Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $646,559 grant to the town of Somerset, Massachusetts, to make water infrastructure improvements needed to support future business growth.
The EDA grant project, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $646,559 in local funds and is expected to generate $650 million in private investment.
“In 2017, Somerset suffered major job and tax revenue losses due to the closure of the Brayton Point Power Plant,” said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegated Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “EDA is pleased to support Somerset’s efforts to upgrade its water infrastructure to meet the demands of future business growth, including in the energy sector, and the project’s Opportunity Zone designation will help drive new private investment to the region.”
This project was made possible by the regional planning efforts led by the Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District, which EDA funds to 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. The funding announced today will serve one of Massachusetts’s 138 Opportunity Zones.
Created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zones are spurring economic development 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 Commerce Department’s work in Opportunity Zones, please visit EDA’s Opportunity Zones webpage. To learn more about the Opportunity Zone program, see the Opportunity Now resources webpage. To learn more about Opportunity Zone best practices, see the recently released White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council Report (PDF) to President Trump.
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.