U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner is passionate about the opportunity zone program.
Opportunity zones are defined as an economically distressed community, set by an individual census tract and is nominated by a state governor and certified by the U.S. Treasury Secretary. Investments in the opportunity zone may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.
During a panel part of the Innovative Housing Showcase on the National Mall on Sept. 9. Turner and other leaders discussed the Trump administration’s approach to opportunity zones.
Before becoming HUD Secretary, Turner worked as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump administration. The secretary said opportunity zones deliver jobs and economic stability to people that need them.
“Opportunity zones aren’t about buildings but about people,” Turner said to a gathering of 100 people. “Free enterprise, the private sector, which is where the solutions are for people when it comes to jobs and housing.”
One of the panelists, Ja’Ron Smith, —- Howard University graduate who is a partner at CGCN Group a public relations firm, in Northwest, D.C., and a former White House staffer in the first Trump administration—- said opportunity zones are successful because they are a bipartisan issue but work still needs to be done for their success to continue.
“We know what works, let’s run the same play,” said Smith using a sports analogy. “Opportunity zones have their own brand now. It’s about getting the local people involved and finding out what they want.”
Jill Homan, the deputy director of Economy & Trade and campaign director of American Revival for the America First Policy Institute and a former Republican National Committeewoman representing the District, said opportunity zones are now part “a permanent part of the tax code because of the passage of the Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“Opportunity zones will attract capital to low-income communities,” Homan said. “Community leaders need to be creative with tax incentives to bring in jobs.”
