Sandpoint tech firm to add jobs, thanks to tax rebate

Sandpoint technology company Kochava has landed a substantial Idaho tax-abatement incentive that will lead to the hiring of at least 35 workers by 2017.

The benefit is part of the state’s recently adopted TRI – Tax Reimbursement Incentive – program.

Kochava will get a rebate of 28 percent of state corporate income, sales and payroll taxes for the next five years, according to a press release issued by the state and the city of Sandpoint.

The private company develops software dashboards for online game companies and advanced tools for analyzing the use of mobile apps. Among its customers is Facebook, which uses Kochava to study what people do and how they interact with ads on its pages.

Charles Manning, Kochava’s CEO, moved the company from the East Coast to Sandpoint in 2006. Two years ago it had eight workers; today it has 36, said Manning. As the incentive program continues, Manning estimated Kochava could add up to 50 new jobs over five years.

The company’s average salary is over $60,000, which is nearly twice the Bonner County average, according to the office of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter. Idaho officials also say Kochava’s new jobs will generate new wages of $13.5 million and new state tax revenues of $1.3 million. 

Manning said the new jobs will be in development, account management, IT operations and marketing.

Passed by legislators in July, the TRI program offers the tax breaks to companies that create at least 20 new jobs in rural areas or at least 50 jobs in urban areas, if the jobs pay at least the county average wage.

It’s available to existing Idaho businesses and out-of-state companies.

Utah-based Skywest airlines, for example, will get a 25 percent tax break for 12 years to establish a Boise aircraft maintenance site.