The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 created a new tax incentive called Opportunity Zones.  It is designed to drive long-term equity capital to low-income community nationwide. Governor Ducey selected 164 census tracts in Arizona as Opportunity Zones.   Nearly 50 FQHC sites in Arizona are in one of these census tracts, so there is potential for  health centers to expand and/or develop new clinics using investor dollars.

The Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, Vitalyst Health Foundation and LISC came together on March 21, 2019 for a tailored discussion on what Opportunity Zones are, what types of investments are feasible, and how health centers might leverage this new funding resource.  The webinar included an overview by Ian Galloway from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and local partners talking about specific opportunities that FQHCs can take advantage of.  Click here for a recording of the webinar.

Additional webinar materials:

• Vitalyst’s Pre-Community Engagement: Setting the Stage for Authentic Community Engagement report
• Webinar: Using New Markets Tax Credits with Opportunity Zones
• Arizona Commerce Authority’s Opportunity Zone page
• A copy of the slides can be found here.