Yes in the face of global slowing and trade uncertainties Wall Street analysts expect the Fed to announce a 3rd rate cut tomorrow beyond that they're unsure f.a.o. Economics Bob Brusca. Rates again I don't think that this will be the last one in the sequence another quarter point cut would take the key federal funds rate to a target range of one and a half to $1.00 and $3.00 quarters percent for n.p.r. News I'm Steve backing or you're listening to n.p.r. News from Washington. Voters in the United Kingdom may soon hold a national election the opposition Labor Party has dropped its objection to the vote now that there's going to be a 3 month delay in Bracks it the ruling conservative party of Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to hold the election on December 12th but the exact date still needs to be chosen by lawmakers a foreign delegation is visiting Indian controlled Kashmir today for the 1st time since India imposed a lockdown on its northern Himalayan state N.P.R.'s Lauren Frayer reports from Mumbai the delegation consists of 27 members of the European Parliament most of these European lawmakers are from far right parties Marine Le Pen's party and France force that Italia Italy the U.K.'s Breck's it Party and Poland's far right ruling party the Indian government has granted them all permission to visit Kashmir even though it's blocked Indian opposition lawmakers United Nations envoys u.s. Members of Congress and foreign journalists including n.p.r. The European lawmakers got a personal briefing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi he's Hindu nationalist government says it's trying to better integrate Muslim majority Kashmir into the rest of India but has been accused of torture and mass detentions there Lauren Frayer n.p.r. News Mumbai officials in Iraq say gunmen attacked Iraqi protesters in the central city of Karbala today and left at least 14 people dead news reports say that several 100 more people have been wounded Iraqis have been protesting their government for weeks there demanding an end to government corruption and better public services I'm Corba Coleman n.p.r. News support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include capital one offering a variety of credit card options with features for a range of customers from foodies to travelers Capital One what's in your wallet credit approval required capital one bank USA and a. This is where we live from Connecticut Public Radio. Towns and cities often struggle to encourage investors to develop in low income communities the federal tax overhaul and acted in 2017 provides incentives to investors to take a chance in these areas known as opportunity zones today we learn more from the State Department charged with promoting economic development in Connecticut known as the d.c. Also hear from towns in the eastern part of the state that have designated opportunity zones how do they compete with larger cities in attracting investors or find out later 1st we want to learn more about this federal initiatives are joining me now by phone is Margaret Nadu head of the urban investment group at Goldman Sachs Margaret welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me and our listeners can also join in on the conversation 87009677 that's 888720 w. N.p.r. New can find us on Facebook and Twitter at where we live so if someone is not involved in economic development for a minutes apology if they're not an investor they may not know what an opportune his own is Margaret So let's start there what exactly is the opportunity zone program and then how are these areas designated around the country sure thing so so as you mentioned at the outset so this was part of the $27000.00 tax overhaul I think it surprised many folks was sort of tucked in there and what the program did was it allowed governors around the country to take a relatively short period of time it was only only a few months to select one quarter of the low income communities in their state and designate them opportunities so starting with what a low income community is so these are areas where the poverty rate is 20 percent or above or the income levels of those individuals and families relative to the broader area is only 80 percent at the median or below so back last year governors you know took their time and selected their was around and we've come up with the 9000 opportunities around around the country and you know just to share a little bit about what the census track look like 75 percent of them are in metro areas their home to 10 percent of the country's population so that's roughly 32000000 people and just to give you a sense of the level of distress in some of these communities you know homes in an Opportunity Zone relative to you know just the average sense of tracked around the country are 50 years older than the national average another kind of talents that 38 percent of adults in Opportunity found are not working so these are these are places that are certainly in need of and back and identity. Need of capital coming up for our grandson of the listeners know that coming up we're going to hear from David Corus who's deputy commissioner of Connecticut's apartment of economic and community development he's going to tell us more about the specific zones in our state decline to interrupt but I wanted to ask you when we think about the tax overhaul and you know how does actually does this work to try to get investors interested in these opportunities that actually so so passed the selection of those around them the next step is how do you get that capital to flow and so that the intent of the program was to take capital that has long been sitting on the sidelines and incentivize it to invest in a long term way in these under-served areas and so the kind of bucket of back capital selected was unrealized capital gains and so just to put a number on that there's there are many that estimate sort of unrealized capital gains in the country today at about 2 trillion dollars And so for investors and this can be an individual or corporate family office who basically realize again and take that capital and invest it into one of these opportunities around they get priest you know 3 pretty substantial tax benefits of the 1st one that they don't have to pay that a riginal capital gains tax so let's say you know you have you know you've you've acquired a good amount of Apple stock if you sold that and did not invest in opportunities and you pay a pretty hefty tax bill day $1.00 and so by investing in opportunities down one of the benefits is that you have more trickles from Bath because you're not paying back tax day one the 2nd benefit is that if you hold that investment for 5 to 7 years you also get to reduce the original tax that you pay in 2026 and then