15G.112 - GROW IOWA VALUES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
15G.112 GROW IOWA VALUES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
1. Program established.
a. The department shall establish and administer a grow Iowa
values financial assistance program for purposes of providing
financial assistance from the fund to applicants. The financial
assistance shall be provided from moneys credited to the grow Iowa
values fund and not otherwise obligated or allocated pursuant to
section 15G.111.
b. The program shall consist of the components described in
subsections 4 through 9. Each fiscal year, the department, with the
approval of the board, shall allocate an amount of financial
assistance from the fund that may be awarded under each component of
the program to qualifying applicants.
c. In making awards of financial assistance pursuant to
subsections 4 and 5, the department shall calculate the fiscal impact
ratio, and in reviewing each application to determine the amount of
financial assistance to award, the board shall consider the
appropriateness of the award to the fiscal impact ratio of the
project and to other factors deemed relevant by the board.
d. For each award of financial assistance under the program,
the department and the recipient of the financial assistance shall
enter into an agreement describing the terms and obligations under
which the financial assistance is being provided. The department may
negotiate, subject to approval by the board, the terms and
obligations of the agreement. An agreement shall contain but need
not be limited to all of the following terms and obligations:
(1) A project completion date.
(2) A maintenance period completion date.
(3) The number of jobs to be created or retained.
(4) The amount of financial assistance to be provided under the
program.
(5) An amount of matching funds from a city or county. The
department shall adopt by rule a formula for determining the amount
of matching funds required.
e. The department may enforce the terms and obligations of
agreements described in paragraph "d".
f. A recipient of financial assistance shall meet all terms
and obligations in an agreement by the project completion date, but
the board may for good cause extend the project completion date.
g. During the maintenance period, a recipient of financial
assistance shall continue to comply with the terms and obligations of
an agreement entered into pursuant to paragraph "d".
h. If a business that is approved to receive financial
assistance experiences a layoff within this state or closes any of
its facilities within this state, the board has the discretion to
reduce or eliminate some or all of the amount of financial assistance
to be received. If a business has received financial assistance
under this part and experiences a layoff within this state or closes
any of its facilities within this state, the business may be subject
to repayment of all or a portion of the incentives that the business
has received.
2. Standard program requirements. In addition to the
eligibility requirements of the individual program components
applicable to the financial assistance sought, a business shall be
subject to all of the following requirements:
a. The business shall submit to the department with its
application for financial assistance a report describing all
violations of environmental law or worker safety law within the last
five years. If, upon review of the application, the board finds that
a business has a record of violations of the law, statutes, rules, or
regulations that tends to show a consistent pattern, the board shall
not make an award of financial assistance to the business unless the
board finds either that the violations did not seriously affect
public health, public safety, or the environment, or, if such
violations did seriously affect public health, public safety, or the
environment, that mitigating circumstances were present.
b. The business shall not have closed, or substantially
reduced, operations in one area of this state and relocated
substantially the same operations in a community in another area of
this state. However, this paragraph shall not be construed to
prohibit a business from expanding its operation in a community if
existing operations of a similar nature in this state are not closed
or substantially reduced.
c. The proposed project shall not negatively impact other
businesses in competition with the business being considered for
assistance. The department shall make a good faith effort to
identify existing Iowa businesses within an industry in competition
with the business being considered for financial assistance. The
department shall make a good faith effort to determine the
probability that the proposed financial assistance will displace
employees of the existing businesses. In determining the impact on
businesses in competition with the business being considered for
financial assistance, jobs created or retained as a result of other
jobs being displaced elsewhere in the state shall not be considered
direct jobs created or retained.
d. The business shall only employ individuals legally
authorized to work in this state. In addition to any and all other
applicable penalties provided by current law, all or a portion of the
assistance received by a business which has received financial
assistance under the program and is found to knowingly employ
individuals not legally authorized to work in this state is subject
to recapture by the department.
