Name: Jason McCarty
Phone: 405-815-5320

July 8, 2010 -- The Oklahoma Department of Commerce announced today that the following two companies have recently joined the Oklahoma Small Employer Quality Jobs Program. The information below includes:

• The number of jobs the companies predict they will add
• The net benefit rates 
• The maximum amount of money the companies can receive if they participate in the program for the full 7 years allowed 
• A brief background on the Small Employer Quality Jobs Program.

SMALL EMPLOYER QUALITY JOBS PROGRAM MEDIA REPORT
June 1 – June 30, 2010

Sesaco Corporation
Established in 1978, Sesaco Corporation has worked in all phases of commercialization of sesame, including plant research, variety development, planting, cultivating, irrigating, harvesting, receiving, cleaning, exporting, importing, product development and bulk sales.  

Trece Inc.
Trece of California, Inc. manufacturers and distributes insect monitoring and control systems throughout the world.

The Oklahoma Small Employer Quality Jobs Program

This business incentive gives qualifying enrolled companies quarterly cash rebates, of up to five percent of newly created taxable payroll, for up to seven years.  The program, targeted to manufacturers and certain service companies, has proven to be a valuable asset to small businesses in Oklahoma, the state’s primary job creation sector. A fully executed contract with the Department of Commerce must be in place before any new jobs can be included in the new taxable payroll.  Since 2002, the program has enrolled over 70 companies and paid benefits of more than $2.2 million.

Participants must be within a qualifying basic industry in order to receive benefits. A company may have no more than 90 employees at the time of application. Based on the population of the city where the project is to be located, the applicant company must create between five and 15 new jobs, at a minimum, to qualify. The activities and functions for which these jobs are being created must not have existed during the previous six months. Companies located in a community of fewer than 3,500 are required to create at least five new jobs; between 3,500 and 7,000 population, at least 10 new jobs are required; and in communities of more than 7,000 population at least 15 new jobs are required to qualify. Companies located in counties of more than 200,000 population are excluded from participation unless the census tract in which they are located has been designated as an Opportunity Zone. Companies have 12 months to reach these job creation requirements.   All businesses must offer basic health insurance coverage to all employees, and 80 percent of employees must work at least 30 hours per week.

The amount of each company's incentive is determined through a cost-benefit analysis prepared by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Costs to the state resulting from in-migration/other grants may decrease the amount of benefit the state receives from a company thus lowering the incentive payment. Payments cannot exceed 5 percent of payroll and have averaged about 4.5 percent.

For more information on business retention and expansion activities in Oklahoma, visit www.OKcommerce.gov/bre.