When Jason Kulpa, CEO of Underground Elephant, needed space for his Internet advertising firm, he was put off by the high cost of parking and rent downtown. Then he heard about the state’s enterprise zone program, which can mean as much as $37,500 per employee in tax credits, plus additional subsidies for equipment. “We wouldn’t be able to work downtown without it,” said Kulpa, whose 55-employee company occupies the 13th floor of the office tower at 600 B St. At the south end of the county, Kristine Vanzutphen, president of Holiday Foliage, knew about the zone benefits, but her accountants knew little of the details. Then she discovered that with a little paper work, she could qualify many of her 35 employees, who make artificial Christmas trees and other plant decorations out of plastic molded in her two Tijuana factories and shipped to Disney theme parks and stores and businesses all over the country. (Disneyland’s towering Main Street holiday trees are her creations.) Her initial application netted her $160,000 that went to the bottom line.
“Though we had an increase in sales, we have to kind of be very economical in how we run our business,” she said. “It gave me a little breathing room that I wasn’t expecting.” The person who opened up the opportunities of these enterprise zones was Brendan Foote, who as senior vice president at the Hughes Marino commercial brokerage runs the tax division. “I’ve been doing this since 2005,” Foote said. “Enterprise zones are not something spoken about in the real estate world as they should be.” The concept behind the zones is that employers would hire more workers and invest in more plants and equipment in low-income areas if there were an incentive. San Diego, National City and Chula Vista make up a regional zone that stretches from Interstate 8 to Otay Mesa and west of La Mesa and Lemon Grove to encompass much of the land west of Interstate 805. On Friday, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders announced state approval of an expansion of the zone north of Interstate 8 to industrial parks as far north as Rancho Bernardo and to eastern parts of Chula Vista.
“Enterprise zones are crucial, because they are one of the most valuable economic development tools we have to attract, and in some cases, retain businesses here in the region, and the state for that matter,” Sanders said at a news conference. “I hope the folks in Sacramento are hearing this message loud and clear."
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