GOLDEN Awarded Empire Zone Program Certificate of Eligibility

Golden Artist Colors, Inc. was recently designated as zone property within the boundaries of the Greater Norwich Empire Zone. The Empire Zone program allows businesses that move to, or expand within, designated areas to receive tax breaks and other financial incentives. This designation not only benefits GOLDEN and its employees, but it benefits the community as well, attracting private sector investment and creating new jobs.

Businesses operating inside a zone are eligible for a range of tax benefits that are applied against new capital investments. Benefits include tax reduction credits, real property tax credits, sales tax exemptions, wage tax credits and utility rate reductions, among others, and the tax benefits can reduce a company's tax liability to zero.

Some of the incentives that GOLDEN could be entitled to now that it is part of the Greater Norwich Empire Zone are a $150,000 Capital Grant, a Linked Deposit Program of an amount up to $40,000, along with a number of tax credits and exemptions. The total of possible incentives is $824,720 over a ten-year period of time.

President, Barbara Schindler, was presented with the company's Empire Zone Program Certificate of Eligibility last week. The Certificate, effective December 23, 2003, was given by Maureen Carpenter, Business Development/Zone Coordinator and Jennifer Fuller, Economic Development & Finance Assistant, both representing the Empire Zone Program.

"We were very excited when we received the call that we had been approved by New York State to be in the Greater Norwich Empire Zone," said Schindler. "This is a wonderful opportunity for GOLDEN. The benefits, coupled with an increasingly favorable economic climate, will allow the company to increase employment and continue to grow."

"It was a pleasure to work with GOLDEN in achieving its goal of becoming part of the Greater Norwich Empire Zone," said Carpenter. "Everyone at GOLDEN is committed to supporting the County's residents, so it was an honor to present them with the Certificate."