Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

State board to vote Thursday on tax incentives for Apple and e-commerce startup

Apple logo

Tony Avelar/AP Photo

Economic development officials meeting Thursday will weigh in on tax breaks for several companies, including technology giant Apple, which operates a data center in Northern Nevada, and Thrive Market, a California online grocery startup that plans to spend about $3.5 million on a Reno shipping center.

Other companies that have applied for tax incentives include a cosmetics manufacturer, a sports merchandiser and an online store for restaurant materials. A board for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development will review the applications Thursday and decide whether to grant tax incentives.

Thrive Market, which has raised at least $141 million in backing since its founding in 2013, is an e-commerce operation that aims to provide health-oriented foods and goods at a discounted retail price. The site requires a membership, similar to Costco, for users to take advantage of the savings.

With the planned relocation of a shipping center from Southern California to Reno, the company said in its application that it expects to hire about 220 employees within two years and pay an average wage of $17.45 per hour. The 320,000 square-foot facility for fulfilling orders and shipping products would be at an existing commercial site outside of Reno and require about $3.5 million in investments.

Thrive Market expects the facility to be operational by August. A shipping location in Reno will help the company reduce the number of shipping days to Western states. It also has a facility in Indiana.

The company would receive a roughly $258,000 break on several state taxes. The board, which includes Gov. Brian Sandoval, will vote on whether to grant the incentive on Thursday.

“We are excited by the market opportunities presented by this relocation and the advantages that locating this facility in Reno will offer our company,” a Thrive Market executive wrote in a June 22 letter to the economic development office. “In conjunction with Nevada’s business-friendly environment, we see this as a first step in what will be increased growth for Thrive Market Inc.”

At Thursday's meeting, the board will take a symbolic vote on a renewal of sales tax breaks for Apple’s data center at the Reno Technology Park. Apple, which was awarded incentives in 2012 and has since invested nearly $800 million in its data center, requested a renewal of the incentives last week.

Apple was required to show that it met certain criteria to be eligible for the renewal. On Friday last week, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development determined that Apple was in compliance and said it would approve the extension. The board is expected to ratify the office’s decision to approve a second four-year term of incentives for Apple.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy