Local officials, impact investors, and philanthropy have important roles to play in helping communities access Opportunity Zone financing that benefits current residents. Using Chicago and Cook County as a case study, Urban identifies steps these actors can take to attract helpful investments. 

Economist Jared Bernstein argues for giving the Opportunity Zones incentive a chance before condemning the program as tool for gentrification and tax avoidance. In his estimation, most OZ communities have both the need and capacity to absorb new investment without displacing local residents.

According to experts in Baltimore, MD, Opportunity Zones offer a chance to lure development to some long-ignored areas of Baltimore and other parts of the state, but the money won't automatically flow.

An IRS public hearing on proposed regulations for Opportunity Zones, which had been scheduled for Jan. 10, has been indefinitely postponed by the agency because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. The hearing will be rescheduled once the government reopens.

This analysis by the Tax Foundation describes Opportunity Zones program incentives, reviews both academic and government evidence on the effects of place-based incentive programs, and discusses possible outcomes for Opportunity Zones residents. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Directive 2019-8 to help expand opportunities for businesses in Michigan's Opportunity Zones. Under the executive directive, state agencies will collaborate to reduce barriers for OZ businesses by increasing purchases from and contracts with them.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has proposed a $56.5 million set-aside for economic development and business creating in Maryland Opportunity Zones. Hogan's plan involves offering businesses additional state tax credits, job training programs, small business loans and affordable housing incentives, in some cases through proposed legislation.

City officials from Seymour, IN have approved the establishment of a tax increment financing district to finance a marketing project for the city's Opportunity Zone. The Zone is a 1,500-acre census tract that encompasses the area where Silgan Plastics is located on the city's far south side all the way north to the CSX rail line near Cummins Seymour Engine Plant.

Recent studies reveal only a small percentage of the 8,700 designated Opportunity Zones are well positioned to produce the returns needed to justify the investment, even with the tax break. Many Opportunity Zones located in rural and suburban America are ill-equipped to attract investments from Opportunity Funds.

>>> VIEW THE OPPORTUNITY ZONES RESOURCE CENTER