What programs are available for businesses?

Marcia Bailey, Economic Development Coordinator can be reached at 937.652.4320 to help with plan review and permitting processes, as well as site selection process. There are outside funding resources available for financing building acquisition, equipment purchases, and other capital expenses. Contact the Development Department with your questions.

Are financial incentives or grants available to assist my company with its development or growth needs?

The City of Urbana and it's partnership with the State of Ohio Department of Development and the Small Business Development Center have a variety of programs to help your business start and grow. The type of assistance will depend on the nature of each individual project, but can include abatements or loans through the SBA, local banks, and State programs. To find out which programs will work best for you, we need to know what you plan to do, the total cost of your project, if there will be new employment opportunities, and what financial resources you have already identified.

What is the CAT?

Ohio’s Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) and other major tax law changes can best be explained by experts—the Ohio Department of Taxation at 888.7CATTAX (888.722.8829) or on the web at http://tax.ohio.gov. The effective date of the CAT is July 1, 2005 and is being phased in over five years while replacing the corporation franchise tax and the tangible personal property tax.

The CAT is a tax on the privilege of doing business in Ohio, measured by gross receipts, and is paid for by most types of businesses with taxable gross receipts of $150,000 or more in a calendar year. The rate of the CAT for gross receipts between $150,000 and $1.0 million will be a privilege tax of $150.00. When the CAT is fully phased in, gross receipts above $1.0 M will have an additional 0.26% on gross receipts in excess of $1.0 M. There are some exceptions to the CAT such as Nonprofits, insurance companies, dealers in intangibles, and certain receipts by public utilities among others.

Local and State Incentives

Realizing the importance of business and industry, our community and the State of Ohio have taken a proactive approach toward economic development. In collaborating with the State of Ohio, Urbana can offer very competitive incentive packages to businesses that invest and create jobs in our community through Community Reinvestment Areas and Enterprise Zone Agreements.

Selling to the Government

The Southwest Central Ohio Procurement Technical Assistance Center (SWCO PTAC) is a full-service, non-profit resource center for government procurement. SWCO PTAC provides a results oriented assistance program that is designed to help Ohio businesses generate bids in response to federal, state, and local solicitations.  Dealing with regulations and red tape can be frustrating. In fact, those obstacles often keep highly qualified suppliers from selling to the government. Our goal is to assist small businesses throughout southwest central ohio cut through the red tape and successfully promote their goods and services to the federal, state, and local governments. SWCO PTAC offers procurement technical assistance and training workshops to meet the needs of small, minority, and women business owner. Contact the Dayton Office for more information.