2006 Minnesota Statutes

469.309 RURAL JOB CREATION GRANTS.
    Subdivision 1. Job creation grants. The commissioner of employment and economic
development may approve an incentive grant for an eligible business beginning with calendar
year 1995. The maximum grant is $5,000 per eligible employee. The actual grant is based on the
following schedule:
$2,000 for each eligible employee with wages greater than or equal to 170 percent and
less than 200 percent of the minimum wage;
$3,000 for each eligible employee with wages greater than or equal to 200 percent and
less than 250 percent of the minimum wage;
$4,000 for each eligible employee with wages greater than or equal to 250 percent and less
than 300 percent of the minimum wage; and
$5,000 for each eligible employee with wages greater than or equal to 300 percent of the
minimum wage.
The total grant for an employer is equal to the actual grant multiplied by the number of
employees eligible for that grant. For purposes of this section "minimum wage" means the
minimum wage that is required by federal law. An eligible business may apply for a rural job
creation grant only once for each new job.
    Subd. 2. Eligible business. An employer eligible for a job creation incentive grant under
this section must (1) be located outside the metropolitan area as defined under section 473.121,
(2) create at least ten qualifying new jobs in a two-year period, and (3) consist of a for-profit
business. For the purposes of this section, a "qualifying new job" is a job that did not exist in
Minnesota before May 6, 1994.
    Subd. 3. Eligible employee. To be eligible for a grant, the employee must be employed full
time by an eligible business at a wage level of not less than 170 percent of the minimum wage
at the time the eligible business applies for the grant and must have been employed there at
that wage level for a minimum of 12 months. The grant applies only to new jobs created at the
eligible business after May 6, 1994.
    Subd. 4. Restrictions. The incentive grants provided by this section do not apply to
racetracks, financial institutions, gambling enterprises, public utilities, or sports, fitness, and health
facilities. An employer is not eligible for an incentive grant if the commissioner determines that
the position held by the employee for which the business is seeking a grant was transferred from
an enterprise conducted by substantially the same business enterprise at another site in the state.
History: 1994 c 587 art 12 s 20; 1995 c 256 s 14; 1Sp2003 c 4 s 1