News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Highlands Economic Partnership (HEP) and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TDECD) will meet next week to discuss bringing more business to smaller communities.
HEP Vice President of Economic Development Stephen Crook says opportunity zones are areas where capital gains can be reinvested to attract more industry to the region.
“It leverages those ‘on the sideline’ capital gains with a tax incentive that makes anybody that’s sitting out there with some ability to invest that might not have had the right incentivization to do so,” Crooks says. “It encourages them to put those capital gains into those funds and leave them there for an extended period of time.”
According to the United States Department of Treasury, nearly a dozen areas in the Upper Cumberland qualify as opportunity zones, with three in Putnam County.
Crook says the opportunity zones won’t bring business in overnight and could take some time to attract the right company to those areas.
“It’s not one of those investments or zone opportunities where it’s going to be a quick flip,” Crook says. “It’s trying to get investors to invest capital in low-income areas for extended periods of time so it can spur economic growth in those low-income areas. Hopefully we’re going to see a lot of investment in those areas.”
Crook says opportunity zones simply boil down to educating both investors and the people who live in those areas.
“Whether it be an investor or just anybody interested in understanding the zones a little bit better,” Crook says, “make sure that they are fully aware of the guidance on how to leverage the zones into these opportunity zone funds, and encouraging them to take a deep look into these areas, and consider investing in those through the opportunity zone funds.”
Crook says the opportunity zones could not only impact Cookeville and Putnam County, but the entire Upper Cumberland if given the right chance.
“We think it’s something that could really encourage the investor community to invest in these funds whenever possible,” Crooks says, “and, maybe, create some development in some of these otherwise overlooked parts of the community.”
The meeting will take place Friday, Dec. 7 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Leslie Town Centre in Cookeville.
Opportunity zones were created after Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in an effort to stimulate economic growth in smaller communities. Zones within the Upper Cumberland include but are not limited to Livingston, Smithville, Baxter, portions of Cookeville, eastern Clay County, and all of Pickett County.
