EDA awards 60M to small high-tech firms

Stimulus law made it easier for companies to qualify, agency reports.The state Economic Development Authority on Friday awarded $60 million in grants to 89 high-tech companies under a program that lets early-stage firms sell their tax losses to profitable companies to get the cash they need to grow.

The EDA said the state stimulus law, enacted in July, made it easier for high-tech companies to qualify for the Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program, which was created in 1998.

This year, 36 applicants, or about 26 percent, were turned down by the EDA; last year, 42 companies, or 31 percent, were denied.

The winners include 18 companies getting grants for the first time, including BlueNog, Vaxinnate, Agilence and MyLeaderboard Inc. Winners this year who’ve also received grants in the past include Alfacell, Cybershift, Classlink, Princeton Lightwave and Songbird Hearing.

The 89 companies will receive an average of $674,157 this year, the EDA said. The stimulus legislation also raised the lifetime cap on benefits: a company can receive a maximum of $15 million through the program, up from $10 million.

To be eligible, a company must be a high-tech or biotech company and have 224 or fewer U.S. employees, 75 percent of them working in New Jersey. Companies are not eligible if they had a profit within either of the most recent two years, had operating revenues higher than 110 percent of operating expenses, are owned by a profitable party company or are part of a group of affiliated companies that had positive earnings in either of the most recent two years.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at [email protected]