IBM is receiving a number of tax breaks and incentives for the analytics center: an eight-year, 60 percent job creation tax credit from the state; a six-year, 65 percent credit on Columbus income taxes for new employees; and an annual cash payment worth 25 percent of the new employees’ income tax. But Lovell is adamant that the financial perks didn’t influence the decision to locate here. “The tax incentives were not even a factor,” he says. “They’re icing on the cake.”