December 14, 2020 — Move over, Amazon. Hang on, Wayfair. This year, the most successful industry in a state tax credit program meant to incentivize job growth certainly wasn’t high-tech, at least not in the traditional sense.
The big winner turned out to be an industry as old as the Commonwealth: the seafood sector.
With many office expansions sidelined because of the work-from-home trend in 2020, nearly all of the beneficiaries of the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program tax credits were decidedly blue-collar in nature this year. In particular, five of the 10 companies that won such tax credits in 2020 are in the seafood business.
The Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved tax incentives for four of them on Thursday in its latest quarterly meeting. An affiliate of Raw Seafoods will get $203,000 in state tax credits, in return for building out its cold storage capacity in the SouthCoast Technology Park in Fall River and creating 35 jobs. The state will give $112,500 in tax credits each to Nantucket Sound Seafood and to Atlantic Red Crab Co.; Nantucket Sound is creating 15 new jobs and putting up a new two-level building in Fall River, while Atlantic Red Crab is increasing its capacity in New Bedford and adding 28 jobs. Eastern Fisheries, meanwhile, will get $375,000 from the state in return for consolidating its operations in a larger New Bedford facility and creating 50 jobs. All four are getting local tax breaks as well.