A. Subject to the appropriation by the General Assembly of sufficient moneys to the Investment Performance Grant subfund, any eligible manufacturer or research and development service that is not eligible for a major eligible employer grant under § 2.2-5102 shall be eligible for an investment performance grant as provided in this section.

B. The Partnership shall establish an application process by which eligible manufacturers and research and development services may apply for a grant under this section. An application for a grant under this section shall not be approved until the Partnership has verified that the capital investment has been completed.

C. The amount of the investment performance grant that an eligible manufacturer or research and development service shall be eligible to receive under this section shall be determined by the Secretary, based on the recommendation of the Partnership, and contingent upon approval by the Governor. The determination of the appropriate amount of an investment performance grant shall be based on the application of guidelines that establish criteria for correlating the amount of a grant to the relative value to the Commonwealth of the eligible investment.

D. The Partnership shall assist the Secretary in developing objective guidelines that shall be used in awarding investment performance grants. No grant shall be awarded until the Secretary has provided copies of such guidelines for review to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance. The preparation of the guidelines shall be exempt from the requirements of Article 2 (§ 2.2-4006 et seq.) of the Administrative Process Act. The guidelines shall require determinations regarding the amount of investment performance grants to address:

1. The number of new jobs created by the capital investment;

2. The wages paid for the new jobs and the amount by which wages exceed the average manufacturing wage for the locality or region;

3. The extent to which the capital investment produces (i) measurable increases in capacity, productivity, or both; (ii) measurable decreases in the production of flawed product; or (iii) measurable advances in knowledge, research, or the application of research findings for the creation of new or significantly improved products or processes that support manufacturing;

4. The amount of the capital investment;

5. The net present value of benefits to Virginia;

6. The amount of other incentives offered by the Commonwealth and the locality; and

7. The importance of the manufacturing or research and development facility to the economy of the locality or region.

The guidelines shall also address the eligibility of manufacturers or research and development services that make a capital investment in phases over a period of years, and limits on eligibility for multiple grants by the same manufacturer or research and development service within stated periods of time.

E. The amount of an investment performance grant to any eligible manufacturer under this section shall not exceed $3 million or 10 percent of the amount appropriated by the General Assembly to the Investment Performance Grant subfund in the year that the terms of a grant are determined. For all eligible projects awarded grants on or after July 1, 2005, and before July 1, 2009, the amount of an investment performance grant to any recipient under this section shall not exceed $1.5 million. For eligible projects awarded grants on or after July 1, 2009, the amount of an investment performance grant to any recipient under this section shall not exceed $3 million, except for eligible projects that demonstrate extraordinary characteristics described in guidelines implementing this chapter the amount of an investment performance grant to any such recipient under this section shall not exceed $5 million.

F. For all eligible projects awarded grants before July 1, 2005, the aggregate amount of investment performance grants approved under this section in any year shall not exceed $6 million, and the aggregate amount of grants outstanding to all eligible manufacturers under this section for all years shall at no time exceed $30 million. For all such grants awarded prior to that date, the annual obligations of the Commonwealth to make grant payments to individual eligible manufacturers under this section shall not exceed $600,000. For all eligible projects awarded grants on or after July 1, 2005, and before July 1, 2009, the aggregate amount of investment performance grants approved under this section in any year shall not exceed $3 million, and the aggregate amount of such grants awarded after that date and outstanding at any time shall not exceed $15 million. For all such grants awarded on or after that date, the annual obligations of the Commonwealth to make grant payments to individual recipients under this section shall not exceed $300,000. For all eligible projects awarded grants on or after July 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2015, the aggregate amount of investment performance grants approved under this section in any year shall not exceed $6 million, and the aggregate amount of such grants awarded on or after July 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2015, and outstanding at any time shall not exceed $30 million. For all such grants awarded on or after July 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2015, the annual obligations of the Commonwealth to make grant payments to individual recipients under this section shall not exceed $1 million. For all eligible projects awarded grants on or after July 1, 2015, but before July 1, 2019, the aggregate amount of investment performance grants approved under this section in any year shall not exceed $6 million, and the aggregate amount of such grants awarded on or after July 1, 2015, but before July 1, 2019, and outstanding at any time shall not exceed $20 million. For all such grants awarded on or after July 1, 2015, but before July 1, 2019, the annual obligations of the Commonwealth to make grant payments to individual recipients under this section shall not exceed $1 million. For all eligible projects awarded grants on or after July 1, 2019, the aggregate amount of investment performance grants approved under this section in any year shall not exceed $4 million, and the aggregate amount of such grants awarded on or after July 1, 2019, and outstanding at any time shall not exceed $20 million. For all such grants awarded on or after July 1, 2019, the annual obligations of the Commonwealth to make grant payments to individual recipients under this section shall not exceed $1 million.

G. Any eligible manufacturer or research and development service shall be eligible to receive a grant from the Fund in five equal installments beginning in the third year after the capital investment is completed and the Partnership has verified that the requirements applicable to such grant have been satisfied. Any eligible manufacturer or research and development service located in a fiscally distressed area of the State, as defined in the guidelines implementing this chapter, shall be eligible to begin receiving grants in the second year after the capital investment is completed and verified.

1999, cc. 875, 961, § 2.1-548.43:3; 2000, c. 571; 2001, c. 844; 2003, c. 17; 2005, c. 431; 2007, c. 384; 2009, cc. 267, 423; 2015, c. 761; 2019, c. 32.