Press Release

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests to Boost Manufacturing and Entrepreneurial Development in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, Opportunity Zone

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2 million grant to the Clearfield County Economic Development Corporation to help construct a new facility that can accommodate manufacturing and entrepreneurial tenants. The EDA grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $2.28 million in state and local funds, and is expected to help create 50 jobs and generate $10 million in private investment.

“The Trump Administration is fulfilling the President’s promise to America’s coal workers by investing in new jobs and infrastructure across coal country,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This project will attract business and economic development to the Clearfield Opportunity Zone.”

“The River’s Landing project is a prime example of a Brownfield redevelopment initiative within a Federal Opportunity Zone and has the potential to bring revitalization and new business and employment opportunities to downtown Clearfield,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson. “We must advance these types of innovative economic development projects throughout our region, especially for communities that have suffered negative impacts from declining coal production.”

The project will construct a 12,000 square foot building on an urban brownfield site, which will provide readily available space for business and entrepreneurial tenants. This project was made possible by the regional planning efforts led by the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning & Development Commission. EDA funds the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning & Development Commission to help bring together the public and private sectors to create an economic development roadmap to strengthen the regional economy, support private capital investment, and create jobs.

This project is funded under the Assistance to Coal Communities (ACC) program, through which EDA awards funds on a competitive basis to assist communities severely impacted by the declining use of coal through activities and programs that support economic diversification, job creation, capital investment, workforce development, and re-employment opportunities.

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.