Laws of attraction

To a list that includes Toyota, Schwab and Nestle, you can add Tesla. California couldn't compete with the tax breaks, regulatory easing and other incentives Nevada offered and lost the bidding war for Tesla's so-called gigafactory, which would have created some 6,500 new jobs in California. But the news isn't all bad. California continues to seek ways to draw in businesses and strengthen its jobs picture. One of the key tools it has introduced to help it do so is the California Competes Tax Credit. Part of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), this initiative consists of an awarded credit that offsets California state income or franchise tax. It's designed to help businesses continue or expand their operations in the state and encourage out-of-state businesses to move to California. For the 2014-2015 fiscal year, GO-Biz has allocated $105 million to be awarded during the remaining two application periods: $75 million from January 5-February 2, and $30 million from March 9-April 6.