NC Governor Signs Legislation

Today, after a private tour of the Epic Games facility in Cary, Gov. Bev Perdue sat down with a variety of the interactive digital media’s largest players and signed House Bill 1973 and Senate Bill 1171. The passage of these bills is important to economic development in the area because it shows that the local community and state are behind major efforts.

“This was a result of a lot of hard work by a lot of dedicated passionate people,” said Wayne Watkins, project manager forWake County Economic Development.

HB 1973 is focused around several important economic development tools devoted to assisting in job creation.  Among these tools is an interactive digital media tax credit that should provide a valuable tool in both the recruitment of new companies in the digital media industry as well as assist existing companies with possible expansion plans. The provision provides a 15 percent tax credit on qualified expenses that can possibly be upped to 20 percent, if the project utilizes academic resources at either a university under the University of North Carolina system or within the North Carolina Community College system. 

The adoption of this credit is timely, as Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia have all enacted similar provisions within the last 18 months.  The Triangle is home to a dynamic cluster of digital media companies and should be well positioned for future growth now that this competitive tax credit has been adopted.