Black Belt, Alabama – U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) announced today the Delta Regional Authority has recently awarded $127,877 to Opportunity Alabama in support of rural revitalization and development in opportunity zones across the Black Belt. Alabama’s Black Belt is the only region in the state with five consecutive opportunity zones, areas where investors receive tax incentives to invest in low-income and undercapitalized communities.

“There is nothing more important to me than increasing opportunity across Alabama’s 7th District,” said Rep. Sewell. “That is why I have fought so hard to make the Opportunity Zone program work for areas like the Black Belt, where communities will most benefit from increased economic opportunity. I am thrilled that Opportunity Alabama has been granted the funding necessary to support investment where it is needed most and ensure that investors are able to take full advantage of these opportunity zones.”

Opportunity Alabama will use this funding to host regional strategy development events, create eligible project pipelines, design community fact sheets and develop four regional investment prospectuses to promote opportunity zones within the Black Belt. 

“Thanks to this SEDAP grant from the Delta Regional Authority, Opportunity Alabama will be able to extend the Opportunity Zones ecosystem we are building to some of the most distressed parts of our state,” said Alex Flachsbart, Founder and CEO of Opportunity Alabama. “We see tremendous potential across the Black Belt, and we are thrilled that – thanks to Congresswoman Sewell’s support – we will have the resources necessary to bring more projects to market."