EMoney Advisor wants to open office in Providence, hire 100 employees

EMONEY ADVISOR, an interactive financial technology firm, wants to open a software development office downtown.
EMONEY ADVISOR, an interactive financial technology firm, wants to open a software development office downtown.

PROVIDENCE – EMoney Advisor, an interactive financial technology firm, wants to open a software development office downtown, where it will hire up to 100 new employees. It also is seeking up to $3.3 million in tax credits, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor said Wednesday.

The company will keep its headquarters in Radnor, Pa. It also has an office in San Diego.
Pryor said eMoney has not yet signed a lease for a downtown location, and has not said when it expects to open the office.

“This new tech company is choosing Rhode Island over other jurisdictions,” Pryor said. “This is an expansion for them.”

EMoney CEO Ed O’Brien said in a statement that the company chose Providence because of its geographical location in the Northeast, as well as “the talent network created by several local universities and other tech companies, the recruiting resources provided by the R.I. Department of Labor, and the economic opportunities offered by R.I. Commerce Corp.”

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On Friday, the R.I. Commerce Corp. Investment Committee will meet at 11:15 a.m. at the Commerce RI offices to consider eMoney Advisor’s application for incentives under the Qualified Jobs Incentive Tax Credit program and First Wave Closing Fund program. The committee will decide whether to recommend the request to the full Commerce RI board, which has its regular meeting on Monday night, Pryor said.

The company will not attend Friday’s meeting, Pryor said.

Pryor said that eMoney is specifically being offered up to $3.2 million in Qualified Jobs tax credits and approximately $100,000 in First Wave Closing Fund monies.

An economic impact analysis is still being finalized, but Pryor said the project is estimated to yield more than $4.5 million in new state tax revenue over 12 years. The analysis also is estimating that the state’s annual gross domestic product will increase by $26 million in a way that’s attributable to eMoney, Pryor said.

Pryor explained that the Qualified Jobs tax credit program enables Commerce RI to pledge back to a company the personal income taxes generated by the new jobs they produce. First Wave, according to the Commerce RI website, “provides lynchpin financing unavailable from other sources to close transactions of a critical or catalytic nature.”

Pryor said officials are excited about eMoney, noting it is joining other tech businesses that have chosen Providence, companies such as GE Digital, Virgin Pulse and Johnson & Johnson, which plans to open a health technology center.

“This is an enormously encouraging trend,” Pryor said.

Also on the agenda for Friday’s meeting is consideration of an amended application for Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits for the Case-Mead Building redevelopment. In February 2016 Commerce RI authorized $2.2 million in Rebuild Rhode Island credits for the rehabilitation of the 1859 structure at 68-76 Dorrance St., based on a total project cost of $7.7 million.

The plan was designed to include first-floor commercial space and apartments in the upper four floors. The project, which was being undertaken by Case Mead Associates LLC was granted $1.25 million in state historic rehabilitation tax credits in June. Currently the Case-Mead Building is being managed by former Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr.

The agenda item for Friday’s meeting says that the total development cost has increased to $11.1 million.

Also scheduled to take place at the meeting is consideration of an application for First Wave Closing Fund credits by Wexford Science & Technology LLC, but no details were given on the agenda, and the committee indicated that it may go into executive session to consider that request.

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