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Walker visits Beloit to sign DOZ bill to law

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

BELOIT — Gov. Scott Walker was in Beloit on Monday to sign a law that creates a development opportunity zone for the community.

The Beloit development opportunity zone will remain effective for 60 months and offer a total of $5 million in tax benefits. Additionally, the state Department of Commerce may extend the opportunity zone for an additional 60 months and $5 million if it determines the extension would continue to benefit the city.

Besides the newly created zone in Beloit, the state has authorized similar zones for Janesville and Kenosha.

This will be the second go-round for Beloit. Its first zone was created in 2001 after Beloit Corp. closed. Now expired, it encompassed the Gateway development on the city’s far east side.

So far, the businesses in that development zone have created more than 600 jobs, about 323 of which have been attributed to the zone designation.

In addition, the assessed value of the district increased from a base of $1.7 million to $140 million.

The Janesville zone has attracted three companies to create or retain at least 210 full-time jobs.

“Creating a development opportunity zone in Beloit will create incentive for businesses to grow and relocate in a place that has been hit hard by the national recession,” Walker said in a news release. “We are going to use all means necessary to help the private sector create 250,000 jobs by 2015.

Walker credited Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, and Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Beloit, for their leadership in creating the bill.