Firefly Energy Inc., a business specializing in lead acid battery research and development, recently announced plans to invest $5 million for a new corporate headquarters in Peoria, Ill., which will create 39 jobs in the next three years. The company currently has 32 employees at its facility in Peoria.

Illinois economic development officials announced the certification of a boundary expansion for the Peoria Enterprise Zone. The enterprise zone, which lends critical income and job creation tax credits to companies located within its borders, will be expanded to include the relocation and expansion of Firefly Energy.

The Peoria Enterprise Zone will extend its benefits to include a total of 11.25 acres, which will incorporate 6533 N. Galena Road, the site where Firefly Energy plans to develop a new corporate headquarters. Firefly will renovate and expand the existing building at this location and construct a new facility that will more than quadruple its current space and allow the company to more than double its staff over the next three years.

This development will consolidate the necessary resources for all advanced R&D, applied engineering, manufacturing development, pilot production and corporate management under one roof. This is the first stage of Firefly’s growth plan in Peoria that will provide the space needed for the next phase of product development and produce long-term growth of high technology jobs.

“We are thrilled to be establishing a new corporate headquarters right here in Peoria, which has all of the assets needed for a company like ours to grow and succeed, including a talented work force, strategic location and excellent quality of life,” said Edward Williams, CEO of Firefly Energy, Inc. “My thanks to Governor Blagojevich and the state of Illinois, as well as the city and county of Peoria, for their continued support to help us expand and create more jobs in the community.”

Chief benefits of an enterprise zone include sales tax exemptions and tax credits for job creation. A 6.25 percent state sales tax exemption is permitted on building materials to be used in an enterprise zone, while the Enterprise Zone Jobs Tax Credit allows a business a $500 credit on Illinois income taxes for each job created in the zone for which a certified eligible worker is hired.

The Enterprise Zone Investment Tax Credit is a state investment tax credit of .5 percent for investments in qualified property in a zone, which includes machinery,

equipment and buildings. An additional local benefit of the enterprise zone is the property tax abatements from the taxing districts.

A local enterprise zone may apply to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for boundary expansion if the proposed area to be added meets at least one of the tests for poverty, low income, unemployment or population loss, or the proposed area will provide an immediate substantial benefit to the zone. There are 96 enterprise zones statewide.

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