U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $3.5 Million to Boost Economic Development Efforts in Carneys Point, New Jersey, Opportunity Zone

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3.5 million grant to the Carneys Point Township Sewer Authority, Carneys Point, New Jersey, to make sanitary sewer service infrastructure improvements needed to support the community and its growing business needs. The EDA grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with more than $3.5 million in local funds and is expected to create 4,250 jobs and generate $547 million in private investment.

“The Trump Administration is committed to helping American communities obtain the modern infrastructure they need to encourage business attraction and growth,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This project will provide Carneys Point with the necessary sewer infrastructure to meet the needs of the expanding business community, and the project’s location in an Opportunity Zone will attract additional investment.”

“Carneys Point is well-positioned for business growth and economic development and has already attracted the interest of multiple developers,” said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegated Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “This project will increase the township’s capacity to attract and retain businesses, as well as maximize its Opportunity Zone designation to further transform the local and regional economy.”

The funding announced today goes to one of New Jersey’s 169 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 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.