Alpharetta To Continue Program Promoting Local Hires

ALPHARETTA, GA — An incentive to get more local companies hiring local employees has been extended.

The Alpharetta City Council voted at its July 22 meeting to adopt a second amendment to the Intergovernmental Contract between the City of Alpharetta and the Alpharetta Development Authority to extend the sunset date of the Local Jobs Creation Grant program to June 30, 2021, Economic Development Manager Matthew Thomas said.

"The Local Jobs Creation Grant was established as an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Alpharetta and the Development Authority of Alpharetta on October 21, 2013 with a five-year sunset date," Thomas said. "The grant's purpose is to encourage and support Alpharetta companies hiring Alpharetta residents."

The program was created to support the State of Georgia's Quality Jobs Tax Credit and Opportunity Zone Tax Credit at the local level, he said.

"The first amendment to the program was approved in November 2018 and has now reached beyond its extended sunset date of June 2019," Thomas said. "As of June 30, 2019, the Development Authority of Alpharetta has unspent Local Jobs Creation Grant funds totaling $32,500."

The second amendment extends the IGA term to June 30, 2021.

According to Grow Alpharetta, to encourage new and expanding businesses to hire from the local workforce, the City of Alpharetta, through the City of Alpharetta Development Authority, has established a Local Jobs Creation Grant Program. Under this program, for each job created that qualifies for the Georgia Job Tax Program and for which a current resident of the City of Alpharetta is hired; the City will pay a direct grant of $250-$500 per new employee to a business up to a maximum cumulative amount of $80,000. The grant may be claimed for eligible new full-time, permanent jobs at the Alpharetta facility and may be claimed in years two and three, if the Alpharetta resident continues to be employed, Grow Alpharetta said.