A state audit released in December found the program doesn’t come close to paying for itself and has cost taxpayers some $56 million. It would take the state 72-years to break even.“No bank in the country would do any of this,” Hufstetler told the AJC last month.Participants and supporters, though, say the program is a crucial tool for generating rural investment. Many companies who received loans were turned down by traditional lenders before being approved for investment in the rural investment program.“GARJA has delivered on generating significant job growth in Georgia’s hardest-to-reach rural communities,” said Jon Dangar, director of Stonehenge Capital, which is receiving $12 million in tax credits from the state.Combined ShapeCaptionDanimer Scientific, a biotechnology company headquartered in Bainbridge, received a $6.5 million investment through a state rural tax credit program. The company announced last year that it plans to invest $700 million into its Bainbridge, Ga-based facility and create another 400 jobs.Credit: Georgia Department of Community AffairsCredit: Georgia Department of Community AffairsCombined ShapeCaptionDanimer Scientific, a biotechnology company headquartered in Bainbridge, received a $6.5 million investment through a state rural tax credit program. The company announced last year that it plans to invest $700 million into its Bainbridge, Ga-based facility and create another 400 jobs.Credit: Georgia Department of Community AffairsCredit: Georgia Department of Community AffairsAccording to the annual report, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GARJA has led to tax credit-backed investments in more than 30 companies located in rural Georgia. Those investments have created 660 jobs and retained 742 jobs, the report said, amounting to a cost of $73,466 per job.The jobs figures, which are self-reported and not verified by the state, exceed the 1,300 jobs the venture capital firms projected at the beginning of the program. One of the sectors that the program is trying to prop up is the technology industry in rural areas. The re …
Report: Controversial rural jobs program generates hundreds of jobs – The Atlanta Journal Constitution
