PROVIDENCE – Six Rhode Island companies have been approved to receive the state’s new innovation tax credit, which is designed to help startup companies in high-wage industries to secure private venture capital.
Three Providence-based firms were among the companies approved this afternoon by the R.I. Economic Development Corporation for the tax credit: Bionica Corp., a spin-off of industrial design firm Design Lab that is developing a new personal communications system for the hearing-impaired; Tizra Inc., a technology company that is marketing a Web interface that enables users to manipulate PDF files cheaply and quickly; and Providence Health Solutions LLC, a business that was formed by the nonprofit Shape Up Rhode Island to market its system for helping companies engage their employees in healthier lifestyles.
Also approved for the credit were Lincoln-based Lighthouse Security Group, a subsidiary of Lighthouse Computer Services, focusing on the IT security market; North Kingstown-based Ocean State Solutions LLC, a financial services firm seeking to market a mobile telephone payment system; and Public Display Inc., a software company focused on developing Web applications using new information extraction technology.
The innovation tax credit was proposed by the R.I. Science and Technology Advisory Council and created last year by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and the R.I. General Assembly. It was designed to support entrepreneurs and bolster private investment in the state’s high-wage science and technology industries, said Saul Kaplan, the EDC’s executive director.
“We’re trying to create a high-wage economy here so all Rhode Islanders can access higher wage jobs,” Kaplan said. “And to do that we need to increase our innovation capacity and create an environment where we can grow those sectors of our economy that have the potential to pay higher wages to Rhode Islanders. This credit is one important element of that strategy.”
The credit essentially offers Rhode Island investors a tax credit of up to 50 percent – or no more than $100,000 – on a capital investment in any one of the six companies. The credits may be carried forward for up to three years.
The R.I. Science and Technology Advisory Council, or STAC, was created in 2005 to help turn Rhode Island into a regional hub for the life sciences, information technology and other research-based industries. For more information, visit www.stac.ri.gov.
