Designation as North Carolina Development Zone Number 027
for January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007 for Greensboro, NC

To provide incentives for certain industries to locate in North Carolina, the William S. Lee Act was established by the NC General Assembly in 1996 and amended in 1997,1998 and 1999. The Act is designed to bring economic development by attracting new companies to pockets of poverty in municipalities in North Carolina that have not shared in the economic gains of the state as a whole. The Act also encourages existing companies to expand and provide investment and workforce.

Tax credits are tiered with the highest credits allowed in the most distressed counties of North Carolina. Incentives are limited to certain industries and above-average wage companies. The eligible business types are manufacturing, warehousing and wholesale trade, central administrative offices (headquarters), data processing, and air courier services.

Benefits available to businesses in the development zone in Guilford County will be a tax credit of $4,500 per new job and a credit of 7 percent of investment in machinery and equipment with no threshold. An employee credit up to $1,000 is also provided for worker training. To qualify for these credits, businesses need to meet the wage standard in the William S. Lee Act that applies to Tier 5 counties (100 percent of the applicable average weekly wage for the county).

Development Zone

Census tracts and census block groups are used to identify and qualify an area as a development zone. A development zone includes one or more contiguous census tracts, census block groups or both, in the most recent decennial census (2000). The zone must be wholly or partially within a city with a population of more than 5,000 people, according to the most recent certification by the North Carolina Office of State Planning. In addition, more than 20 percent of the zone population must be below the poverty level as determined from the most recent decennial census. Population of the zone must be 1,000 persons or more. Each census tract and / or block group with less than 10 percent poverty population must be adjacent to a census tract and/or block group with greater than 20 percent of the population below the poverty rate.

The Zone was developed by first looking at census tracts with over 20 percent of its population in poverty, then adding block groups to the Zone until the poverty rate calculates to at least 20.1 percent or more for the entire Zone.

The Zone has a total population of 98,614, as of the 2000 Census. The percentage of population below poverty for the Zone is 20.02 percent, which represents 19,740 persons in poverty.

The City's Role

The City’s role in the program is to help delineate a zone that meets the criteria set out in the legislation and apply for the designation. Taxpayers may apply for certification of eligibility for allowed tax credits by submitting an application to the NC Department of Commerce, Community Assistance Division.

Qualifying businesses within the State Development Zone may be eligible for business tax incentives in accordance with NCGS 105-129.3A. Interested persons or businesses should contact Gail Brock, NC Department of Commerce, Community Assistance, at 919-733-2850 for further information. Additional information may be found here.

Find the county tier designation (shown by list and map).

View the NC Development Zone Interactive Map. This map allows you to determine if a specific address is located within a development zone.

For more information, call John Shoffner at 336-373-2293.