the last benefit which we think is the most substantial both from an economic perspective and an impact perspective is that you hold that investment in the opportunities on for 10 years you don't pay any capital gains tax on that investment so it has a dual benefit of incentive. To really invest in a patient waste to really hold for 10 years but then also given the economic incentive in not having to pay back final capital gains tax so Margaret obviously investors can make money from this investment if they hold onto it for at least 10 years as you mention but when we look at when we drill down to local communities and the people who live in these communities what are the benefits to them if you have these outside investors coming in looking to either you know build mixed income housing or to open a business Yeah so that the benefit is getting that capital so I don't want to go back to Q foreign time but if you look at the opportunities around there's significant overlap with the exact same communities that the government breadline dated back to that 1000 twenty's and thirty's so the of our communities back have not benefited from from new housing at the same rate as other places they've not had the new construction of strong school they've not had capital coming in to invest in starting new business and growing new businesses so the real benefit to the communities is the capital in another it's out and getting that new development through capital and getting those businesses now you know you use the word of word outsiders which is. That I think it's a real trigger in these in these conversations I do not think it is going to be the most beneficial for the structure to be the outside capital sort of flows into these communities without the clear direction and participation of those communities so there's there's no one who knows better what is needed and you know that outskirts of New Haven or central Brooklyn or you know the 9th Ward in New Orleans other than those residents and those community organizations been in the community for decades and so who then takes that role that lead role is that say the state of Connecticut is that the local municipal leader who makes. Sure that if there are particular projects that will be invested or come to a particular neighborhood that it's good for local residents so so we've seen Well I 1st say it takes a village all of those people and we think different models across the country so the one thing that we're noticing as we're meeting with economic development agencies and how that agencies around the country is there are a lot of there are a lot of entities that are playing catch up so we we've been investing in low income communities really prior to this and then and center for almost 20 years and show there are many municipalities and places around the country where folks are pretty organized there is a great kind of communication collaboration among community organizations city level government and state level government and there are places that are really you know developing those muscles now and so I think where we've seen it work the best is when you have. Really government at the city level and so that City Hall the local city housing agencies the local economic development agencies working with the private bankers in those locations or whether it's the educational institutions the health care institutions and then the existing business community all of those entities working together with the direction strategy that is that is delivered from the state level given that the state right with the entity that kind of selected the sounds you know across the entire geography and the real you really need to see all those pieces to get come together and it really depends on on the need to for example there are many of these communities that were housing is a real challenge for all this can example downtown downtown Newark right a lot of downtown is is is an opportunity down Kyra to just you know 56 years ago there hadn't been new construction built in downtown Newark since the sixty's and so you can imagine in that conversation the housing entities at the city level have to be at the table and so it really just depends on that local opportunities out and it challenges again on the phone with me as Margaret ona do head of the urban investment group of Goldman Sachs as we take a look at what Opportunity Zones are here on the show around the state of Connecticut and the country part of the 2017 tax overhaul law providing investors incentives to invest in distress communities low income communities you can join a conversation 87209677 that's 88720 w n.p.r. Find us on Facebook and Twitter at where we live I wanted to take a quick call a Pats Colleen from New Haven Pat you're on the show. Thank you for taking my call I wanted to just know that in most communities in the state there was very little public precious and so the designations were handed out before people in neighborhoods even knew it and some neighborhoods that could really benefit from it were left out. And with the historic tax credits now also taking opportunity zones into account. It's unfair it seems to me and so far. Last time I checked anyway there wasn't any kind of 2nd round opportunity for neighborhoods to try to get themselves included So it's just. As your guest was pointing out neighborhoods. Matter and. You know looking at. Who was included and who wasn't included in terms of the historic redlining and poverty it's unfortunate Opeth thank you for raising that point Margaret ona due for again from Goldman Sachs head of the urban investment group but did you want to respond to Pat's point I did so I'm sure I'm sure David will be on later can kind of comment about the specific zones and how they were selected but one thing I'd like to say to Pat and I think this happens unfortunately every time there's a significant new incentive and if of course as you know the largest federal based tax incentive in decades is that one tool I very excited about opportunities around I'm excited about anything that's going to drive more capital into base communities but at the end of the day there are many low income communities around the country right all 75 percent of them that we're not chosen and so we can't take our eye off the ball and from the focusing on communities across the board and so whether it's you know new markets tax credits or you know just mission driven activity and you know Community Reinvestment Act or even capital there are many other sources of capital that are available for communities across the board and certainly within many of the mission driven lenders and partners and institutions that we work with you know we're also trying to take attention to the fact that we can't we can't forget