin County Economic Development offers several programs to assist new and existing business complete commercial, industrial, office and residential development projects. The total value of these incentives will depend upon the type of incentive received, total investment, tax revenue generation, new job creation or retention estimated for the project.
Workforce Innovation Training Grant
Franklin County’s Workforce Innovation Training Grant (WIT-G) is designed to be a catalyst for a business that intends to create at least one new innovative “line of business” within Franklin County. As a business owner, this program can provide you with grant funding to help you offset the cost of training current and/or new employees to create the proposed new innovative good or service. The grant allows you to implement the type of training program(s) you determine will help you innovate and expand your business into new markets.
To be eligible for a WIT-G, an applicant must be a corporation or a limited liability company/ partnership currently undergoing one or more job creation and/or business expansion project(s) that seeks to implement a training program through which the acquisition of new knowledge or labor will (1) add value to a product, process, or service; will (2) help introduce new ideas, new methods, or open new lines of business; and (3) result in economic growth for Franklin County.
Grant decisions are based on a number of project factors, including but not limited to scope of the project, job creation commitments, average annual payroll, and proposed training costs. This grant program is run on an open-cycle, first-come, first-served basis. To learn more, call Emanuel Torres, at 614-525-5244, or email [email protected].
Tax Incentives
Community Reinvestment Area (CRA)
The county's Community Reinvestment Areas (CRAs) are designed to offer real estate tax abatements on the increased value of real property improvements. The State of Ohio created the CRA Program initially to encourage housing development by offering tax incentives for the renovation, construction or remodeling of housing units. Today, this program is used as an economic development tool to help businesses in expansion. Businesses opting to erect new facilities are offered real estate tax abatements on the increased value of their property under this program. For additional information on Community Reinvestment Areas, click here to link to the Ohio Development Services Agency.
Enterprise Zone (EZ)
The Enterprise Zone Program allows for tax abatement incentives to businesses planning to expand, construct or renovate their facilities. The Enterprise Zone Program was created by the State of Ohio to help stimulate economic development and to allow communities to offer competitive business recruitment packages to prospective businesses. Typically, the business enterprise must be non-retail in nature and must propose to create and maintain jobs in Franklin County. For additional information on Enterprise Zones, click here to link to the Ohio Development Services Agency.
CRA & EZ Map
Tax Increment Finance (TIF)
Tax Increment Finance (TIF) is an economic development tool to finance public infrastructure improvements and in some instances, residential rehabilitation. A TIF locks in the taxable worth of real property at the value held at the time the authorizing legislation was approved. Any increase of the assessed value real property within a TIF district that exceeds the locked in amount is directed towards a separate fund as a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to finance the construction of public infrastructure defined within the TIF legislation.
Learn More
To learn about our existing CRA, EZ, or TIF districts, or to discuss the impact of locating in one of these zones on your business, call Emanuel Torres, at 614-525-5244, or email [email protected].
Additional Resources
In addition to the incentives we offer as an agency, several of the organizations we partner with can assist you in matters of Business Attraction, Expansion, and Retention. Please see our Business Services to learn more about SmartWorks what partners can do for you.