Press Release
Contact: Robert Albright |
Phone: 919-549-7500 ext.123 |
N.C. General Assembly Extends
Qualified Business Venture Tax Credit
NCBIO, CED Lead Coalition to Encourage Passage of the Bill
July 21, 2003, Research Triangle Park, NC — The North Carolina General Assembly has voted to extend the Qualified Business Venture (QBV) Tax Credit, which allows individuals up to a 25 percent state tax credit for investments in qualified small companies. Before closing its session over the weekend, the N.C. General Assembly adopted the tax credit bill and sent it to Governor Mike Easley, who is expected to sign it into law within 7 to 10 days.
The North Carolina Biosciences Organization (NCBIO) and CED collaborated on retaining and supporting this lobbying effort for the extension of the QBV Tax Credit, with support from angel investors and other partners such as North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, the Greater Raleigh, Durham, Greenville-Pitt and Winston-Salem Chambers of Commerce, and NCEITA. Raleigh attorney and lobbyist Harry Kaplan led the lobbying efforts to extend the tax credit.
“In the current economic climate, we've seen a real dearth of seed-stage financing for early-stage companies. The QBV Tax Credit will be instrumental in getting these companies some funding,” said Monica Doss, CED's president. “We are really pleased, in this tough budget climate, that the General Assembly continued to make a supportive environment for emerging companies a top priority.”
The QBV Tax Credit amount is limited to $50,000 for an individual and is capped at $6 million total statewide each year. The tax credit will help qualified early stage companies attract angel, or seed-stage investments.
Sam Taylor, executive vice president of NCBIO, said the QBV Tax Credit was a central element of capital infrastructure for emerging companies in North Carolina.
“Early-stage companies depend on angel and mezzanine capital - the kind of capital this tax credit targets,” Taylor said. “The extension of this important tax credit could not have happened without the support of lots of people throughout the technology sector, including NCBIO, CED and NCEITA. I'm very pleased that NCBIO could be a part of that team.”
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the greater Research Triangle region. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. www.cednc.org
About the North Carolina Biosciences Organization: NCBIO is a trade organization promoting the development of the biosciences industry in North Carolina. NCBIO provides cost-effective, organized legislative and advocacy efforts on behalf of the industry at the state and federal levels.
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