By Blake Christian

It is clear that California businesses and individuals are faced with some of the highest marginal tax rates in the country – at 8.82% for most C Corporations and up to 10.3% for individuals making more than $1 million (note: an S Corporation owner can experience combined marginal rates of up to 11.8% for California purposes, when adding in the 1.5% California S Corporation level “toll tax”). These high taxes contribute to California’s relatively low rankings in “business friendly” surveys.

However, there is a silver lining for most Long Beach businesses and their equity owners (as well as certain lenders). Businesses can dramatically reduce their California income/franchise taxes by choosing to operate in the Long Beach Enterprise Zone (EZ), which comprises over 70% of the city and includes most of the commercial/ industrial sections of the city – including the port, Downtown Long Beach, The Airport, and most other sections of the city, except Belmont Shore/ 2nd Street.

By Ian Lamont

Southern California author Marc Emmer, with his book Intended Consequences: Designing the Future You Wish to Create, has accomplished something most rare. He has written a business book that offers both young entrepreneurs just starting out and business “graybeards” like me, who have decades of experience, a fabulous return on our readership investment.

Emmer is president of Optimize Inc., a performance-enhancing and strategic consulting firm headquartered in the Santa Clarita Valley. Within the pages of “Intended Consequences,” Emmer shares his experiences of working with top executives and their leadership teams in both small businesses and Fortune 500 companies and in the private and the public sectors.