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Business Incentives & Resources

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Grow Your Business in Vista

Vista CARES Program
(Communicate. Assist. Retain. Expand. Support.)

This business retention and expansion program strives to keep businesses from relocating to other cities; helps businesses survive economic difficulties; assists businesses with expansion that create jobs; and helps firms increase their competitiveness. In an effort to identify and understand the needs of Vista businesses, the City and the Vista Chamber of Commerce sponsor an annual outreach survey event "Vista CAREs Business Walk" with the purpose of gathering information about what businesses need to be successful in Vista. Below are the Vista CARES Business Walk Report from recent years. 

Business Incentives

The Economic Development Department maintains a list of federal, state and local incentives and resources to help businesses thrive. Please check with your tax attorney or CPA to see if your business is receiving the benefits of these incentives.

Local Incentives

  • The Facade Improvement Program grants businesses in and near the downtown area up to $15,000 to assist with exterior design upgrades. Please note: businesses must apply and receive a Commitment Letter from the City prior to starting construction in order to be eligible.
  • Restaurant Fee Waiver Program: Permit fee waivers up to $5,000 are available to reduce the costs of building and planning permit fees from the city associated with the opening of a new dine-in or quick service restaurant. Restaurants that generate the majority of their revenue from the sale of dine-in food and non-alcoholic beverages are eligible to apply. The waiver is available for permit applications submitted on or after January 1, 2023. 
  • Live Entertainment Fee Waiver: The City has received federal American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) to respond to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and its negative economic impacts. As a part of this program, the City is offering to waive the Live Entertainment permit fees for qualified businesses. This one-time waiver covers the permit fees for the period through December 31, 2024. To receive this fee waiver, a complete Live Entertainment Permit Package including a list of all employees and a proof of their Responsible Beverage Service training needs to be submitted to Sara Trench at email. 

State Incentives

  • College Access Tax Credit (CATC) provides a tax credit to taxpayers and businesses who contribute to Cal Grants, the State of California’s largest source of educational financial aid. The credit can be used to offset or reduce taxes. Cal Grants provide aid to in need California undergraduates, vocational training students and those in teacher certification programs. These grants help California students achieve their higher education goals.
  • The California Competes Tax Credit helps companies stay and grow in California by reducing their state income tax.
  • The California Research Credit reduces income or franchise tax. You qualify for the credit if you paid or incurred qualified research expenses while conducting qualified research in California.
  • Manufacturing and Research & Development Partial Sales and Tax Exemption manufacturers and certain research and developers may qualify for a partial exemption of sales and use tax on certain manufacturing and research and development equipment purchases and leases.

Has your Vista business received the benefit of one or more of these state incentives? Contact us to share your story.

Federal Incentives

  • The Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is a Department of Energy tax incentive that provides rebates to businesses when they use alternative energy, including solar.
  • The New Markets Tax Credit Program incentivizes community development and economic growth through the use of tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities.
  • Opportunity Zones provide investors tax incentives to invest in low-income census tracts by allowing them to defer tax on capital gains and decrease taxes on potential future gains.
  • The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a federal income tax credit incentive provided to private sector employers. An employer may be eligible for WOTC when they hire from certain target groups of job seekers who face employment barriers.

Did your Vista business receive the benefit of one or more of these federal incentives? Contact us to share your story.

Business Resources

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Programs

Through funds made available by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) the following programs have been created to assist businesses. 

SizeUp-Vista

The City of Vista is launching SizeUp-Vista, making powerful market research and business intelligence available at no cost to local businesses to help them succeed. 

Local businesses can now access industry-specific and hyperlocal information to help them grow and make smarter decisions using Big Data analysis. The research is individually customized for each company. By using the website service local businesses are able to:

1. Rank their business performance compared to industry competitors
2. Discover potential customers, suppliers, and better understand their competitive landscape
3. Optimize advertising to target ideal customer segments

Cybersecurity-Awareness Program

In partnership with San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE), the City of Vista is offering a Cybersecurity-Awareness Program designed to assist small businesses in becoming more cybersecurity-aware and ultimately strengthening our regional economic resiliency. The program is FREE to participating small Vista businesses and made possible by a grant from the City of Vista. To be eligible you must have fewer than 100 employees and be a business located in Vista OR a supplier to a Vista business. Monthly enrollment is now open. 

The Film Friendly City

The Film Hub working alongside the City of Vista, created the Film Friendly City Incentive Program. The program offers TV and Film producers information on participating vendors who provide discounts on their goods and services to the film industry. The program also allows participating vendors to distribute their information to film makers interested in filming in Vista, which provides an increased exposure of their goods and services. 

CVBID Grant Program

The Central Vista Business Improvement District (CVBID) Grant Program provides grants and micro-grants to fund activities in Downtown Vista that help accomplish the goals of the CVBID. The money for the grants comes from an annual City of Vista assessment on the businesses within the district, which totals approximately $50,000 each year. Grants will be available in the amount of $1,000 to $10,000.

Entrepreneurial Resources

The following resources are for entrepreneurs as they determine how to move to the next phase of their operations or how to tackle a current challenge. These links also contain additional resources that are maintained by others. If you find  you still need assistance, please reach out to our Vista Economic Development Team.

Locate a Business to Vista 

Economic Development participates in regional and national business and industrial trade events to seek out and and attract desirable businesses to Vista. Use the information below to start researching if Vista is the right location for your business.

  • Determine the best place to locate your business. Vista has a business park bordering the City of Carlsbad which covers 1,600 acres and is home to over 900 businesses. Vista also has a vibrant downtown area with food, beverage and retail establishments.
  • Vista also has an Opportunity Zones which offers tax benefits to investors. Learn more about Vista's Opportunity Zone here.
  • If you have questions about the best place to locate your business in Vista, please contact Economic Development Director Larry Vaupel. 

Facade Improvement Program

Apply for up to $15,000 to upgrade a downtown building. The Facade Improvement Program (FIP) is a grant program provided to business and/or property owners for the improvement of existing buildings along designated commercial corridors within the City of Vista. The program provides a matching grant of 50% up to the maximum dollar amount based on the building’s linear foot frontage on a public way.

Save money on California corporate income tax

The California Competes Program is an income tax credit available to businesses that want to come to California or stay and grow in California.

New tax incentive for investors with capital gains.

If your business is located in downtown Vista inside the Opportunity Zone, you may be able to help attract investment by leveraging this new tax incentive.

Experiencing challenges? We can help. 

 


The Business Ombudsman assists in resolving business related issues or challenges for Vista businesses. Economic Development participates in meetings held by different organizations to assist in obtaining a favorable resolution of issues impacting Economic Development in Vista. For the Business Ombudsman, please contact by email or call 760.639.6165.

Clean energy incentive programs

PACE financing allows property owners to fund energy efficiency, water efficiency and renewable energy projects with no up-front costs. With PACE, residential and commercial property owners living within a participating district can finance 100% of the project and pay it back over time as a voluntary property tax assessment through their existing property tax bill.

Workforce Development

The Vista Economic Development team connects employers, educators and workforce professionals in an effort to create and retain Vista jobs for Vista residents and to ensure residents have educational and training opportunities to increase their professional competitiveness. 

The San Diego Workforce Partnership can assist employers in finding and training talent.

Here is a list of employer job posting websites for each of the local higher education institutions:

City Partners

The Economic Development team collaborates with local and regional partners to support business growth in the City of Vista. Here is a list of partners businesses to explore as a resource: