Granholm Bicycle Production Incentive!

Check this out! Since spring has sprung and biking is on the brain, can't you just see Michigan's carbon footprint falling?!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Governor Granholm Signs Bicycle Production Incentive Package, Sets
Stage for Growing Industry in Michigan

Contact: Liz Boyd 517-335-6397

Part of economic stimulus plan to grow economy, create jobs

LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today signed into law
legislation designed to grow the bicycle industry in Michigan, setting
the stage for hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment
that will create jobs in the state.  The legislation was proposed by
the governor in her State of the State address and is part of an
overall economic stimulus plan to grow Michigan¹s economy and create
jobs.

³We¹re going to grow this industry and in the process, grow our
economy and create jobs,² Granholm said.  ³Across the country and
around the world, the bicycle industry is a multi-billion dollar
industry.  We¹re going to bring some of that investment to Michigan.²

Granholm said Michigan¹s bicycle incentive program is now the most
aggressive in the nation.  Not only is it designed to increase the
number of bicycles produced in Michigan, it is designed to attract
production facilities, grow industry activities that support the
bicycle industry, create jobs, and train workers for those jobs.

³This program is designed to attract bicycle companies and aftermarket
production facilities that will be employing people and growing an
industry to support the growing community of bicyclists here in
Michigan² Granholm said.  ³We¹ve seen the excitement that is generated
when Lance Armstrong is in the Tour, and when Americans like Kristen
Armstrong and Jill Kintner are competing at such a high level
internationally, we want to turn that excitement into jobs and
community investment so that families can stay in the area and raise
children here that can enjoy a healthier future²

Bicycle incentives in other states have resulted in short- and long-
term economic benefits, including investments in infrastructure. In
Maine, bicycle tourism brings $66.8 million to the Maine economy. In
the Minneapolis- St. Paul area, for every 400 meters closer a median-
priced home is to an off-street bicycle facility, its value increases
by $510. The Wisconsin bicycle industry brings $556 million and 3,420
jobs to the state, and more than $1 billion to the Colorado state
economy.

Bicycling also brings summer business to ski areas: 161 U.S. ski areas
open trails to mountain bikers in the summer, and 84 run lifts for
cyclists. In 2005, 19.8 million bicycles were sold in the U.S., 4.4
million more than all the cars and trucks purchased in the U.S. that
year.

Michigan¹s new bicycle production program provides incentives for
bicycle frame and parts production, infrastructure development,
financing and workforce development with an emphasis on hiring
Michigan workers and making use of existing factory facilities in
Michigan¹s 103 core communities, urban communities, and traditional
centers of commerce.  It also provides a number of other incentives
for growing the industry in Michigan, including enhanced engagement
with the National Bicycle Dealer Association.

Specifically, the new laws provide a 45-percent refundable or
transferable tax credit for producing bicycles, in part or in whole,
in Michigan, with an added 2-percent rebate for parts produced in core
communities.

The new laws also provide 25 percent tax credit for bicycle and
pedestrian infrastructure investments for such facilities as building
in bicycle parking and covered access enhancements for mass-transit
projects currently in planning and production.

Bicycle frame and parts production companies are now eligible to
receive job creation tax credits issued by the Michigan Economic
Growth Authority (MEGA) against MBT liability for the creation of
jobs; loans from the Michigan Strategic Fund under the 21st Century
Jobs Fund program for up to $15 million per qualifying bicycle frame
and parts productions in Michigan; loans against bicycle frame and
parts tax incentives; and are eligible to participate in the capital
access program established by the Michigan Strategic Fund under the
21st Century Jobs program.

In an effort to grow the number of bicycle industry jobs in the state,
the new laws establish a Bicycle Frame and Parts Manufacturing Job
Training Tax Credit of 50 percent for expenditures incurred by a
production company providing on-the-job training for Michigan
residents.  Bicycle frame and parts manufacturers are allowed free use
of state property for film and digital media productions, an option
that local governments are allowed to authorize, as well.