Foreign Trade Zone #236 consists of 917 acres at Palm Springs International Airport and 14 acres at Palm Springs Rail Station, can benefit firms that import or export goods:

• Customs duties and Federal Excise Taxes are deferred improving cash flow.
• No duties on goods re-exported from an FTZ.
• Foreign and Domestic Goods held for export are exempt from state and local inventory taxes.
• If finished products assembled in FTZ have lower duty rates than their imported components, the importer may pay duties at the lower rate.

Desert Communities Empowerment Zone consists of four contiguous Census Tracts within the jurisdiction of Riverside County. The Empowerment Zone boundary is bordered on the north by the Riverside-San Bernardino County line; on the east by the Colorado River; on the south by the Riverside-Imperial County line, including the Salton Sea; and on the west by the cities of Coachella, Indio, La Quinta, and Desert Hot Springs. The Zone includes four incorporated cities, five Indian Reservations, and the three Colonia communities of Ripley, Mesa Verde, and Oasis.

• Federal employment tax credit. Employers within the zone can receive $3,000 annually in federal income tax credit for each employee who works and lives in the zone. Unused credits may be rolled over to future years and amended on returns to capture past year's credit.
• Tax-exempt bond financing
• Environmental clean up cost deductions
• Work opportunity federal tax credit
• Business loan support
• Accelerated depreciation on equipment
• Contact: Riverside County Economic Development Agency