EDA approves $39M tax credit to software company GoBrands

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The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved a tax credit award of $39.1 million to delivery software company GoBrands Inc. to construct new facilities in Gloucester County.

Under the arrangement, approved at the EDA’s Friday board meeting, GoBrands will make a $43 million investment in the construction of a 299,750-square-foot facility spanning Glassboro and Harrison.

The facility would be finished by Feb. 11, 2020, and all 602 project jobs would be created by Sept. 1, 2021, according to the resolution.

GoBrands was considering a move to either New Jersey or a 327,044-square-foot facility in Lansdale, Pa., to centralize its logistics, data analytics, R&D, warehouse and distribution operations, according to the Friday agenda.

The EDA will award $3,913,000 annually over a 10-year period provided GoBrands meets the agreed-upon job and economic-growth benchmarks.

Gobrands’ tax credit comes at a time when Gov. Phil Murphy has sought to overhaul the Grow NJ program under which the credits were awarded. The state awarded $4.7 billion in tax credits under Grow NJ since the program was expanded in 2013 under then-Gov. Chris Christie.

But Grow NJ is scheduled to sunset on July 1, 2019, and Murphy wants to re-examine New Jersey’s strategy of attracting business and investment into the state.