In partnership with the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued its Opportunity Zones Toolkit Volume 2, a guide for local leaders to use when developing and implementing economic development strategies to leverage their Opportunity Zone designations.

The Toolkit builds on the roadmap established in the Opportunity Zones Toolkit Volume 1 and provides tips, resources, and best practices to assist local leaders in economic development planning.

By aligning local, state and federal resources, establishing incentives, and building on new partnerships, communities in and around Opportunity Zones can attract the desired private capital investment they need to boost economic growth throughout their region.

EDA has made several critical policy changes to further fund and catalyze projects in and near Opportunity Zones: 

• In 2018, EDA issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity that made Opportunity Zones eligible for EDA funds through its special needs category.
• Last year, EDA added Opportunity Zones as one of our five Investment Priorities
• Last year, EDA incorporated Opportunity Zones into our Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Content Guidelines to better assist local and regional planning partners to build effective approaches to maximize the benefits of Opportunity Zones. 

In addition, EDA worked with the Indiana University and its Kelley School of Business to create statsamerica.org/opportunity, a web portal to link Opportunity Zones with economic and demographic data that intersects EDA’s Economic Development District, University Center programs, and Revolving Loan Funds, and other work.