Ed Lieber speaks at the Santa Ana Enterprise Zone Workshop
Ray White & Linda Summers of the City of Santa Ana Enterprise Zone with Ed Lieber of ELLS CPAs
On June 24, 2009, the City of Santa Ana hosted their 14th annual Enterprise Zone workshop at the Embassy Suites in Santa Ana. Our very own Ed Lieber was invited to co-present with Ray White, Economic Development Specialist II, of the City’s Economic Development Department. ELLS is invited every year to co-present with the City and we always enjoy working with them to educate local businesses on the benefits of taking Enterprise Zone tax credits.
The presentation was attended by over 30 businesses located in the Santa Ana Enterprise Zone who are either currently taking the credits and wanted to learn more or haven’t yet but wanted to learn how they can start.
The highlights of the presentation focused on the two “Big Dog” tax credits – the hiring credit and the sales and use credit. There were also great testimonials from several businesses currently taking the credits and how they have been able to offset the cost of doing business in California by using the EZ program. Ed addressed two of the major misconceptions about Enterprise Zone credits – 1) only manufacturing companies can take the credits and 2) employees have to live in Santa Ana for their employers to take the credits. The truth is any business located in the Enterprise Zone can take the credits, and employees do not have to live in Santa Ana to qualify for the hiring credit.
The Santa Ana Enterprise Zone also received a new 15-year zone designation in June of 2008! Congratulations to the City of Santa Ana and all who helped make it happen.
We also want to give special thanks to all our friends at the City of Santa Ana’s Economic Development for all they have done and continue to do to promote the zone to Santa Ana businesses and to encourage them to take these valuable tax credits available to them. Economic Development Manager Linda Summers and her team, including Ray White, Chris Dalton, Economic Development Specialist I , and Marc Morley, Economic Development Specialist III, have been great partners with us over the years and have done an extraordinary job in making the Santa Ana Enterprise Zone one of the most successful zones in the state. Kudos to all for a job well done!