Press Release

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests to Support the Growth of Manufacturing Businesses in Clinton County, New York Opportunity Zone

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.5 million grant to Clinton County, New York, to make infrastructure upgrades needed to support business development at the former Clinton County Airport. The grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $1 million in local funds and $500,000 in other federal funds, and is expected to help create 150 jobs and generate $15 million in private investment.

“Infrastructure development is important to the Trump Administration because it helps propel economic advancement in our country,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This project will help provide Clinton County with the critical infrastructure it needs to increase the region’s manufacturing-based economy. Moreover, the Opportunity Zone designation will incentivize further investment in the area.”

“EDA encourages investment in Opportunity Zones to not only enhance ROI for business interests, but also encourage the public/private partnerships needed to drive private investment to distressed communities,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. “This project will help redevelop 30-acres of land adjacent to the established Air Industrial Park to support manufacturing and other businesses.”

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.