Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowExactTarget Inc. could get a 10-year tax break on an unspecified investment in new equipment if the City-County Council agrees to designate several parcels tied to the Indianapolis-based company as a "high technology district."
The measure, set for a hearing Monday evening, would allow the fast-growing company to install the equipment at a series of locations, including its existing office operations in the Guaranty Building on Monument Circle, the Century Building at Pennsylvania and Maryland streets, and the Gibson Building at Michigan Street and Capitol Avenue.
The filing also shows as eligible a series of parcels at Kentucky Avenue and West Henry Street west of Lucas Oil Stadium, and the block of surface parking that surrounds the Gibson Building on two sides.
The inclusion of the surface parking area around the Gibson Building seems to suggest ExactTarget is interested in building on the property. Company spokesman Mitch Frazier did not return a phone message left Monday morning.
With a proposed investment of $35 million, Exact Target would save about $3.3 million over 10 years, based on current tax rates for Center Township District 101.
One of the measure's sponsors, Democratic At-Large Councilor Zach Adamson, said the company must provide 100 new jobs at an average salary of $86,000 per year to retain the tax breaks.
The e-mail marketing company is seen as a key driver of employment: ExactTarget now employs 1,673 people—most of them in Indianapolis—compared with 1,133 at the beginning of 2012.
The company was one of three Indianapolis-based tech companies that announced big expansion plans at the end of 2012.
John Bartholomew, a spokesman for the Department of Metropolitan Development, said the creation of the "high technology district" expands a 2-year-old deal with ExactTarget and brings it into compliance with new legislative requirements.
The publicly traded company last week reported record revenue in its fourth-quarter earnings, but a growing loss.
The company lost $13 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a $6.1 million loss for the same period of 2011. On a per-share basis, the loss dropped to 19 cents from 68 cents a year earlier because of a huge increase in common shares that hit the market after the company went public in March 2012.
Revenue increased 42 percent, to a record $84.2 million. For the year, revenue grew 41 percent, to $292.3 million.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.