In November 2021, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced $150 million in tax credits that are projected to create more than 7,600 new, full-time jobs in California. The funding, from the California Competes (CalCompetes) Tax Credit program will bring more than $1.2 billion in new investments across the state over the next 5 years. CalCompetes plays a pivotal role in helping innovative startups to grow to scale and to choose California for their long-term home. “California Competes is an important program that attracts and retains employers, who in turn create good-paying jobs and economic opportunity for California workers.” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of GO-Biz. “These tax credits will incentivize the creation of thousands of new, quality full-time jobs and much-needed investment across our state.” Infinity Energy Inc., of Fresno, received a $2.5 million credit to establish a manufacturing facility in Fresno for solar powered electric vehicle charging stations that will entail the creation of 209 new, full-time jobs. In exchange for a $25 million credit, EnerVenue, Inc. of Fremont, will be creating at least 1,692 full-time jobs to develop and manufacture super high-capacity nickel hydrogen batteries. These batteries could be used by large venues such as hospitals to keep electricity flowing during power outages. The batteries also can store large amounts of solar or wind-generate electricity to enable homes, businesses, and other venues to rely 100% on green, sustainable energy even when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing. “Companies like EnerVenue are the epitome of the California entrepreneurial spirt” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “Starting as a Stanford University incubator, EnerVenue will play a pivotal role in helping California achieve its zero-carbon emission goals.” VinFast, a Vietnamese EV manufacturer, received a $20,500,000 credit to establish its United States headquarters in California. It will make over $200 million in capital investments and create at least 1065 new full-time jobs. “VinFast is planning to bring its all-electric SUVs to the US next year – and we wanted to make sure that it chose California for its US headquarters,” said CalCompetes Deputy Director, Scott Dosick. “The CalCompetes Tax Credit is one of California’s greatest tools for recruiting businesses to California when they are being actively courted by numerous states. We are proud that VinFast will call California home.” “VinFast was established to bring affordable luxury electric vehicles to the U.S. market, and we are already building a world class corporate team in the US center of advanced transportation and smart technology,” said VinFast US CEO Van Anh Nguyen. “We greatly appreciate the support of the State of California as we prepare to launch a brand that will significantly increase EV adoption worldwide and help California and the U.S. meet important environmental goals. The complete list of approved companies and award amounts is available online. The California Competes Tax Credit was created in 2013 to focus on helping businesses grow and stay in California. GO-Biz evaluates the most competitive applications based on the factors required by statute, including total jobs created, total investment, average wage, economic impact, strategic importance and more. In 2018, the program was extended for an additional five years with at least $180 million in tax credits available for allocation to business each year through 2023.

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) today announced that Impact Hub Armenia Social Innovation Development Foundation (Impact Hub Yerevan), a nonprofit organization based in Armenia that supports social impact projects and enterprises, and the State of California have entered into an agreement. The agreement establishes a Trade and Services Desk in Yerevan to promote two-way trade and investment and further strengthen California’s economic and cultural relationship with Armenia. California’s trade representative for Europe will use the desk to spur innovation and business growth in and between California and Armenia— with the common goal of creating a sustained, strategic, and mutually-beneficial partnership. The Trade and Services Desk will be run by the State’s point of contact for economic development, in partnership with Impact Hub Yerevan. Upon signing the MOU, Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and GO-Biz’s Director said, “I am proud to sign this important MOU with Impact Hub Yerevan so that we can build on strong, existing ties and create new opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs from both California and Armenia.” California Senator Anthony Portantino, who authored SB 302 to reestablish trade between California and Armenia and helped foster the California Trade and Services Desk housed at Impact Hub Yerevan said: “I am proud to have worked on the establishment of this trade and services desk at the amazing Impact Hub Yerevan. To know the first such international desk of the Newsom administration is in Yerevan is of particular importance to me and proud Armenian American friends and neighbors across the 25th Senate District. Armenia and California have so much in common. My hope is that this desk will be a vehicle to highlight and create opportunities and mutual economic benefit.” California Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, Chair of the California Legislative Armenian Caucus, said: “As the Chair of the California Armenian Legislative Caucus, I am thrilled to celebrate this historic Memorandum of Understanding between Armenia and California, home to the third largest Armenian community in the world. With this trade MOU now in place, I look forward to expanding the trade relations between our two economies.”

In March 2023, CA Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and GO-Biz Director Dee Dee Myers led a delegation of more than 100 California business executives and senior California government officials to Japan for World Smart Energy Week and to further bolster the strong economic ties and promote a shared commitment to climate action between the world’s 3rd and 5th largest economies. “In California, we are extremely proud of our close relations with Japan,” said Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. “Japan is the number one source of foreign direct investment in the State of California but even more important are the historic, cultural, and people-to-people links that bind us together. Our trip could not have been more productive in strengthening the deep economic ties between our economies and taking meaningful action on climate change.” Lieutenant Governor Kounalakis and Director Myers were joined by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) Secretary Toks Omishakin, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross, California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chair Liane Randolph, California Energy Commission (CEC) Chair David Hochschild, and CEC Commissioner Patty Monahan as well as a delegation of travel and tourism executives led by Caroline Beteta, President and CEO of Visit California. The trade delegation coincided with the one-year anniversary of signing a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between California and Japan, signed by Governor Newsom and Ambassador Tomita, strengthening economic cooperation, trade, and the shared commitment to tackling climate change. “California’s cutting-edge policies — and the innovative businesses and new technologies that are the hallmark of our state — are key to our climate cooperation with Japan,” said GO-Biz Director Dee Dee Myers. “This trade mission strengthened our essential private sector and government ties, furthered our shared energy and security goals, and reinforced California’s role as a global leader in business, research, and commercial innovation to advance climate mitigation strategies.”

In August 2022, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced a new Space Industry Task Force, to be led by GO-Biz Director and Senior Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom, Dee Dee Myers. The announcement first came from Governor Gavin Newsom at yesterday’s All California Defense Leadership Summit, hosted by the Association of Defense Communities with the California Defense Communities Alliance and California Governor’s Military Council in Sacramento. There, more than 200 military, defense and community leaders and stakeholders throughout California gathered to share challenges and solutions to national security issues throughout the state. Key leaders at the event targeted opportunities to grow the space industrial sector in the state and discussed initiatives to enhance existing defense capabilities. As a global leader in aerospace and advanced manufacturing, California will pursue opportunities to improve its position and harness future growth in the space industry, both commercial and military, with the formation of this new Task Force. Partnering with GO-Biz in this work will be leaders from the Governor’s Military Council, the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that a grant totaling $600,000 has been awarded to the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) as part of the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) – a federally funded grant program that aims to increase export activities among small businesses. The STEP program has helped thousands of small businesses across California obtain grants and identify customers in the global marketplace by covering various costs associated with entering and expanding into international markets. For the first time, the California STEP grant will be overseen and administered exclusively by the GO-Biz International Affairs and Trade team. Since the inception of the program in 2011, the State of California has received approximately $8.5 million in STEP funding. “As Governor Newsom’s representative for international affairs and trade development, I know how critical the STEP program is to helping California’s small businesses. In the past decade, more than 1,200 California small businesses have participated in overseas activities through STEP, which has generated more than $85 million in export sales – a true indication of the economic resiliency that exporting can support,” said California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis. Emily Desai, Deputy Director of International Affairs and Trade at GO-Biz noted, “Exporting businesses grow their sales faster, create more jobs, and pay their employees more than non-exporting businesses. With this new round of STEP funding, we are looking forward to working with our partners across the state to ensure those benefits are made available to even more California small businesses, particularly those that have historically lacked access to economic opportunity.”