Please join the Stites & Harbison panel of national, state and local professionals to learn about the Kentucky Opportunity Zone Initiative.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 enacted the Opportunity Zone program, which creates a new community investment tool designed to drive long-term capital to eligible low-income urban and rural communities throughout the nation. It provides tax incentives for investors who re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds which are dedicated to investing into Opportunity Zones.

This workshop will provide an overview on how the program works, an analysis of the specific tax incentives and an in-depth discussion on how the Commonwealth (as well as Metro Louisville) intends to take advantage of this economic opportunity. With the creation of a new class of investment assets, developers, investors, financial institutions, entrepreneurs, and economic development organizations at both the state and local level will profit from this presentation.

To read more about the Opportunity Zone program in a primer written by Jim and Jack Seiffert, click here.

Agenda

4:00-4:30 p.m. - Welcome and Introductions

4:30-6:00 p.m. - Program

6:00-6:30 p.m. - Q&A and Cocktails/Hors d'oeuvres

Speakers

• John Sciarretti, Partner, Novogradac & Company, Dover, OH. Mr. Sciarretti specializes in the real estate finance, community development and renewable energy industries. He also leads and cooridnates the Novogradac Opportunity Zones Working Group, a national memebership organization that is highly regarded for the work it does addressing technical programmatic issues surrounding the Opportunity Zones tax incentive.
• Jessica Burke, General Counsel/Executive Director, Office of Legal Services, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development will oversee the state's program through the Kentucky Opportunity Zone initiative and has launched KYOZ.org to provide information on this widespread and promising opening for economic development.
• Bryce Butler, Principal, Access Ventures, Louisville, KY. Access Ventures is an impact investment firm that builds more inclusive economics through mission-aligned investments that enable communities to flourish. Access Ventures is exploring national partnerships to create a fund specifically to invest in the newly created Opportunity Zones in Louisville and several other cities, taking advantage of federal legislation passed late last year to incentivize those who invest into low-income areas with large capital gains tax breaks.
• Zachary Chavez, Vice President, Virtua Capital Management, LLC, Virtua Partners, Phoenix, AZ. Virtua Capital Management, a global private equity real estate investment firm, has launched the first-ever Opportunity Zone Fund. This groundbreaking fund is the first vehicle designed to invest in the newly created Opportunity Zones. Virtua Opportunity Zone Fund I, LLC aims to raise $200 million and is designed to utilize the tax-savings opportunities created by the tax-reform law.
• Jim Seiffert, Member, Stites & Harbison, PLLC.

RSVP name and number of attendees to Pam Keeney.