Rural Opportunity Zone Initiative

About ROZI

Opportunity Zones were created as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by the U.S. Congress, to focus on long-term, economically distressed census tracts. The objective was to stimulate private sector investments into low-income, high-poverty neighborhoods. The legislation provided an innovative strategy to incentivize long-term investments, into the U.S. Treasury designated opportunity zones, through favorable capital gains treatment.

The Rural Opportunity Zone Initiative Plus (ROZI+) is a collaboration between Purdue Center for Regional Development and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The agenda of this collaboration is to build the capacity of rural-based Opportunity Zones in Indiana to attract private, public and/or philanthropic sector resources through the development and implementation of an Opportunity Zone Investment Prospectus that has been locally driven.

What’s an Investment Prospectus?

A community prospectus is a marketing document that showcases key investor-ready, locally supported projects in the Opportunity Zone. The goal of the document is to articulate a compelling story about the community’s unique vision, priorities and competitive assets for economic renewal.

An effective prospectus should give communities a format to organize how they think about and carry out evidence-based economic development in the designated zone. It should also provide a new way for municipalities and other stakeholders to reflect on their unique market strengths so they can more successfully execute strategies for attracting investment to qualified OZ projects such as new or significantly refurbished buildings, reactivated historic, vacant properties, stakes in new growth companies, mixed-use developments and more.

Course Description

The Rural Opportunity Zone Initiative Plus (ROZI+) Certificate Course includes ten modules designed for you to develop a locally-driven Opportunity Zone Investment Prospectus. The purpose of the prospectus is to attract private, public and/or philanthropic sector resources to Indiana.

Use the course-provided fillable template to complete an Investment Prospectus and gain a valuable professional credential. This course can be completed individually or as a community group. Upon submission of a completed Investment Prospectus, each participating individual will receive a digital certificate.

Course Details

Instructor: Self-guided course
Cost: $325 Indiana resident

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Contact

To learn more about the ROZI+ course, contact the team at rozi@groups.purdue.edu or 765-494-7273.

Additional Resources

• www.in.gov/ocra/additional-resources/opportunity-zones
• pcrd.purdue.edu/rozi-showcase