ABERDEEN, S.D.(HubCityRadio)- The Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce Chamber Connections Series was held on Thursday at the K.O.Lee Library.  The guest speaker was Mike Bockorny, President/CEO of the 7-20 Group and Aberdeen’s lobbyist. He spoke about on data centers, the CAPS program & TIF legislation.

CAPS Program:

CAP stands for Community Assistance Program.  Bockorny talks about legislation being drafted to address this.

Bockorny expands on how this tax would work.

Representative Greg Jamison of Sioux Falls is looking to introduce this next year.

A similar bill failed in the House Taxation Committee this year.  Bockorny talked about lessons learned to prepare for next year.

Data Centers:

Bockorny went over what the legislature did this year to address that.

Bockorny expand on what the bill would do.

The legislators looking to sponsor the bill are Representative Kent Roe of Watertown and Senator Casey Crabtree.

Crabtree describes what the bill would do.

Crabtree talks about the race for this technology between the U.S. and China.

Bockorny expressed concerns raised by those who would be opposed to the process.

Brown County Commission has been working on guidelines to set in place for any future data centers.  Bockorny believes these are guidelines that business wanting them can work with.

TIFS(Tax Increment Financing):

Bockorny discuss supports he has for Tifs when effective.

Bockorny discuss some legislations in the works to address Tifs.

Bockorny acknowledge the success of Tifs in Aberdeen.  One example is HAPI.

Bockorny also announced that their group will oppose any bill that will look to eliminate Tifs.