about the low income communities that are not opportunities and I think that's really important imo but I want to ask only think it might be something that's common when you think about low income communities people may think of parts of cities like Hartford in New Haven but then you know what is it about this program that can really entice an investor to look at a rural community not very close to an urban area because maybe it's more desirable to look at a city versus say eastern Connecticut which we'll be talking about later on today on the show. Yes So we've been and we've been thinking a lot on our team we've been thinking a lot about through the intersection of world poverty in those challenges with opportunities around so you know I want to be up front I think one of the challenges with the opportunities down and basking and I think in investing period and we're all areas is the scale one of the problems that the investing community broadly you know everyone loves a large transaction right you're going to spend the same sort of amount of effort and structuring and diligence on you know $50000000.00 deal as you do on a on a $1000000.00 deal and so I think that is one of the reasons that investment often gets driven to urban areas where deal sizes are just larger costs are higher and say you can put more money to work what I will say is I think there's a real opportunity you know time and with opportunity zones and rural areas as it relates to infrastructure so we've seen a lot of really exciting opportunities with broadband where you know some of these things can be larger deals I can impact a large rural area and then when we talk about the 10 year hold period some of those infrastructure investments really lend themselves to a longer whole period and so I think there is a really exciting opportunity there in the infrastructure space and market before we let you go I'm just curious again this is part of the 2017 tax overhaul law that went into effect so how how have investors been responding. So it's been so there's been I think there's been just a whole host of interest from all kinds of investors and fund managers and I and I think and I think there's been a lot of pressure around how moving slower than people thought and the one thing for people to keep their or their attention to the fact that this is still relatively new right when you think about capital formation 1st they're just understanding the structures and how the fund can actually work and it was only in the last few months I think we got a round of rags that a Treasury that really answered a lot of the questions and I think there's been a lot of excitement and focus but less. Activity on the ground we we had a really great advantage in that we've been investing in these communities is really the same community for 20 years and so we've closed 12 opportunities down on the majority on balance sheet and also starting to have our 3rd party client capital of investors have really been. Reaching out to us with a lot of interest I think we're just really really at the start of the program and I think the investor interest to date has been that has been very encouraging Margaret ona do again as head of the urban investment group of Goldman Sachs giving us a primer on what exactly opportunity zones are and we thank you Margaret for joining us today thank you so much this is where we live from Connecticut Public Radio and listen all the Fanjul Coming up we're going to learn more about opportunity zones in Connecticut and hear from local economic development officials about their efforts to attract investors to low income communities you can join us 287209677 or find us on Facebook and Twitter where we live. Support comes from Bouvier insurance an independent insurance agent for home auto or business Bouvier insurance probably helping the families and businesses of Connecticut since $959.00 but v.a. 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Conn Waterbury where learning never retires day and early evening courses of vents and other activities and more for people over 50 called 200-323-6992 extension 4. This is where we live from Connecticut Public Radio I'm listening up with Anshul our last guest Margaret a not too says 10 percent Americans live in low income areas where unemployment rates are high and economic growth lags the federal tax overhaul in 2017 attempted to address this in a program known as opportunity zones and aims to encourage people like real estate developers and venture capitalists to invest in these areas and in return receive tax breaks we want to learn more about the specific opportunity zones in Connecticut so 1st joining us by phone is David chorus deputy commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development known as d.c.d. David welcome back to the show great Lucy thanks for having me so tell us more about Connecticut's opportunity zones I'm we look at the map of our state where they located Sure so there's 72 census tracks that are doesn't need it as opportunity zones and they're in 27 municipalities there are in every corner of the state from Stanford and Norwalk in the southwest one New London ground in the southeast several in the capital region and some in north eastern Connecticut in places like bottom and Mansfield we were eligible to select up to 25 percent of the zones that met the socio economic characteristics established by the federal government and we worked hard to do so in places that were aligned with our other objectives like transit oriented development and waterfront recapture and near our anchor institutions like Margaret mentioned our universities and hospitals and entire education I'm not sure if you heard the caller in the previous segment who felt that the way the state does a good opportunity is Owens that left out certain communities in need how do you address that concern also she said that there wasn't any public input teacher Osas Yes So I did hear that question and I'm glad she asked because there's been a lot of you know a lot of questions about sort of how they were selected and whether there's opportunity for more so 1st. Foremost the way the process worked in the prior administration was a solicitation was put out to all municipalities that had zones that met the socioeconomic characteristics we received applications from the vast majority and they prioritized So the municipalities each identified the census tracks within their communities that were eligible that they wanted designated We then worked off of those priorities to select the most that we were capable of selecting under the federal rules which was 72 tracks so it was really up to the municipalities and I know that some did have a public process associated with that others didn't but the state was really