September 30, 2019

EDA: $48 Million Invested to Support Natural Disaster Recovery and Resiliency Efforts in Texas

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is investing $48 million in the state of Texas to help it prepare for natural disasters and promote economic resiliency and business growth. The EDA grants, some of which are to be located in Tax Cuts and Jobs Act designated Opportunity Zone, are expected to be matched with $13.2 million in local funds, help create 7,487 jobs, retain 225 jobs, and generate $6 billion in private investment.

“The Trump Administration’s goal is to create American jobs and to keep U.S. business communities competitive and thriving,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “These preparedness efforts will support uninterrupted, stable, and growing business efforts in the state of Texas and bring development to underserved Opportunity Zones throughout Texas.”

“In 2018, EDA made $587 million in Congressional supplemental appropriations available to eligible grantees in communities impacted by natural disasters in 2017,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. “We are pleased to support Texas communities, including several in Opportunity Zones, as they work to diversify and strengthen the state’s economy.”

The EDA investments announced today are:

This project is funded under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (PL 115-123) (PDF) (PDF), in which Congress appropriated to EDA $600 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program (PDF) funds for disaster relief and recovery as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, wildfires, and other calendar year 2017 natural disasters under the Stafford Act.

Projects located in the city of West Orange, Urban Partnerships CDC, Lamar State College Port Arthur, Kleberg County, Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, the city of Seadrift, the city of Corpus Christi, and Prairie View A&M University will go to designated Opportunity Zones, 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.

This post was originally published here.