What’s happening: Small- and medium-sized tech and manufacturing companies of Macomb County take note, there’s an informative Lunch & Learn event scheduled in Sterling Heights that could potentially save your company tens of thousands of dollars. Business incubator and economic development hub Velocity Center will host the Southfield-based DST Advisory Group for the event, which will educate guests on eligibility requirements for the underutilized Research Tax Credit.

What’s planned: The Lunch & Learn, “The Research Tax Credit: An Underused Asset for Tech and Manufacturers,” is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Velocity Center in Sterling Heights. The event is free and open to the public and guests receive a complimentary lunch. Registration is available online.

Why it’s important: “The Research Tax Credit is a very underutilized asset that not many businesses make use of, either because they’re unaware of the tax credit altogether or they don’t think that they’ll qualify,” says Dan Osterland, business development manager for DST Advisory Group. “We’re trying to educate these businesses that they are very likely to be eligible.”

How it works: The Research Tax Credit is a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that can be claimed by companies developing or improving products, processes, techniques, formulas, inventions, or software. If a company is spending $100,000 on qualified R&D expenses, for example, they would be eligible for a 7 to 10 percent tax credit, saving $7,000 to $10,000. What’s more, DST Advisory Group, an accounting firm that specializes in securing these tax credits for companies, says that the credit can be applied to up to three years of open tax years. The savings can add up quickly, Osterland says.

Underutilized is right: According to DST Advisory Group, only 30 percent of the more than 630,000 manufacturing businesses in the U.S. are claiming the tax credit; 70 percent are not. Meanwhile, 90 percent of manufacturing companies have assets that qualify for the Research Tax Credit.

Velocity Center is located at 6633 18 Mile Rd. in Sterling Heights.

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