reliant on municipalities to garner that local input in setting their priorities in terms of designating more we are hopeful that over time the success of this incentive leads to congressional action which would allow for further designation but until there is another bill through Congress we are limited in the number with those that are already designated and some curious about with these designations again has there been movement or are there particular investors looking at it at a particular opportunities own I'm now in Connecticut Yes So there's a lot of activity you know there's been I think things have moved slower than people had hoped or anticipated largely due to the pace at which the federal guidelines and regulations have have been coming out have been finalized and you know investors don't like uncertainty so the more certainty exists through the way in which the federal government and the Treasury and the i.r.s. Are going to treat this the more likely we are to see activity but there's a lot of people looking and there's a lot of interest particularly as I said in those communities that have a clear vision for where they want to go and that's one of the most important points that you know I want to make sure to make today and big. To your earlier conversation about sort of public input and you know whether or not outside investors are aligned with the vision of the local community you know at the end of the day all of these developments and all these investments and business opportunities are still subject to the same local regulation that any other project would be so things like zoning still govern what can or cannot take place in municipalities so we've been working closely with those 27 municipalities to make sure that they are engaging their local population and local stakeholder in crafting a vision for the future of their community and investing in infrastructure that helps realize that vision and in that regard Opportunity Zone investment and opportunity fund investments taking place in their communities is a is a key implementation tool to help them realize their vision so you know no one can kind of come in from outside and develop a project that isn't locally desired because it's through the participatory planning process and through local regulations like zoning that we can still govern how development takes place within our communities that's David Cora's who's deputy commissioner of Connecticut's apartment of economic and community development as we learn more about opportunity zones again distressed communities where they're hoping to take advantage of a federal initiative out of that $27000.00 tax overhaul law to interact vest or to those specific communities David you've mentioned at the pouty several times let's bring in a couple for their perspective 1st the Jim Bolano economic development director for the town of Windham Connecticut a Jim welcome to the show Thanks Lou Thanks for having me on and I understand we actually learned about your role you attended one of our coffee break the just last week in Willimantic So we're happy to have you on the show also with us is Paige Brock economic and community development manager for the town of Groton Connecticut Page thanks for joining us today. Thank you Lou So you thanks for having me so I'll start with Jim tell me more about Again efforts in the town of wind again you are designated as an opportunity zone and so what about this program are you looking to see happen in your particular community and you know has a been a slow go for you. Sure a well you know as David mentioned there's 27 municipalities that have opportunities in them so the opportunity for all those towns will depend on what's happening in that town for Windham it's the opportunity to really lies in our you know our downtown or historic Main Street area so that's going to translate for the most part into a housing opportunity and that's where we've seen the most activity we actually do have a developer coming in looking to leverage our opportunity zone funds to do a major project downtown and when you say a major project what do you mean he tell us more sure his his vision is to do what I total of about $415.00 market rate housing units downtown in 5 phases in the short term he has 2 phases and he's already been through planning and zoning on both those projects and that's going to amount to 2 separate locations about 200 units mainly geared at undergraduate and graduate students at eastern Connecticut state and Yukon that sounds like a good project I'm just curious when we think about again people who live in particular communities for a long time one economic development is good to hear that market rate is coming in but what about concerns about pushing out people who've been there for a long time who may not be not be able to afford to live there depending on how successful this the development project because Sure well in Windham we kind of lie in the in a unique position I think we're the 3rd. Largest community as far as affordable housing we have about 29 percent affordable housing in in Windham So from that perspective you know we've always embraced this idea as being kind of an urban hub in eastern Connecticut and therefore we are a central location for social and human services we do embrace that role but on the other side of that you know we we do need growth and. We need to grow our grand list because we do have a large not for profit presence so you know at 29 percent affordable housing Currently we think we've we've done our part in that respect and so market rate is something that's imperative for Main Street revitalization page bronc again is with us also often the town of Grundy economic and community development manager so tell us a little bit about your opportunity zone and what you're hoping to bring to Groton page. Sure somewhat piggybacking on what Jim had mentioned and also David we had applied to the States and were fortunate enough to be selected to have one of our eligible areas be designated as an opportunity zone we clearly are a job producer we have electric boat fires or the sub base. But simply because we have a strong workforce doesn't necessarily mean that we've yet close the loop economically we do have demands similar to what Jim mentioned we also have a high percentage of subsidized housing units at about 21 percent so when we talk about the need for housing these days really it deals more with market rate housing to try to satisfy the demands of our younger growing workforce that would be at Electric Boat and dealing with submarine production and also Pfizer and others. That we have about 80 percent of our jobs are held by commuters these days which is a real concern for us we'd like to diminish that decrease that number so that