Incentives / Financing

Virginia Business Incentives & Financing

• The Virginia Jobs Investment Program
  • The New Jobs Program
  • The Small Business New Jobs Program
• Sales and Use Tax Exemptions
• Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund
• State of Virginia Financing Programs
• Other Financial Opportunities

The Virginia Jobs Investment Program

Designed to support private-sector job creation, this incentive covers recruiting and training costs incurred during new job creation or technology upgrades and provides a variety of free recruiting and training services.

The New Jobs Program

This incentive is available to companies:

• Generating over 50 percent of their revenue outside Virginia
• Creating at least 25 new, full-time jobs in Virginia within the first year
• Making a new capital investment of $1 million or more

The Small Business New Jobs Program

Available to existing Virginia companies with 250 employees or fewer, this program requires recipients to:

• Create at least five new, full-time jobs within the first year
• Make a new capital investment of at least $100,000
• Pay a minimum entry-level wage of $10 per hour

Sales and Use Tax Exemptions

Available for data centers that invest $150 million or more, hire 50 or more employees, pay at least 1.5 times the average local wage, and enter into an MOU with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Colocation facilities can aggregate the capital investment and new job requirements among the data center owner and tenants. These exemptions extend to qualified data center equipment, including servers, routers, generators, chillers and other enabling hardware.

Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund

This discretionary incentive is available to relocating and expanding companies and is awarded to localities on a local 100 percent matching basis. To be eligible for this program, a company must create at least 50 new jobs for which the average wage, excluding fringe benefits, is no less than Loudoun’s prevailing average wage.

State of Virginia Financing Programs

A variety of state financing programs are also available, including:

• Direct loans for fixed-asset purchases including land, buildings, and equipment.
• Loan guarantees and loan-loss insurance programs for small businesses, designed to reduce bank risks when providing small business loans.
• A Providing Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs program designed to fund minority-owned businesses.
• Direct loans and loan guarantees to fund tourism companies.
• Low-interest direct loans for necessary items for licensed child care centers and family-home providers.
• Low-interest, tax-exempt bond financing for small manufacturers and 501(c)(3) non-profits.

Visit the Virginia Economic Development website to learn more.

Loudoun Business Incentives & Financing

• Loudoun County Incentives Questions
• Loudoun Economic Development Authority
• Loudoun Innovation Challenge
• Other Financial Opportunities

Targeted Industries

At the discretion of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, qualified businesses that are relocating to or expanding within Loudoun County, Virginia may be offered incentives outlined
in these guidelines:

• Aerospace and Defense
• Agriculture & Related Businesses
• Aviation and Transportation
• Federal Government Contracting
• International Firms
• Technology
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Centers
  • Health IT
  • AI/Machine Learning

Businesses Moving to or Expanding in Virginia

Loudoun County may elect to match the Virginia Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund.

Minimum Requirements

1. The company must create a minimum of 50 new jobs which pay 100% of the county’s average annual wage, which is currently $78,052*;
2. The company must make a minimum $5 million investment in buildings, land and equipment;
3. Virginia must be competing with another state for the company’s final location decision;
4. The company must be in one of the targeted industries listed above.

Incentive Guidelines

Companies that meet the minimum requirements will, at the Board of Supervisors’ discretion, be approved for Loudoun County’s Fast Track commercial development process.

If the county chooses to provide a match to the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund with fee waivers and/or cash, then the new real estate and personal property taxes that will be paid to the county by the company over the three years following the incentive award must be equal to the amount of the county match.

If the county match includes public infrastructure improvements, then the new real estate and personal property taxes that will be paid to the county by the company over the five years following the incentive award must be equal to the amount of the county match.

Loudoun County will match the Virginia Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund in this order of priority:

1. Public infrastructure improvements, such as roads, sidewalks, parking facilities, etc.
2. Waiving commercial development processing fees.
3. Cash.

Virginia Companies Relocating to or Expanding in Loudoun County

Minimum Requirements

1. The company must create a minimum of 50 new jobs which pay 100% of the county’s average annual wage, which is currently $78,052*;
2. The company must make a minimum $5 million investment in buildings, land and equipment;
3. The company must receive a Virginia Jobs Investment Program grant;
4. Loudoun County must be competing with another jurisdiction for the company’s final location decision;
5. The company must be in one of Loudoun County’s targeted business industries.

Incentive Guidelines

Companies that meet the minimum requirements will, at the Board of Supervisors’ discretion, be approved for the county’s Fast Track commercial development process.

If the county chooses to provide a match with fee waivers and/or cash, then the new real estate and personal property taxes that will be paid to the county by the company over the three years following the incentive award must be equal to the amount of the county match.

If the county match includes public infrastructure improvements, then the new real estate and personal property taxes that will be paid to the county by the company over the five years following the incentive award must be equal to the amount of the county match.

The types of incentives available to Virginia companies relocating to or expanding in Loudoun County will be limited to:

1. Waiving commercial development processing fees.
2. Public infrastructure improvements, such as roads, sidewalks, parking facilities, etc.
3. A match of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program grant.

Loudoun Companies Expanding Within Loudoun

Minimum Requirements

1. The company must create a minimum of 25 new jobs.
2. The company must make a minimum $2.5 million investment in buildings, land and equipment.
3. The company must receive a Virginia Jobs Investment Program grant.
4. Loudoun County must be competing with another jurisdiction for the company’s final location decision.
5. The company must be in one of Loudoun’s targeted business industries.

Incentive Guidelines

Companies that meet the minimum requirements will, at the Board of Supervisors’ discretion, be approved for the county’s Fast Track commercial development process.

If the county chooses to provide a match with fee waivers and/or cash, then the new real estate and personal property taxes that will be paid to the county by the company over the three years following the incentive award must be equal to the amount of the county match.

If the county match includes public infrastructure improvements, then the new real estate and personal property taxes that will be paid to the county by the company over the five years following the incentive award must be equal to the amount of the county match.

The types of incentives available to companies expanding within Loudoun County will be limited to:

1. Waiving commercial development processing fees;
2. Public infrastructure improvements, such as roads, sidewalks, parking facilities, etc.;
3. A match of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program grant.

Other Financial Opportunities

In addition to incentives and loans, a variety of other opportunities are available to expanding or relocating businesses in Loudoun County, including:

• A competitive county tax structure.
• A Fast-Track Commercial Incentive Program, aimed toward targeted industries and projects, designed to improve plan review timelines and direct communication with key decision-makers.
• The Loudoun County Business Assistance Team gives you coordinated, “no wrong door” service. This cross-departmental team helps simplify the permitting, licensing, mapping and zoning process for you.

*According to the data in the most recent Loudoun County profile from the Virginia Employment Commission.