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Misssippi Furniture Manufacturers Lobbying State for Support
November 19,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Tupelo on November 2007
A group of Mississippi furniture manufacturers met Friday at the Tupelo Furniture Market to prepare for a lobbying effort with state legislators, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
The Mississippi Furniture Association will recommend a state income tax credit for cut-and-sew jobs and Foreign Trade Zone status for all Mississippi furniture manufacturers, vendors and suppliers, according to the report.
The tax credit would give each Mississippi furniture maker $2,000 per worker, per year for 10 years for all existing cut-and-sew and related jobs. Companies adding such jobs in the state versus sourcing from abroad also would receive the credit. Foreign Trade Zone status could lower or eliminate duties on raw materials as well as exported goods. Application for that status costs $200,000, and the Daily Journal said the MFA will ask the state of Mississippi to absorb the cost.
The MFA plan also requests support at the city and county level for tax advantages, including property and equipment tax exemptions; modification of Momentum Mississippi and Mississippi Job Protection Act application requirements; and funding to promote export of furniture made in the state.