we can close the loop housing within our opportunity zone is definitely a large push mixed use and also retail How do you get investors interested and Groton so to speak because it is on the eastern part of the state and you mentioned that there are you know obviously e.b. Is there in the sub bases there but trying to get investors interested in bringing their projects to Groton. Yeah we identified a few years ago that Groton probably is not really on the map we've spent a while trying to do a better job and branding and marketing and getting our name out so people can identify with the community we do a lot of trade shows outside of Connecticut we have a lot of marketing material a new website explore more Groton dot com So we think we've done a pretty good job with that we have some local incense and sense of the state has incentives so the opportunity zone is another layer that another tool that we can put the tool box in trying to do matchmaking with interested investors so the state has taken the lead and trying to attract investors to opportunities on areas I think are local and state collaboration in conjunction with all of the tools and incentives that is probably our best bet in working with these and these investors who are looking for key opportunities that's page bronc economic and community development manager for the town of Groton Also with us on the phone is Jim mulatto who's the economic development director for the town of Wyndham Connecticut hi Jim we talked about some of the projects the developer who's interested in market rate housing in the town of wind but I'm curious what else do you want to see from the state of Connecticut particularly deep the e.c.m. Terms of of helping Eunice apologies really. Get the most out of this particular program is opportunities on program the I'm glad you asked that the state is actually doing exactly what it should be doing in this context because remembering that you know the opportunity zone incentive is really a private incentive it's individuals trying to defer an excuse capital gains through the federal tax code so the States role is ancillary But what what David and. See deer are looking to do tomorrow for example into a forum in New Haven is to get investors and developers together and they're also I don't know if he's spoken about it but he's there launching this website where you'll have the mapping and listings of opportunity zones in the state that's an important role for the state to kind of harness and be a centralized location for that information otherwise what you have is you have you know the 27 towns out there kind of on their own trying to do this and it has paid said we all do our best efforts to marketing and trade shows but to have the state as a partner is really key because the dollars are so large and these funds are national that if somebody can come in to the state of Connecticut and look at a central location that's going to make our job a little easier again you're hearing from the town of Windham and also the town of Groton here on where we live if you live in those particular towns and this is the 1st are hearing about opportunities that we want to hear from you to get your perspective 87209677 I want to go back to David Koresh deputy commissioner of Connecticut's Department of economic and community development David I'm curious with all of this attention on Opportunity Zones it does seem like a no brainer that municipalities and the state should try to make use of this federal initiative but also I'm curious how this this plays into is it a new strategy from the Department of the e.c.b. In previous administrations getting a lot of a flack for giving incentives to companies out before their promise jobs come to fruition and to secure that he could talk more about if this is a new strategy for d.c. Yes So this is just a new tool in our tool kit essentially And as you mentioned under Commissioner Lehman and government leadership we are transitioning our approach to economic development away from summer. The types of incentives that we used in the past to new types of tools that are more performance based and more delivered you know following the production of jobs and so this is just one additional tool that essentially the federal tax code has bestowed upon us that we can add to that toolkit when we look not only to grow and retain and attract companies but to do so in places that are of statewide significance and places that may have been lacking extra investment or capital mobilization over the last several decades for people who live in Connecticut who may not actually live in opportunities around this may be music to their ears because not state taxpayer dollars being used to incentivize businesses to come here again correct this is as as Margaret mentioned in in the opening segment you know this is an attempt by the federal government to mobilize the potentially up to 2 trillion dollars in capital gains that have been essentially sitting on the sidelines and to direct that to the communities that are that are most in need and one of the most important things that we can do in that effort given that the benefit is greatest If you invest in these communities for a minimum of 10 years as page and Jim were describing is to really tell the story of Connecticut and its communities and make that case that in the 2040 s. And 2030 s. Our communities will be of greater value and provide greater prosperity to their residents than they do now or in the 2020s so we're in this is all this is a long game and one in which you know we're looking for opportunity funds to be our partner in bringing capital to the state to realize the visions that our communities already hold for how they can be of greater value to their residents and their businesses in the coming decades I'm curious David if you could talk more about you know how this. Program is regulated you know when this was 1st brought up when Congress and President from administration was looking at this tax overhaul there was concerns about you know is this a program this is going to serve as another tax shelter for wealthy investors this is you know a continuing concern to be frank you know we don't yet know the scale of kind of reporting and metrics that are going to be required We're still awaiting those those federal guidelines but that's important because we want to make sure that these investments are having the kinds of coal benefits social environmental and economic and the communities in which they take place that they were intended to and if they don't we don't want to advocate for the continuance of this program and if they do we want to make sure that expands so we can designate 72 more zones within our state but from from our perspective you know zoning and the state