3. County and regional wage calculations.
a. In administering the financial assistance program, the
department shall annually calculate a county wage and a regional wage
for each county for purposes of determining the eligibility of
applicants for financial assistance under the program.
(1) The county wage and the regional wage shall be an hourly wage
rate based on data from the most recent four quarters of wage and
employment information from the quarterly covered wage and employment
data report issued by the department of workforce development.
(2) The department shall not include the value of benefits when
calculating the county wage or the regional wage.
b. The county wage shall be the average of the wages paid for
jobs performed in the county by employers in all employment
categories except the employment categories of government,
agriculture, and mining.
c. The regional wage shall be calculated as follows:
(1) Multiplying by four the county wage of a county.
(2) Adding together the county wage of each of the counties
adjacent to the county.
(3) Adding the result obtained in subparagraph (1) to the result
obtained in subparagraph (2).
(4) Dividing the result obtained in subparagraph (3) by the sum
of the number of counties adjacent to the county plus four.
4. One hundred thirty percent wage component.
a. In order to qualify for financial assistance under this
component of the program, a business shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(1) The business shall create or retain jobs as part of a
project, and the jobs created or retained shall meet one of the
following requirements:
(a) If the business is creating jobs, the business shall
demonstrate that the jobs will pay at least one hundred percent of
the qualifying wage threshold at the start of the project completion
period, at least one hundred thirty percent of the qualifying wage
threshold by the project completion date, and at least one hundred
thirty percent of the qualifying wage threshold until the maintenance
period completion date.
(b) If the business is retaining jobs, the business shall
demonstrate that the jobs retained will pay at least one hundred
thirty percent of the qualifying wage threshold throughout both the
project completion period and the maintenance period.
(2) The business shall provide a sufficient package of benefits
to each employee holding a created or retained job. The board, at
the recommendation of the department, shall adopt rules determining
what constitutes a sufficient package of benefits.
(3) The business shall demonstrate that the jobs created or
retained will have a sufficient impact on state and local government
revenues as determined by the department after calculating the fiscal
impact ratio of the project.
(4) The business shall not be a retail business or a business
where entrance is limited by a cover charge or membership
requirement.
b. A business providing a sufficient package of benefits to
each employee holding a created or retained job shall qualify for a
credit against any of the one hundred thirty percent qualifying wage
threshold requirements described in paragraph "a", subparagraph
(1). The credit shall be calculated and applied as follows:
(1) By multiplying the qualifying wage threshold of the county in
which the business is located by one and three-tenths.
(2) By multiplying the result of subparagraph (1) by one-tenth.
(3) The amount of the result of subparagraph (2) shall be
credited against the amount of the one hundred thirty percent
qualifying wage threshold requirement that the business is required
to meet under paragraph "a", subparagraph (1).
(4) The credit shall not be applied against the one hundred
percent of qualifying wage threshold requirement described in
paragraph "a", subparagraph (1).
c. Notwithstanding the qualifying wage threshold requirements
described in paragraph "a", subparagraph (1), if a business is
also the recipient of financial assistance under another program
administered by the department, and the other program requires the
payment of higher wages than the wages required under this
subsection, the business shall be required to pay the higher wages.
d. An applicant may apply to the board for a waiver of the
qualifying wage threshold requirements of this subsection.
5. One hundred percent wage component. In order to qualify
for financial assistance under this component of the program, a
business shall meet all of the following requirements:
a. The business shall create or retain jobs as part of a
project, and the jobs created or retained shall meet one of the
following qualifying wage thresholds:
(1) If the business is creating jobs, the business shall
demonstrate that the jobs pay at least one hundred percent of the
qualifying wage threshold at the start of the project completion
period, by the project completion date, and until the maintenance
period completion date.
