Arizona’s $10M Tax Break Helped Lure Apple to Setup Sapphire Plant

sapphire-lens

AZ Central reports (via MacRumors) that Apple was granted a tax break for the company to continue the development of the Mesa factory, which the company will lease to GT Advanced to produce sapphire glass:

The Gilbert Public Schools’ governing board on Monday voted 5-0 in favor of allowing a tax break for Apple Inc., meaning the tech giant can continue with its plans to open a manufacturing plant in Mesa.

Apple received a $10 million grant and other incentives from the Arizona Commerce Authority aimed to attract the US tech giant to Mesa. The agreement, dubbed as Project Cascade — according to the AZ Central’s sources — will create 700 full-time manufacturing jobs and an additional 1,300 construction jobs over the next 2 years.

Among the incentives offered to land the plant was the extension of the airport’s foreign-trade zone to include the property, which would lower Apple’s taxes.

Apple, on the other hand, would need to invest more than $1.5 billion, the Arizona Commerce Authority said. The deal was important for Arizona, as a third-party economic study estimated that Apple’s investment will generate an additional $102 million in tax revenue over the next 5 years.

Apple paid $113 million for the building it will lease to GT Advanced and will provide the latter with another $578 million to help the company boost the manufacturing of sapphire glass at a lower cost.

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