The City of East Lansing is giving entrepreneur Kris
Berglund a tax break on his new biotechnology company, Working Bugs LLC. The
city agreed to exempt Working Bugs LLC from paying taxes on equipment.
According to excerpts from the article:
Without the tax abatement, Berglund and his business’
co-manager, Dianne Holman, said they would be unable to afford the equipment
necessary to get the operations moving.
Berglund’s lab equipment could cost up to $36,000 per
piece.
“It all really racks up,” Holman said. “The personal
property tax puts an unfair burden on biotech firms.”
City officials see the abatement as a way to boost the
region’s economy.
Caroline Sallee, a consultant with the East Lansing-based
Anderson Economic Group, said the two fields have seen growth in jobs and
wages.
Between 1998 and 2003, high-tech jobs in southeastern
Michigan grew by 5 percent, and wages grew by 4.2 percent, Sallee said.
Read the entire article here.
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