Atlanta creates $1 million tax break for new tech firms, joins tech-based health campaign - saportareport

By David Pendered Atlanta’s efforts to promote the technology industry now include a $1 million tax exemption for new and emerging businesses and an innovation campaign sponsored by the

National League of Cities. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on Friday commended a tax exemption the Atlanta City Council approved overwhelmingly at its meeting Monday. The exemption is limited to

either the first three years of operations, or the first $1 million in gross receipts, according to the legislation. In addition, the exemption waives the $50 zoning determination fee,

though businesses still require zoning approval. “Entrepreneurs coming to Atlanta have told us that the best thing we can do to support them is to make it easy for them to conduct business

in the City,” Reed said in a statement released by his office.  “Fostering this type of environment now will pay dividends for us well into the future as we continue to position Atlanta as a

destination for technology and innovation.” The legislation was promoted by Invest Atlanta, the city’s development arm. CEO Craig Richard said the tax exemption continues Atlanta’s efforts

to attract and retain tech firms. Supporters include Paul Judge, a founder of TechSquare Labs, which is involved with Invest Atlanta’s $70 million investment in the future Tech Square Tower,

which is to provide turn-key housing for students who hope to develop some sort of innovative idea, as well as for entrepreneurs who have an office at Tech Square. Residents are to mingle

and brainstorm and have access to an on-site mentor. “Efforts like this [tax break] send a clear message: the City of Atlanta wants startups to be successful,” Judge said in a statement.

“Opportunities like this serve as building blocks of a foundation that will attract more entrepreneurs like me and establish a solid network for innovation and collaboration.” The National

League of Cities named Atlanta as one of 25 communities in which it is expanding its Multi-City Innovation Campaign. It appears to be along the same lines of Forge Atlanta’s first health

hackathon, conducted last year at Georgia Tech. Participants had 34 hours to devise a technology solutions to health care problems. NLc started its program last year in four cities,

including two that sometimes are cited at competitors of metro Atlanta: Nashville, Raleigh, Palo Alto and Nashville. Atlanta is joining the ranks with a number of other regional competitors

in this year’s expansion: Austin, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Memphis, and Durham. The purpose of the program is provide an incentive for the development of technology that promotes public

health. The campaign has identified six themes, though it encourages tech firms and entrepreneurs to submit ideas in other areas. Prototypes that are adopted by a city or state partner can

receive $5,000 from each government that adopts it, up to a total of $120,000, according to NLC’s description of the program. Here are the six categories and one example of each: * Chronic

Disease Prevention and Care (Diabetes, Heart Disease, Asthma, HIV/Aids): Air Quality: Monitoring pollution in urban areas to combat asthma. * Emergency Health Care System – Reducing

unnecessary costs and improving response times: Identifying, supporting and preventing high frequency “super-users” of Emergency Care services. * Health, Food and Exercise: Improving access

and incentives to healthy eating and community facilities: Better awareness and encouragement to use parks / trails (e.g. Explorer apps or Bluetooth enabled signage in high traffic areas

noting walking distance to popular destination points). * Health & Transportation – Encouraging active lifestyles and alternative transportation: Tools to improve Multi-modal wayfinding

(e,g, Waze for bikers, supporting bike to bus to bike paths) * Health & Housing: Ensuring healthy living standards for vulnerable populations: Improving tools and methods for reporting

and housing code inspections to ensure affordable housing is safe. * Mental Health: Better methods and tools for enrolling the prison population in mental health care. _RELATED POSTS_