Press Release

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $2.5 Million to Support Life Sciences-Focused Business Growth in Riverside, California

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2.5 million grant to the University of California-Riverside, which is located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone, to acquire equipment for use in a life sciences industry business incubator.

“President Trump is working diligently every day to help empower the next generation of entrepreneurs, an engine of job creation and economic growth,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “Support for UC-Riverside’s life science business incubator will improve efforts to grow budding business enterprises and focus private sector attention on a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone.”

This project will provide the Inland Empire Entrepreneurial Life Science Incubator with the equipment they need to best support the growth of new, job-creating life sciences-focused businesses.

The funding announced today goes to a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone, which provides special incentives for further private sector participation and development. Created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zone designations spur economic development by giving tax incentives to investors in economically-distressed communities nationwide.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation's regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.