The Lackawanna Empire Zone (LEZ) offers tax incentives, abatements, credits and benefits for businesses that expand into or start-up in a designated area in the First Ward of the City of Lackawanna in order to create jobs and advance or spur community growth and investment. Lackawanna, an inland ocean port located along the shores of Lake Erie, and bordering the City of Buffalo to the south offers utility rate discounts, duty-free foreign trade zone, customized and subsidized job training programs, access to attractive financing programs, quality infrastructure/fiber optics, and rail access all within ten minutes from Interstate Highway 90 and the International Peace Bridge connecting the United States and Canada. Within a 500 mile radius of Lackawanna includes 50% of the total U.S. population-over 100 million people, 50% of the total personal income in the U.S., 62% of the Canadian population and 75% of Canadian manufacturing activity. Lackawanna is a location that truly presents big city benefits in a small city atmosphere by offering easy access to millions of dollars in business activity.

Tax amenities are available to companies that locate inside a one square mile area within the First Ward of Lackawanna designated by the State of New York as an Empire Zone. A company can take advantage of various tax incentives during its ten year period of being classified as a Zone Certified business through the State Department of Labor and State Department of Economic Development by simply completing a one page application form. The LEZ provides a package of benefits that enhances the chances of your business becoming profitable and successful. These incentives include low interest loans, investment tax credit, state wage tax credit, utility rate discounts, subsidized job training activities, ten year property tax abatement, tax reduction tax credit, real property tax credit, sales tax exemption on all goods purchased and a duty-free foreign trade zone.

The Renewal Community (RC) benefits are available through December 31, 2009 and consist of additional federal wage tax credits for every existing employee and new hire who lives and works in an RC (IRS Forms 8844, 5884 and 8850); increased Section 179 deduction (IRS Form 4562); Commercial revitalization deduction (IRS Publication 946); zero percent capital gains rate for RC assets when a company holds, for a minimum of 5 years, an RC asset acquired between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2009, a business will not have to include in its gross income any "qualified capital gain" from the sale or exchange of the asset (IRS Publication 954); and environmental brownfields cleanup cost deductions for the remediation of contaminated surface or subsurface soil and removal of lead paint or asbetos.

Lackawanna has gone through a decade of change-with-a-vision toward the future. Today, our industry is made up of businesses like yours. We are the home to various industries, all environmentally friendly. The LEZ staff will provide site selection assistance and information on comprehensive programs which identify all the resources and incentives, as well as help tailor them to your needs.

Comprehensive Incentive Package