How investment in opportunity zones can level up the US
As Black History Month concludes in the US, Sofia Karadima looks at how effective opportunity zones are in 'levelling up' deprived neighbourhoods populated by minorities. By Sofia Karadima
I spoke with The Investment Monitor about my belief that companies should seek out women or minority-owned companies in order to ensure that opportunities are given to people from all backgrounds.
With many different types of investment pouring into opportunity zones, there are rising concerns that this could lead to an increase in rents and food prices, or even gentrification, thus leaving those in need of assistance priced out of these areas.
It is important that the people living in opportunity zones are able to participate alongside the investors in these areas, and share the profitability of their project, perhaps through turning the renters into owners, which could then lessen the risk of gentrification. Such worries, however, should not distract from the fact that projects in opportunity zones bring with them economic growth and job creation.
What are opportunity zones and who lives there?
The US’s qualified opportunity zones, which were created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, are an economic development tool that permits people to invest in areas in the country suffering from social or economic hardships. There are thousands of low-income communities in all 50 US states, as well as the five US territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) that have been designated as qualified opportunity zones.
For more Please read at The Investment Monitor.