The following is news release from the City of Lubbock:
City of Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope, South Plains Association of Governments and Dean of Texas Tech University’s Rawls College of Business Margaret L. Williams invite you to attend the West Texas Opportunity Zone Economic Summit on Thursday, February 28, 2019, from 2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the Rawls College of Business.
An Opportunity Zone is an economically distressed geographic area, certified as such by the Secretary of the Treasury, where new investments into the area may be eligible for preferential tax incentives. Opportunity Zones are economic issues for the U.S. Tax Code. As of December 2017, there’s been a delay while the U.S. Treasury Department works to finalize rules for the program.
Texas Tech University’s Rawls College of Business will host the forum, which will be a collaborative agreement with elected officials, mayors and county judges of all South Plains communities that receive Opportunity Zone allocations. Local bank presidents and CEOs, heads of Chambers of Commerce and regional property developers will also be in attendance.
“The Rawls College of Business is thrilled to be hosting this economic summit that brings together partners from government, industry and higher education,” said Dean Margaret Williams. “The summit will provide a starting point for our unique West Texas response to the Opportunity Zone initiative. This first-in-the-nation collaboration among local and regional governments is an innovation of which we can all be proud.”
Jared P. Harrell, an assistant professor of practice in the Rawls College’s Area of Finance and one of the summit’s presenters said the event has multiple goals.
“One, create high visibility for the West Texas region by being the first grassroots, regional effort for Opportunity Zones in America; two, create a platform for engaging Lubbock and its surrounding communities on topics related to the Opportunity Zone program; and, three, facilitate discussions among lenders, investors and elected officials regarding potential projects in the West Texas region that may be able to benefit from the Opportunity Zone program,” he said.
For more information regarding the summit or registering for it, contact Nicholas Bergfeld at Nicholas.bergfeld@ttu.edu or visit www.westtexasopportunitysummit.com
(News release from the City of Lubbock)
