Three Central Valley businesses are in line to receive a combined $740,000 in state tax credits as part of the California Competes program.

Run by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), the California Competes program offers tax credits to encourage businesses to expand or locate operations in California.

Durham Construction Co. in Fresno is requesting a $140,000 tax credit, with plans to increase its workforce by six and invest $250,000 in that effort.

Cool Steam Pasteurization LLC, an almond processor and almond milk producer in Madera, is requesting a $450,000 tax credit, with plans to hire 19 new full-time employees and invest $3.5 million doing so.

Anthony G. Avila engineering services firm in Fresno is requesting a $150,000 tax credit, with plans to invest $490,000 and hire five new full-time employees.

GO-Biz is convening its California Competes Tax Credit committee Thursday to vote on a total of $91.4 million in tax credits for 114 businesses projected to create 8,223 jobs and make $828 million in investments.

The largest tax credit of $8 million is slated to be awarded to General Motors Co. for an expansion of its San Francisco automobile manufacturing operations. It plans to invest $14 million in the expansion and hire an additional 1,163 workers.

Cosmetics retailer Ulta was the recipient of an $8 million tax credit from the program last year for its planned Fresno e-commerce fulfillment center that could employ up to 1,000 people.

For more information, visit http://www.business.ca.gov/