Community Renewal Good Stories - Memphis

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Memphis Conference Highlights RC Tax Incentives

Memphis, Tennessee, RC

"A free conference designed to teach more citizens and business owners about the tax credits takes place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Downtown Marriott, 250 North Main Street. A street fair that runs from 4:45 to 7 p.m. Tuesday will give business owners who can't get away during the workday a chance to meet with various professionals and government" (The Memphis Daily News, May 1, 2003).

During 2002, the Memphis RC's first year, fewer businesses than expected took advantage of the available tax incentives. To increase business participation in 2003, the RC sponsored a 2-day conference and evening street fair to educate the community about RC tax incentives. According to RC officials, when businesses leave the conference they will know enough about the tax credits to ask their accountants and tax preparers about them.

The city's 8-year RC designation has benefited many of the 4,900 businesses located in the RC that covers 48 census tracts and includes downtown, midtown, and the Memphis International Airport. In 2002 T.W. Jones, Jr., who owns a container recycling business, took advantage of RC wage credits for his 10 employees who live in the RC. According to Jones, as long he can make a profit, he will pass the RC tax savings on to his employees. If they were scheduled to receive a 30-cent per hour raise, for example, they got a 60-cent raise. In the future Jones' hiring strategy will focus on residents of the 40-mile RC area to take advantage of the $1,500 tax credit per employee.

City RC officials hope that the conference and other marketing efforts will educate more business owners to follow Jones's example. As RC Administrator Dottie Jones told the Memphis Daily News, "One of the important things for people to understand is that if they are hiring someone, they need to look at where that person lives. If they're faced with hiring an employee and they have two equally qualified candidates-but one comes with a tax credit and one doesn't-well, any intelligent business person is going to want to hire the person that comes with the credit."

For more information about the Memphis RC's programs, contact Renewal Community Coordinator Virginia Wilson at (901) 576-6457.