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SALT LAKE CITY -- Adobe Systems Incorporated plans to build a new $100 million technology campus in Utah, which could create up to 1,000 new high-tech jobs in the state over the next 20 years.
The state is giving Adobe tens of millions of dollars in tax rebates in the deal, for creating 1,000 jobs over two decades.
At the State Capitol Thursday, executives from Adobe made their announcement with Gov. Gary Herbert.
"I have personally assured company leaders that Utah's business climate will allow operations to thrive, and that we, as a State, can provide them with a workforce that is well-educated, tech-savvy and ready to go to work for Adobe," Herbert said.
This is the latest significant move San Jose-based Adobe has made here in Utah. In September of last year, Adobe bought Omniture, the Orem-based technology company, for $1.8 billion.
The new Adobe campus to be built in Salt Lake County or Utah County will accommodate future growth for the company and its Omniture Business Unit operations, which employs approximately 620 people in Utah and 1,100 worldwide.
The multi-phase project includes construction of a new campus to be completed in 2012 and the possibility of additional facilities expansion over 20 years. If growth projections are met, approximately 1,000 new employment opportunities with Adobe could be created in Utah over that same period, generating approximately $1.6 billion in new state wages.
If growth projections are met, approximately 1,000 new employment opportunities with Adobe could be created in Utah over that same period, generating approximately $1.6 billion in new state wages.
"Primarily because of the talent, also because of the proximity to our headquarters in California and also, to a large extent, the incentive program that the GOED team put together for us and the governor," said Adobe CFO Mark Garrett, speaking of the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
To help lure Adobe here, the state offered $40 million in performance-based tax incentives over 20 years. The Governor's Office of Economic Development Board voted in a special session Thursday to approve a post-performance economic development tax incentive for the project. New state tax revenue is expected to exceed $134 million over a 20-year period as a result of the Adobe projected expansion, job creation and capital investment in Utah. The maximum value of the post-performance refundable tax credit incentive is $40,239,126, or 30 percent of new state revenue for 20 years.
Meanwhile, some are asking if the deal is worth the incentives. The governor's Democratic opponent Peter Corroon isn't so sure.
"I'm not opposed to giving Adobe incentives. They're a great company. But I am concerned that 20 years in an industry that changes too rapidly may not be the best thing to do," he said.
Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development Spencer Eccles disagrees.
"Over 20 years, post performance, which means that they're going to create the number of jobs that they told us they would create," he said. "If they do all of the things they said, at the end of the year it's a tax rebate to their taxes and it's $42 million over the course of 20 years."
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
