California Approves $91M In Tax Credits For Companies Adding Over 8,000 Jobs

GM landed the largest tax credit for a new $14M R&D facility for its self-driving technology company, Cruise Automation, in San Francisco.

In an ongoing effort to improve California’s business climate, the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) committee recently approved $91.4 million in tax credits for 114 companies expanding and creating jobs in California. The awards will help companies create a projected 8,223 jobs and generate over $828 million in total investment across California. CCTC is part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz).

tax credit
GM President Dan Ammann, right, with Cruise Automation co-founders Kyle Vogt, center, and Daniel Kan. GM plans to add more than 1,100 jobs at the California self-driving technology start-up. (Photo: General Motors)

The largest tax credit was awarded to General Motors Company (GM), which recently announced a new research and development facility for its San Francisco-based self-driving technology company, Cruise Automation. The company will invest $14 million and create 1,163 new jobs, earning GM an $8 million tax credit.

“Expanding our team at Cruise Automation and linking them with our global engineering talent is another important step in our work to redefine the future of personal mobility,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “Self-driving technology holds enormous benefits to society in the form of increased safety and access to transportation. Running our autonomous vehicle program as a start-up is giving us the speed we need to continue to stay at the forefront of development of these technologies and the market applications.”

Cruise Automation will move into the new space, located in a refurbished brownfield that the company is leasing, by the end of the year.

“As autonomous car technology matures, our company’s talent needs will continue to increase,” said Kyle Vogt, Cruise Automation’s CEO. “Accessing the world-class talent pool that the San Francisco Bay Area offers is one of the many reasons we plan to grow our presence in the state.”

GM, which acquired Cruise Automation for $581 million last year, bought the company to strengthen its “software development capabilities and accelerate development of self-driving vehicle technology.”

The start-up specializes in the software needed to operate self-driving cars. Cruise Automation and GM engineers are testing more than 50 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with self-driving technology on public roads in metro Detroit, San Francisco and Scottsdale, AZ.

“Thanks to the California Competes Tax Credit and the hard working staff at GO-Biz, California continues to recruit new companies and help existing companies grow and add jobs in the state,” said GO-Biz director and committee chair Panorea Avdis. “In just three short years, over 680 companies have made commitments to expand in the state and GO-Biz continues to field inquiries from businesses around the world that are interested in moving to California and creating good-paying jobs.”

The California Competes Tax Credit was created by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2013 to focus on helping businesses grow and stay in California. This fiscal year, GO-Biz allocated over $240 million in total tax credits. Since 2014, GO-Biz has allocated $492.5 million to 688 companies projected to create 70,747 new jobs and make $14.4 billion in new investments.

The complete list of recently approved companies and award amounts is available here.