Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ) are specific commercial or industrial areas with greatly reduced or no tax burden for property owners, residents and businesses throughout the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. Pennsylvania is also known as the Keystone State, hence the name. The first KOZ's were established in 1999 by the

Pennsylvania State Legislature The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

and signed into law by

Tom Ridge Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician and author who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003, and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. ...

, who was then the

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. As of 2008, KOZ's are still being supported by continuing acts of the state legislature and the former governor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philad ...

. The zones are located throughout Pennsylvania in 12 separate regions: Northwest, Southwest, North Central, Southern Alleghenies, Northern Tier, Central, South Central, Lackawanna/Luzerne, Schuylkill/Carbon, Lehigh Valley, Southeast, and Philadelphia. Many of the sites are located in pre-existing airports and industrial parks. Pennsylvania is part of the

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...

, a strip of states across the northeastern and midwestern parts of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. These states were formerly industrial powers, but many of their industries have since left, leaving behind vast expanses of factories, mills, and office buildings that have begun to decay or rust. Some of these areas in Pennsylvania have been named Keystone Opportunity Zones with the idea of re-establishing and creating industrial and commercial centers throughout the state. Other KOZ's include newly zoned

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

s and new and old corporate office spaces. Examples of Pennsylvania KOZ's include the Mid-State Regional Airport in

Centre County Centre County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,172. Its county seat is Bellefonte. Centre County comprises the State College, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The lan ...

, and the

Cira Centre The Cira Centre is a 29- story, office high-rise in the University City section of Philadelphia, directly connected to Amtrak's 30th Street Station. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trust and designed by César Pelli, it was built in 2004-05 on a ...

, a 28-story office building in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Keystone Opportunity Zones are designated by local communities and approved by the state. Businesses or companies that are new to Pennsylvania must locate within one of the designated zones to receive tax benefits. Businesses and companies that are already well established in Pennsylvania may become obtain KOZ benefits by increasing full-time employment within one year after receiving KOZ status or by making capital investments equal to 10 percent of the previous years

gross revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

Olympus Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscopes and thermometers. Olympus holds roughly a 70-percent share of the global endoscope market, estimate ...

, a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

specializing in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

and imaging, opened its American

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

in a Keystone Opportunity Zone in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County in 2006. The optics and imaging company was drawn to Pennsylvania by the tax benefits available in a KOZ. Other companies to recently move to or open new offices in Pennsylvania include

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

, International Paper,

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

, and

Caremark Rx CVS Caremark (formerly Caremark Rx) (stylized as , previously CVS/caremark) is the prescription benefit management subsidiary of CVS Health, headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Company history Caremark was founded as a physician and p ...

References

{{reflist Economy of Pennsylvania Taxation in Pennsylvania

See also

References