EB5 Investors Magazine (English Edition) Volume 5, Issue 1 | Page 90

Impact of policy proposal to reform Targeted Employment Areas; Economically Highly Distressed Areas Source: Investment In The USA Website A s executive director of Invest In the USA (IIUSA), the national trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program, I have had the honor of leading the industry in government and public affairs through a period of exponential growth since the financial crisis of 2008. Since 2008, demand for EB-5 visas grew over 1,200 percent with over 40,000 immigrant investors contributing well over $20 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the United States to create jobs. IIUSA’s experience in balancing economic development, financial and immigration interests has reinforced a fundamental truth: capital markets (including EB-5) must be well informed to function properly and succeed in creating economic opportunity for people. That is why education of the EB-5 industry and the public are part of IIUSA’s core responsibilities. We want all program stakeholders to succeed because EB-5 is a rare example of where everyone involved can achieve their respective goals in ways that has real public benefit. introduced by congress and/or considered by industry stakeholders. Most recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed new EB-5 regulations that include a TEA reform. With so many different proposals, IIUSA took it upon itself to move the TEA debate out of the abstract and into the practical realities. Not only did we publish the first of its kind national report to compare how different proposals would impact the EB-5 industry that will be updated periodically, we also published interactive maps online that bring the implications to life for all to see at www.iiusa.org/tea-maps. "We believe in EB-5 as a tool for community and economic development globally." Recently, IIUSA has focused its education and analytical efforts to reform of Targeted Employment Areas (TEA), which has long been the EB-5 policy issue with the most diversity of opinion within the industry. Over the years, various reform proposals have been 89 EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE The repor t compares seven proposals with variations of New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) and Economically Distressed Area (EDA) criteria for certain geographies (which has been proposed in legislation and by industry stakeholders in some form) and “Contiguous and Adjacent” criteria (which was proposed by DHS for regulatory reform). The report is available for anyone to download on IIUSA. org and uses the most recent 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data to analyze more than 600 EB-5 project samples to generate a comprehensive look at the impact the different policy proposals would have on the EB-5