VANCOUVER - Jobs are the four letter word every politician loves to talk about. Job creation is the one thing they all agree on. -- how to do it is the challenge.
Senator Maria Cantwell (D) Washington, believes the New Market Tax Credit is a way.
"It's a way to give a tax break incentive for private sector investment in areas where you want to spur more economic development," said Cantwell as she toured the construction site for Farwest Steel at the Port of Vancouver Wednesday.
Farwest Steel is building a new 300,000 square foot fabrication plant at the Port of Vancouver in part because of the tax credits. It will create some 230 higher paying jobs when it's completed next year.
The tax breaks help bring outside investors together with businesses ready to expand that need access to capital.
But, the credit is about to run out in December. Cantwell is pushing Congress to extend it to bring more jobs to undeserved areas.
"In this case you're leveraging a few federal dollars, a lot of private sector dollars and the win-win is job creation," said Cantwell.
So far, it's created hundreds of new construction jobs. Tim Kofstad, with Perlo Construction said it will generate many more jobs beyond the construction site.
"So it affects 1,000 people by the end of the day, " said Kofstad.
Cantwell admits it could be a tough sell in Congress to extend the Tax Credit that's been around since 2000. The climate in Washington is to cut any breaks in the deficit debate.
"When we're looking at the deficit, prioritize things are really going to create GDP growth that's really going to create job construction and put them high on the list," said Cantwell.
Since the New Tax Credit was established in 2000, nearly $30 billion in tax credits have been awarded.
Senator Cantwell says her chances of extending the tax credit is about a 50/50 chance.
