- Qualified Jobs Incentive Tax Credits – Expand your workforce in Rhode Island or relocate jobs from out of state, and you can receive annual, redeemable tax credits for up to 10 years with the Qualified Jobs Incentive program. Credits can equal up to $7,500 per job per year, depending on the wage level and other criteria. The minimum number of new jobs needed to qualify varies by industry and company size, but can be as few as 10. The first 500 jobs approved under the program will receive the maximum credit available.
- Rebuild Rhode Island Tax can fill the financing gap for real estate projects with insufficient funding with redeemable tax credits covering up to 20% – and, in some cases, 30% – of project costs. Commercial office, industrial, residential, mixed-use development, ground-up construction, and historic rehab can qualify.
- Tax Increment Financing provides capital for your eligible project by rebating a portion of the new state tax revenue generated by the project. An eligible project must demonstrate need through a “financing gap.” The tax revenue rebate may not exceed 30% of total project costs or 75% of incremental revenue generated.
- Innovation Voucher Program grants companies with 500 employees or less up to $50,000. Rhode Island manufacturers have the option to use the Innovation Voucher to fund an internal R&D project. Grants can be applied to support for commercialization of a new product, process, or service, for access to scientific, engineering, and design expertise, and scale-to-market development of your innovative idea
- Industry Cluster Grants are available to fund planning and organization of the industry-specific cluster. Implementation grants are also available for programs that strengthen the cluster in areas like R&D, tech transfer, workforce development, and marketing.
- Innovation Network Matching Grants are provided to organizations to expand existing efforts to offer technical assistance, space on flexible terms, and/or access to capital to Rhode Island small businesses in key industries.
- The Wavemaker Fellowship provides student loan debt relief to qualified candidates working in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and design fields in Rhode Island. The program offers qualifying individuals a refundable tax credit certificate equal to the value of their annual student loan burden for up to four years.
- The Innovate RI Small Business Fund provides the following grants to assist local entrepreneurs and high-growth start-ups that participate in the Federal Small Business Innovation Research Program and have fewer than 50 employees
- The Application Grant provides up to $3,000 to help small businesses offset the costs associated with preparing a competitive Phase I SBIR/STTR application.
- The Matching Grant provides up to $45,000 to recipients of SBIR/STTR Phase I awards and up to $100,000 to recipients of Phase II awards.
- The Internship Grant provides up to $3,000 to help companies offset the cost of providing internships to RI residents attending a RI college or university.
- Collaborative Research Grants are offered each year as part of STAC’s participation in Rhode Island’s Cooperative Agreement with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Collaborative Research projects are eligible which address research questions related to the current thrusts of the the RI Consortium for Coastal Ecology Assessment, Innovation, and Modeling (RI C-AIM).