October 2001

Putting the Pieces Together: Empire Zone Workshop

October 18 -- Ramada Inn, Cortland

The Cortland County BDC is bringing together a panel of tax and finance experts on October 18 at the Ramada Inn in Cortland for a free community workshop to explain the technical aspects of the Empire Zone.

Cortland's application for an Empire Zone was granted on June 26 and the BDC has now begun the process of certifying businesses within the Zone who are investing, expanding or adding employees.

"It's important to learn about how the Empire Zone program works to help better plan business decisions," according to Karen Niday, Cortland's new Zone Coordinator.

Speakers at the program will include Carol Bolam, Empire Zone Program Staff for Empire State Development and Louis Ketzner, Outreach Specialist, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, as well as Zone technical staff from Nation Grid and New York State Electric and Gas. Topics of discussion will include Zone benefits such as the Wage Tax Credit, Investment Tax Credit, Real Property Tax Credit, Sales Tax Exemptions, utility rate discounts and other elements of the program. In addition, the program will cover other issues related to the Zone including its configuration, administration and the process for creating boundary amendments for sites not currently in the Zone.

Two separate workshops will be held:

A general overview session at 9 am will introduce Zone basics such as the purpose of the Zone, the location of the Zone, overall elements of the Zone program, and incentives, exemptions and tax credits associated with the Zone, as well as the process of applying for Zone benefits.

A workshop for practitioners at 10:30 am will be a much more technical, hands-on workshop for attorneys, accountants, bookkeepers, financial administrators, tax advisors, financial officers and other corporate officers, as well as companies who have already been certified or are interested in becoming QEZE's. The technical workshop will be an opportunity to explore specialized areas such as tax code in relation to the Zone program. Advance reservations are required for the technical workshop.

Additional information and reservations can be made by calling the BDC at (607) 756-5005.