The Governor’s Office of Economic Development is proud to announce Canopy will expand in Utah, adding up to 538 high-paying jobs, $6,203,272 in new state revenue and $7.5 million in capital investment.
“Canopy is a homegrown company that is rapidly growing and we are excited they have chosen to expand in Utah,” said Vale Hale, executive director of GOED. “It’s great to see our Silicon Slopes thrive and find innovative ways to grow our tech economy.”
Canopy was founded in 2014 after CEO Kurt Avarell, a former Wall Street tax attorney, grew frustrated with the lack of efficient, streamlined tools for tax professionals. In the same year, Canopy received $2M in seed funding. Since then, the Company has received an additional $70M in funding, experienced 1900 percent growth in paid customer accounts in 2016, and signed up 700+ accounting firm customers.
“As a company born and bred in Utah, we’ve enjoyed the resources and benefits the state provides for small and growing businesses such as Canopy,” said Kurt Avarell, founder and CEO of Canopy. “We are committed to growing our employee base and further contributing to Utah’s economy as we disrupt the $100B+ tax software and services market from right here in Silicon Slopes.”
Canopy will create up to 538 jobs over the next five years. The total wages in aggregate are required to exceed 110 percent of the Salt Lake County average wage. The projected new state wages over the life of the agreement are expected to be approximately $149,707,284. Projected new state tax revenues, as a result of corporate, payroll and sales taxes, are estimated to be $6,203,272 over five years.
Canopy may earn up to 20 percent of the new state taxes they will pay over the five-year life of the agreement in the form of a post-performance Economic Development Tax Increment Finance (EDTIF) tax credit rebate. As part of the contract with Canopy, the GOED Board of Directors has approved a post-performance tax credit rebate not to exceed $1,240,654. Each year as Canopy meets the criteria in its contract with the state, it will earn a portion of the total tax credit rebate.
