Press Release

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests to Boost Business Growth in Newtown, Connecticut, Opportunity Zone

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $914,981 grant to the town of Newtown, Connecticut, to install a reliable sanitary sewer system that will encourage economic development, job creation and retention, and private investment on the Fairfield Hills Campus in the Naugatuck Valley Corridor Region. The project, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $914,982 in local funds.

“From day one, President Trump has stressed the importance of improving American infrastruture,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. “This project will provide the critical infrastructure the region needs to support new growth and its location in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone will provide additional tax incentives for business development.”

The funding announced today goes to a designated Opportunity Zone, created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to spur economic development by giving tax incentives to investors in economically-distressed communities nationwide. In June 2019, EDA added Opportunity Zones as an Investment Priority, which increases the number of catalytic Opportunity Zone-related projects that EDA can fund to fuel greater public investment in these areas. To learn more about the Opportunity Zone program, see the Treasury Department resources page here. To learn more about the Commerce Department’s work in Opportunity Zones, please visit EDA’s Opportunity Zones webpage.

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.