Before investors spend another dollar, Patricia Cannon wants them to ask this question first: Is it in an opportunity zone? Although the state of Delaware and local municipalities do not run any aspect of the capital gains related program, Ms. Cannon said she would be more than willing to meet with potential investors to go over the details as they move forward in the process.

Mr. Molotsky explained the program further as the crowd listened intently to how Opportunity Zones and capital gains could benefit not just themselves, but the community around them. From there, investors are invited to hold on to their investments for five to seven years before selling the business or real estate to another entity, allowing for a reduction in their capital gains to be 10-15 percent. Time is short – the deadline to invest capital gains into Opportunity Zone projects is Dec. 31, 2019 if investors hope to realize the potential maximum benefit of the program.

“Knowing there is help for someone as entrepreneurially inexperienced as I am makes a huge difference, and I will definitely be taking advantage of our Opportunity Zone since I now know that the old Carlisle firehall is a historic building and it falls within the Opportunity Zone.”.

The hope of state leaders like Ms. Cannon is that investors like Mr. Cantu will be able to maximize their investment benefits by participating in not just the federally-run Opportunity Zone, but in other state and local opportunities.