Tax incentives lure digital media companies
04/04/2010
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By Bobbie J. Clark Shreveport Times
Digital media may be the future of economic development in Louisiana, and the Shreveport-Bossier City area could benefit greatly, according to officials.
Much like the film industry, the state has passed a package of tax credits for digital media companies.
The Digital Media Incentive provides a tax credit for 25 percent of qualified production costs. There is also a 35 percent payroll tax credit for companies that hire Louisiana residents. Last year, the Louisiana Legislature expanded the credits, which have been available since before Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Before the state legislature passed the expansions last year, Louisiana Economic Development had received a total of 59 applications for the incentives.
In the months since, there have been 25 applications submitted already, said Elliott Adams, director of digital media for Louisiana Economic Development.
"There were some expansions in the law, but not as much as one might think," Adams said. "Someone is now dedicated to marketing the program."
Digital media has a big role in Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret's "blue ocean" strategy, which seeks to identify businesses to help diversify the state's economy.
Moret said the Shreveport-Bossier City area has the perfect infrastructure in place to be a hub for the industry, especially in the health care field.
There has been a movement lately to get medical records online in a standardized fashion.
Adams said this is the time to target companies that provide that kind of service.
"Doctors and hospitals have to get those records into one form," he said. "We have this incentive. "ยป It could be a good fit."
Like the film industry, Adams said they are hoping for a boom in growth.
In addition to the tax incentive, northwest Louisiana also has the Cyber Innovation Center, Intertech Science Park, LSU Health Sciences Center and CoHabitat to help draw digital media companies to the area.
Not only has Victoria Provenza taken advantage of the incentives for her technology firm proSPATIAL, she has made use of CoHabitat, which is a workspace for entrepreneurs and independent professionals in the digital media field, and plans to move into the CIC business incubator when it is finished.
Provenza recently located her firm to the Shreveport-Bossier City area from Colorado. She is a native of the area. Her company specializes in geographic information systems, remote sensing, light detection and ranging, and global positioning systems.
"We recently received an offer to manage a project in Boulder, (Colo.)," she said. "We're using the tax credits as the biggest negotiation tool to develop the software in Louisiana, instead of me flying to Colorado all the time."
