The Marketplace is part of a suite of programs the NJEDA is advancing in partnership with the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority and New Jersey Department of Community Affairs aimed at supporting investments that will provide positive growth in New Jersey communities in Opportunity Zones.

"Attracting investment to areas that have long been overlooked is a critical component of Governor Murphy's plan for a stronger and fairer New Jersey economy," says NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan. "The New Jersey Opportunity Zone Marketplace will connect investors from all over the world with growing New Jersey businesses and redevelopment projects in parts of the state that have suffered from disinvestment. This is a critical step to advance community-supported change in these areas of the state, and the DCA's Impact Measurement research will provide the data we need to ensure the Marketplace and other programs targeting Opportunity Zones are achieving the administration's goals."

In conjunction with the launch of the OZ Marketplace, the state will begin to assess the impact of Opportunity Zones using the "Impact Measurement" research initiative, a long-term analysis of Opportunity Zone communities in New Jersey focused on measuring progress toward the Murphy administration's goals.

The DCA-led effort launched during the summer of 2019 is an analysis of multiple measures to look at the impact of Opportunity Zone investments on community development activity, business growth, and other key economic indicators. The data collection will be critical to ensuring New Jersey's Opportunity Zone program effectively advances catalytic projects that improve the targeted communities, state officials say.

"Opportunity Zones were designed to empower community leaders to attract investment and create opportunity for their residents," US Sen. Cory Booker says. "The New Jersey Opportunity Zone Marketplace is exactly the type of tool needed to connect investors to the state's 75 Opportunity Zone municipalities to fully take advantage of this program. The Marketplace, along with the State's suite of initiatives like Impact Measurement, will open up investments in our Opportunity Zones and help unleash our state's full potential, while tracking and analyzing projects to ensure they reach targeted communities that have for too long been overlooked. With that goal in mind, I am pushing bipartisan legislation to make certain we have reporting like this on the federal level too."