Office projects drive economic growth.  However, areas like Downtown Columbus Ohio’s Statehouse Square have office towers with under 50% occupancy and these structures present community economic challenges and redevelopment opportunities.  Fortunately, states like Ohio offer a range of tax incentives and public finance tools to develop office projects.  These tools range from tax abatements to […]

Reviving Downtown’s with Creative Economic Development Approaches – A Look at DRD’s Does your community have a Downtown rich with history? Do some of those downtown structures still resemble the days when that rich history was being made? Perhaps your community should consider one of Ohio’s newer revitalization programs, the Downtown Redevelopment District, as a

Economic disruption will be the prime economic driver this year as major corporate site location projects will follow a new era of technology companies growing beyond their corporate headquarters in a sear for IT talent based upon the analysis of the Montrose Group for what trends are apparent for corporate site location in 2020.  Creation

While the United States remains a global economic powerhouse, not all regions of the United States are created equally from an economic development standpoint, and the South and Southwest will remain regional macroeconomic growth leaders this year based upon the analysis of the Montrose Group for what trends are apparent for corporate site location in

The United States will remain a corporate site location powerhouse in 2020 ignoring the chaos of a presidential election and continued trade disputes based upon the analysis of the Montrose Group for what trends are apparent for corporate site location in 2020.  Corporate site location projects are more likely in nations and regions with a

This year, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is celebrating 50 years of partnering with communities throughout the United States to establish a foundation for sustainable job growth and building durable regional economies. As the only federal government agency focused exclusively on domestic economic development priorities, have you given much thought to how the EDA may

Based upon concerns that Ohio currently underperforms in many innovation ecosystem components and ranks 39th in the rate of entrepreneurs and 48th in startup creation, the state’s private sector economic development corporation, JobsOhio, is launching a substantial innovation initiative.  The election of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine did not signal the end of previous Governor John

Governor DeWine signs House Bill 2 aiming to train Ohioans for the 21st Century: Workforce development is a pressing economic development need across the nation.  Ohio is working to address this issue in many ways including through the creation of a TechCred program.  Recently, Governor DeWine signed into law House Bill 2, jointly sponsored by

Based upon the input of 300 public comments, the U.S. Treasury Department gave the Opportunity Zone community an early Christmas present with the release of the final Opportunity Zone regulations.  Five clear conclusions can be found in the final 544 pages of Treasury Opportunity Zone regulations but first let’s review high-level changes worthy of note. 

The Ohio Opportunity Zone Tax Credit Program provides an incentive for taxpayers to invest in projects in the 320 federally certified Ohio Opportunity Zones.  Federal Opportunity Zones offer three tax incentives to investors: a temporary tax deferral for capital gains reinvested in an Opportunity Fund– the deferred gain is recognized on the earlier of the