State Incentives: SSBCI Program Recap and Overview In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act, which created the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Functioning as a recovery response to the Great Recession, it delivered $1.5 billion in capital to small businesses. Federally, SSBCI phased out in 2017. Nevertheless, after more […]

To ensure equitable access to broadband internet and spur economic development in underserved communities, many states offer incentive programs to for-profit businesses, local governments, and/or non-profit organizations to expand broadband internet access throughout the state. The incentives can take a variety of forms. Some states offer specific tax credits relating to broadband infrastructure development, like […]

C2ER is in the process of completing its annual summer update of the State Business Incentives Database. The C2ER State Business Incentives Database provides users with data on 2,100 state business incentive programs from all US states and territories. Through a regional analysis of incentive programs in the Southern US, we can understand how geography […]

During the past 12 months, the Council for Community and Economic Research, YOUR professional membership organization, has been hard at work increasing the visibility of economic, workforce, and community research by advocating for higher quality data, promoting more focused public and private investments in local data, and continuing to strengthen C2ER products and services.  We […]

C2ER recently completed its annual update of the State Business Incentives Database. As part of the database review process, C2ER researched every U.S. state and territory to ascertain information on what programs have been created, repealed or altered during each state’s most recent legislative sessions. Based on this research, combined with extensive outreach to representatives […]

Passing the annual budget is often a difficult task for state governments, particularly during lean fiscal periods. Over the past few months, Illinois has found resourceful ways to avoid a complete government shutdown after not passing their annual state budget.

Who can argue with the importance of understanding whether or not taxpayer dollars are being used effectively to meet agreed upon policy goals like economic growth? Across the country, the concept of regularly evaluating economic development incentives, including those implemented as tax credits, is broadly accepted. The devil, however, is in the details. The best evaluations follow recognized policy evaluation and data analysis methodologies and principles.

Users of the C2ER State Business Incentives Database have a new resource for understanding some of the tricky terminology used to describe state business incentives. The Database now features a full Glossary with information on every term utilized in the Database.

C2ER is pleased to announce two new analysis tools for the State Business Incentives Database. Researchers using the new State by State and Totals by State analysis tools will now find it much easier to make "apples-to-apples" comparisons between incentives projects.

C2ER and SelectUSA have entered into a partnership to make some features of the State Business Incentives Database publicly available through SelectUSA.gov. SelectUSA is an initiative housed in the U.S. Department of Commerce that was established to attract and retain investment in the American economy. This initiative provides investors with information on accessing federal and state programs and services related to business investment.