regulations are the best tool that we have available to ensure that the capital that does flow to our state is doing so in the kinds of projects that we want to see in our communities to best elevate prosperity and social equity and environmental quality we're getting some good comments on social media from our listeners I want to 1st go to Brian he writes I live right between Wyndham and Groton in Norwich been here for 30 years and always thought we never tapped into anywhere near the potential Norwich has an offer and he wants to know if there's any plans for Norwich coming down the line looking you tell us David and maybe I can also go to our other guests that they've heard of anything because of where they are located 1st David Sure So 1st and foremost I just want to make clear that Norwich is one of those 27 minutes about is and they have 3 zones within their community and so they have the opportunity to capitalize on this new tool and that was afforded to us by the federal government. Can I go to the gym from wind page from Groton let's start with page for. Sure the 1st thing I thought of was that Norwich is on the famed river and we have focused on the famous river innovation place although there has been initial focus on Groton in New London as a part of that innovation place we have often discussed Norwich and how we want to do a better job including them with the growth in the region and the last comment I would say on that front is regarding. The work space and foundry 66 is definitely something in Norwich that people are proud of here in Groton we have bio c.t. Comments which is another incubator co-work space and we have an idea of trying to create one a new London as well so we don't look at each one of those co-working cater spaces as one offs they're very much part of a system and we need Norwich as a part of our regional system to help drive our economy in this area and Jim a lot is with us from the town of Windham Connecticut you know during our coffee break we learned that Willimantic is part of the town of Windsor dam any interest in it may be expanding opportunities owns to that part of Willimantic Jim sure and David makes a good point and you know this is a census year and so we are actually you know there is an opportunity to kind of adjust the census tracks with the you know the census time and so we you know census is are kind of arbitrary they're based on streets and population and you know they're they're not a perfect set so we'd like to maybe adjust our census line in the short term to include a property that's right next to where the opportunity zone ends but in the long term I think if we do expand opportunity zones I certainly have one or 2 tracks that meets the criteria that we'd like to we'd like to head in. I want to go back to David Cloris deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of economic and community development Christina tweeted Addison wants to know more about the efforts to develop without destroying the historic fabric and feel of the Connecticut town opportunities Owens can help with that but we also need to encourage preservation Can you talk about you know that concern from people who wonder you know what can happen to historic parts of their community when there is that interest in investing absolutely you know preservation is very important to us it's the historic fabric of our communities that adds a great deal of their value which make them so attractive places to live in and to work and one of the immediate things that we did in early legislation this past spring upon a better understanding the opportunity zone incentive was increase the value of tax credits historic tax credits when done in opportunity zones and to target specific allocations to them so additional resources are available to ensure that when opportunity fund investments are taking place in communities with great historic character there's even more state resources available to to rehab historic properties alongside a jumble I know you mentioned earlier developer interested in the main street area in the town of wind so how do you balance concerns from maybe some in your community they don't want to see a historic building have to be raised but in fact trying to incorporate that with the plan sure and we had a specific instance of that because one of our projects involves 2 historic buildings on Main Street called the Helen hooker hotels and you know our district is a strong historic district we have many buildings something like 42 that have been maintained since the 1980 s. But there is a tipping point sometimes when buildings become under utilized or quite. Honestly in dangerous condition you know you need to have a change so I think we need to have balance and and I think we've done that in town with this latest development the 11000000000 is going to be raised it's taken down it was it's in terrible condition the hooker hotel and the other the health building is going to be maintained the facade and and our structure is going to be maintained for the development so I think balance is the key and I think we all have to be reasonable when it comes to that I want to thank Jim a lot of economic development director for the town of Windham for joining us today thanks Jim Yes thank you very much Lucy also page bronc economic Inc may develop a manager for the town of Groton Connecticut page we appreciate that thank you very much this is where we live from Connecticut Public Radio I'm Lucy not the financial David chorus from the Department of Economic Inc me developments going to stick around for this next segment I want to actually talk more about how other states are looking to promote opportunity zones is there something Connecticut can learn from New Jersey I don't know your eyes yet we'll talk more about that after the break you can join us to find us on Facebook and Twitter at where we live. Support comes from New Morning Market in what Berry family owned for 48 years helping to bring families together with healthy food this holiday season options for Quito paleo vegan and gluten free goodness is in New Morning Market dot com. I make the Chopra party coming up on the next On Point 2 wildfires prompt a state of emergency in California a 1000000 residents plunged into darkness from power shut off our blackouts the best way to prevent wildfires in 2019 plus Kurds in the u.s. Tell us what they think of the president's decision to withdraw troops from Syria and the impact it's had on their families that's coming up on the next some point from n.p.r. . Listen this morning at 10 I'm Robin Young 78 year old dance icon Twyla Tharp is choreographed over 150 ballets simple movies won a Tony Award as well as a couple of Emmys she says we can all be like her just don't slow down keep