§ 42-64.11-3. Certification.
(a) An eligible company may submit an initial application for certification with the Rhode
Island economic development corporation. The application shall specify the name of
the eligible company, its affiliated entities, and its base employment.
(b) To qualify as a provisionally-certified company for a calendar-year, an eligible company
shall file with the Rhode Island economic development corporation by the January 31
immediately following such calendar-year an updated application listing, the following
for the test period ending within the calendar-year:
(1) The eligible company and its affiliated entities;
(2) Their average annual current employment;
(3) The number of eligible employees and the aggregate compensation paid thereto; and
(4) Such other information as the Rhode Island economic development corporation determines
is reasonably necessary.
(c) To qualify as a fully-certified company for a calendar-year, an eligible company that
was a provisionally-certified company for both of the two (2) preceding calendar-years
shall file with the Rhode Island economic development corporation by the January 31
immediately following such calendar-year an updated application listing for the test
period ending within the calendar-year:
(1) The eligible company and its affiliated entities;
(2) Their average annual current employment;
(3) The number of eligible employees and the aggregate compensation paid thereto; and
(4) Such other information as the Rhode Island economic development corporation determines
is reasonably necessary.
Once an eligible company has become a fully-certified company, that qualification
shall continue indefinitely and the certification requirements of subsection (e) shall
not apply.
(d) For each affiliated entity not included in the list of affiliated entities for the
last prior updated application (or, if none, the initial application), the updated
application shall also indicate the base employment of such affiliated entity.
(e) Within thirty (30) days after receiving an updated application, the Rhode Island economic
development corporation shall verify the information submitted with the department
of labor and training and/or the division of taxation and shall declare the eligible
company to be a provisionally certified company or a fully-certified company, as the
case may be, if the updated application demonstrates:
(1) That an eligible company and its affiliated entities have established for the test
period new employment equal to not less than one hundred (100) full-time active employees
and not less than ten million dollars ($10,000,000) in new employment payroll; and
(2) That the annual compensation for eligible employees is not less than one hundred twenty-five
percent (125%) of the average compensation of all employees in the state. A declaration
that an eligible company is a provisionally certified company or a fully-certified
company shall be valid even if made outside the thirty-day (30) period.
(f) A certified company may abandon its certification by filing written notice of its
intent to abandon with the Rhode Island economic development corporation and the division
of taxation at least thirty (30) days before the end of its credit year, and such
abandonment shall become effective for taxable years beginning after the end of the
credit year for the certified company and all of its affiliated entities.
(g) An eligible company that has previously filed an initial application may file a new
initial application. In such event, the prior application should be of no further
effect and the calendar year under which the new application is filed shall not be
a credit year.
(h) Notwithstanding § 42-64.11-6(d), the economic development corporation shall annually provide an economic impact analysis,
consistent with the requirements of § 42-64-10(a)(2), on each provisionally-certified company and fully-certified company. Such analysis
shall also include the name of the eligible company and its affiliated entities, their
average annual current employment, and the number of eligible employees. This analysis
shall be submitted to the chair of the house finance committee, the chair of the senate
finance committee, the house fiscal advisor, and the senate fiscal advisor on or before
the January 31st following the first certification of an eligible company and shall
be made available to the public. Such annual reports shall continue indefinitely and
be submitted on or before January 31, so long as the certified company has not abandoned
its certification. As a condition of continued certification, each provisionally certified
company and fully-certified company shall provide to the economic development corporation
information the corporation deems necessary to complete this analysis.