Columbia, SC- October 1, 2019

ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT: Opportunity Zones are spurring private-sector investment to revitalize hurting communities and unleash their economic potential.

• In 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which established Opportunity Zones to incentivize long-term investments in low-income communities nationwide.
• These incentives offer capital gains tax relief to investors for new investment in designated Opportunity Zones.
• Opportunity Zones are anticipated to spur $100 billion in private capital investment.
• Incentivizing investment in low-income communities fosters economic revitalization and job creation and promotes sustainable economic growth across the Nation.

LIFTING UP COMMUNITIES: Opportunity Zones help drive economic growth and lift up communities that have been left behind.

• Opportunity Zones are a powerful vehicle for bringing economic growth and job creation to the American communities that need them the most.
  • On average, the median family income in an Opportunity Zone is 37 percent below the State median.
  • The average poverty rate in an Opportunity Zone is more than 32 percent, compared with a rate of 17 percent for the average United States census tract.
• More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
  • Nearly 35 million Americans live in communities designated as Opportunity Zones.

CREATING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL: President Donald J. Trump is encouraging investment to create opportunity in distressed communities.  

• The Trump Administration has taken more than 160 actions to encourage investment in low-income communities.
• In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council.
  • The Council is chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, and is comprised of 17 Federal agencies.
• The Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
• Scott Turner, Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, has hosted Opportunity Zone roundtables and meetings with local officials, investors, community leaders, and residents in more than 40 cities. 
• The Council is improving revitalization efforts by streamlining, coordinating, and targeting existing Federal programs to economically distressed areas, including Opportunity Zones.
• The Council will present the President with a number of reports identifying and recommending ways to encourage investment in economically distressed communities.

For more information go to Opportunityzones.hud.gov