moving carry us and I'm curious I find nothing to be worse than the restlessness that comes of feeling bored next time here and now join us this afternoon to. Support comes from Metro Hartford alliance with a mission to grow business attract and retain jobs and ensure a strong capital city the alliance promotes Hartford region as a leader in global economic development Metro hard for dot com. This is where we live from Connecticut Public Radio I'm listening up and still coming up Thursday some Connecticut municipalities say not in my backyard when they hear talk about affordable housing on the next where we live we sit down with the author of a Pro Publica Connecticut Mirror investigation to find out what drives this local resistance of course we want to hear from you that show on Thursday and today we've been learning about efforts by the federal government to spur economic development in distress communities it's an initiative that was part of the $27000.00 tax overhaul law that allows investors to avoid some taxes if they fund projects in areas low income areas known as opportunity zones we wanted to hear how other states are rolling this out so joining us now by phone is Tim Sullivan chief executive officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority Tim welcome to the show. I was you thanks for having me on I should mention I used to be the deputy commissioner of d.c. Didn't you left to return to your home state is that right that's right side in your little jab at New Jersey during the intro I took a little I think a little personally but I'll give safety a bag or I'll give you give me a pass thank you to tell us about a New Jersey's opportunity zones I've been learning more about how Connecticut hopes to see this Florida what do you guys doing in Jersey. So we're we're we're all over this we've got the benefit of being the home state of one of the Koch principal sponsors of the of the opportunism program Senator Cory Booker So we've been we've been all over this and our governor Phil Markovic a governor right as this program is rolling out as an early career already for us in the ministration and we have been $169.00 of these census tracks across state about 75 different cities and towns spread all throughout the state so we've got a big diversity of types of places where where this is happening from distressed urban communities all the way to grow communities I'm sure that's similar to how the sounds of Connecticut reallocated one of these we're really trying to do I think David talked about this and some of the prior segments and it's not surprising we're both trying to do this is really connecting sort of investors and product opportunities because there's an enormous number of potential investors out there folks out there for capital gains who can participate as marketplace and there's no shortage of projects that need investment but it's. Once you get below a certain scale it's harder for those you know investors and projects to find each other so we stood up and online marketplace which I was casual referring to a sort of Craigslist for opportunity zones but it's fancier than that where you know Paladin developers can can list projects and opportunity funds can live there . Can list their attributes that they're looking for and hopefully make some matches that's what they want to claim we're doing the other capacity building I think David mentioned earlier as well helping our cities and towns get ready for this opportunity and market showcase the opportunities that they have within their their city or town is a big is a big ambition there because lots of these places have never seen this kind of an. An opportunity before and if they're not ready for it my best opportunity given your opportunity so what have been the challenges timely response Tory and Politico that reported on the former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's plans to raise as much as 250000000 for real estate deals in these an opportunity zones but the efforts have gained less traction this one if you could talk about that. Well I think some of the some of the uncertainty of those around the program probably hasn't helped or turned the Jets fully on yet in terms of the investment flows so some of the some of the rules of transparency and important things that ever was mentioning earlier that we agree are kind of x. Factor is that until those get clarified a little bit I think some investors will sort of stay on the sidelines and generous because it's a new market it's a new it's a new product so we saw this you know a decade and a half ago today had to go with the new architecture program it takes a while for there to be sort of the habits in the routines of the processes that get built around a program like this to to to happen and not that not everyone wants to be kind of the pioneers and and figure this out and then kind of goes with the pain of working with the lawyers and developers and investors to get this all documented the right way so it takes time and I think that marketplace will develop and you know successful great successor Tim as the marketplace develops the you see that there's more interest from real estate developers. Yeah I think the early wave has been almost entirely New Jersey has been that and I think this tradition why it has been far more focused on the on the bill state operation and done the sort of the corporate or the sort of the a venture capital dimensions here which is somewhat disappointing I think there's a huge opportunity to infuse growth capital into. Businesses that have been you know family businesses that are neighborhood businesses in these communities where there may not be an opportunity to pass that business down to the 2nd or 3rd generation may not be interested. In running the business anymore and how they're going to find investors is an enormous opportunity there the rules are as clear and tight as they probably need to be answered there were a challis that's been a bit slower surreals that has been the big focus for now I want to David Koresh to respond is still with us Deputy Commissioner of Connecticut's apartment of economic and community development what do you think about what Tim's been saying about how the initiative is rolling out in New Jersey you know I think I think Tim is right on you know we've worked hard to collaborate with one another and with our colleagues you know throughout the Northeast and throughout the nation because as Tim described you know this is a new incentive and one in which the market is still trying to figure out and frankly the states are trying to figure out given how different it is from typical programs where federal resources you know flow through the state and we have a very active hands on role in determining how