(2) If the business is retaining jobs, the business shall
demonstrate that the jobs retained will pay at least one hundred
percent of the qualifying wage threshold throughout both the project
completion period and the maintenance period.
b. The business shall provide a sufficient package of
benefits to each employee holding a created or retained job. The
board, at the recommendation of the department, shall adopt rules
determining what constitutes a sufficient package of benefits.
c. The business shall demonstrate that the jobs created or
retained will have a sufficient impact on state and local government
revenues as determined by the department after calculating the fiscal
impact ratio of the project.
d. The business shall not be a retail business or a business
where entrance is limited by a cover charge or membership
requirement.
6. Entrepreneurial component.
a. In order to qualify for financial assistance under the
entrepreneurial component of the program, a business shall meet all
of the following requirements:
(1) The business shall be an early-stage business. For purposes
of this subparagraph, "early-stage business" means a business
that has been competing in a particular industry for three years or
less.
(2) The business shall have consulted with and obtained a letter
of endorsement from either a business accelerator approved by the
department or from an entrepreneurial development organization
recognized by the department.
b. Notwithstanding subsection 1, paragraph "d",
subparagraph (5), a business applying for financial assistance under
the entrepreneurial component is eligible for financial assistance
regardless of whether the business has received matching funds from a
city or county.
c. In awarding financial assistance under the entrepreneurial
component of the program, the department and the board shall give
priority to businesses in those sectors of the Iowa economy with the
greatest potential for growth and expansion. Sectors having such
potential include but are not limited to biotechnology, recyclable
materials, software development, computer-related products, advanced
materials, advanced manufacturing, and medical and surgical
instruments.
7. Infrastructure component. In order to qualify for
financial assistance under the infrastructure component of the
program, a business or community shall be engaged in a physical
infrastructure project. For purposes of this subsection, "physical
infrastructure project" means a project that creates necessary
infrastructure for economic success throughout Iowa, provides the
foundation for the creation of jobs, and that involves the investment
of a substantial amount of capital. Physical infrastructure projects
include but are not limited to projects involving any mode of
transportation; public works and utilities such as sewer, water,
power, or telecommunications; physical improvements that mitigate,
prevent, or eliminate environmental contamination; and other similar
projects deemed to be physical infrastructure by the department.
8. Value-added agriculture component.
a. In order to qualify for financial assistance under the
value-added agriculture component of the program, a business shall be
a production facility engaged in the process of adding value to
agricultural products. Projects considered eligible under this
subsection include but are not limited to innovative agricultural
products and processes, innovative and new renewable fuels,
agricultural biotechnology, biomass and alternative energy
production, and organic products and emerging markets. Financial
assistance is available for project development as well as project
creation.
b. The board and the department shall not award financial
assistance under the value-added agriculture component in an amount
exceeding fifty percent of the total capital investment in a project.
c. Notwithstanding subsection 1, paragraph "d",
subparagraph (5), a business applying for financial assistance under
the value-added agriculture component is eligible for financial
assistance regardless of whether the business has received matching
funds from a city or county.
9. Disaster recovery component. In order to qualify for
financial assistance under the disaster recovery component of the
program, a business shall meet all of the following conditions:
a. The business is located in an area declared a disaster
area by a federal official.
b. The business has sustained substantial physical damage and
has closed as the result of a natural disaster.
c. The business has a plan for reopening that includes
employing a sufficient number of the employees the business employed
before the natural disaster occurred. The department shall adopt
rules governing the number of employees that is sufficient under this
paragraph.
d. The business will pay wages at the same level after
reopening as the business paid before the natural disaster occurred.
Section History: Recent Form
2005 Acts, ch 150, §3; 2008 Acts, ch 1102, §4, 5; 2008 Acts, ch
1191, § 162; 2009 Acts, ch 123, §3
Referred to in § 15.104, 15.203, 15.329, 15.330, 15.335A, 15A.7,
15E.231, 15G.101, 15G.111, 15G.115, 159A.6B, 266.19, 455B.104,
455B.433
Additional requirements for applicants which are economic
development regions, see § 15E.231