This story appears in the
December 2005 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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When Mario Gaztambide and Roberto Garcia merged their medical
supply companies last year, Garcia, 35, brought distribution
relationships with over 200 laboratories, while Gaztambide, 31,
provided an array of products through his Connecticut-based
sourcing business. The combined company, Cultas Group, now
generates over $2 million in annual revenue.
But the smartest move may have been to headquarter the merged
company in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, where Garcia had been operating.
Through the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co., Cultas Group
qualified for a 100 percent tax-exempt status for manufacturing on
all corporate profits. In the cost-competitive hospital supply
market, those tax incentives are a boon for their bottom line.
"When you consider that you have to pay taxes in
Philadelphia or Atlanta at a corporate tax rate approaching 40
percent," he says, "being able to keep 100 percent of our
profits is a big advantage."