they get allocated to projects here we're very much hands off we're very much on the sidelines so we're trying to figure out how we can support the marketplace and you know steer it potentially towards the type types of objectives we our communities are looking to achieve but without having the formal role that we would typically have in up you know prior programs released by the federal government we just have a couple minutes left with us got a tweet from Steve who writes these opportunities own very exactly why I'm excited to be a commercial realtor great things coming to build up our communities is that the sentiment that you're hearing on a day that. Yeah so absolutely you know we're seeing we're seeing that kind of interest across the board. Before we are on a time there is a conference happening in Connecticut to help municipalities learn more about opportunity zones that day what can you tell I'm sure so tomorrow Wednesday the 30 if in New Haven at the Omni starting at 830 with you know interaction with the governor we're going to be convening well over 300 people registered so far to do exactly what Tim described in New Jersey is prioritizing you know working to network together potential investors with potential projects sponsors and municipal hosts to start to build those connections and help the marketplace become more aware of what Connecticut and its communities have to offer that will track their capital over the coming years and we have more information about that conference on our Web site w npr dot org slash where we live now before I let you go Tim Sullivan again Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority we had asked our guests earlier to talk about some of the concerns that may be raised from communities here about opportunities and including gentrification you know how are you addressing that and in New Jersey Yeah I think that's something we're we're pretty focused on we're very focused on as well as the government down here has talked about wanted to reward folks so far stay after a difficult period in these communities not not replace them and so I think that starts with being very purposeful and calling calling it by its name from the outside is really important so we provided the organization I work with has provided some funding to municipalities to do some some planning around what the communities really want to see you know if it's pretty unlikely that someone's going to you know hop off an airplane or wander through a town in New Jersey or Connecticut come up with a great idea that has never been thought of before for that community whether it's a supermarket or affordable housing or whatever else so that you know communities need to have the resources to drive and. Determine what their vision our vision is forward for the site so we think if we give folks some resources and some platform to determine for themselves what they really want to see happen on the sites of the news. We think you know we've got a chance to get it right but it's for sure a real concern that we're laser focused again and I thank God Tim Sullivan for joining us today from New Jersey and David Corey's deputy commissioner of Connecticut's Department of economic and community development David and Tim thanks for coming on today thanks mostly to have me I thank you today Sam produced by Lydia Brown a special thanks to Jared Todd on the phones today our technical producer today was common basket I'm listening on potential as always thanks for listening. For local news you trust ask your smart speaker to play Connecticut Public Radio support comes from the flight school experience while learning in a diverse and inclusive community for grades k. To 9 in New Haven balancing strong academics the arts and play to build confident learners sign up for a para tour at Foote school dot org. Under pressure from the trumpet ministration Mexico has stepped up deportations of migrants along its southern border. The southern border of Mexico has become the most effective. On the immigration crackdown this afternoon on All Things Considered from n.p.r. News this afternoon at 4. Support for going at a good public radio comes from paint care learn how to buy the right amount of house paint stain and use up leftovers and recycle the arrested more than $140.00 drop off locations in Connecticut more at paint care dot org This is. N.p.r. . At 89.1. 88.5. 91.3. Or it's 10 o'clock. Major funding for on point is provided by Geico offering auto insurance coverage for cars trucks or S.U.V.s and providing 247 customer service more information on auto insurance at Geico dot com or 180947 audio. From n.p.r. a w b u r Boston I'm a guitar probity and this is On Point 2 major stories on tap today 1st someone who was on the call Lieutenant Colonel Alexander been directly listened in to President from Still I 25th call with the Ukrainian president he's expected to testify to the house that the call was improper We'll have the latest on that also cower outages and wildfires in California there's climate change maintenance backlogs aging infrastructure but if California were a nation it would have one of the world's largest economies so why are forced blackouts the best officials can do that's all coming up next on point 1st this news. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm core of a Coleman House lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry are hearing today from the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council N.P.R.'s Giles Snyder has more a draft of Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vendeans opening statement has been made public and he is expected to tell House investigators that he twice raised concerns about how the Trump administration was handling Ukraine policy and was among those who listen to President Trump's July 25th phone call with Ukraine's president he is a combat veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries while serving in Iraq N.P.R.'s Giles Snyder House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says her chamber will take a formal vote on the impeachment inquiry this week the speaker says the House will set procedures for public hearings the release of transcripts and due process rights for President Trump Boeing's top executive admits the aircraft maker committed mistakes that led to 2 deadly crashes of its 737 Max jets today is the anniversary of the 1st crash in Indonesia N.P.R.'s David Schaper reports Boeing c.e.o. Dennis Mullen Berg is testifying today to a Senate committee in the 1st of 2 days of congressional hearings Boeing boss Muller will acknowledge that both crashes involve the repeated activation of a new flight control system that investigators say forced the planes into on controllable nosedives those crashes.