EB5 Investors Magazine | Page 50

Law Office of Fred Voigtmann, P.C.   Since there are NO GUARANTEES in the EB-5 world, who are you going to trust in your Immigration law firm EB-5 immigration matters? • Fredrick W. Voigtmann has proven success in EB-5 cases for nearly 20 years. • Attorney of record in hundreds of approved EB-5 petitions since 1996. • Top contributing attorney to eb5investors.com. • Speaks Mandarin and has experienced Mandarin-speaking staff. • Represents regional centers and direct EB-5 project developers. • Mentor/co-counsel to other immigration attorneys in EB-5 matters.   Law Office of Fred Voigtmann, P.C. Offices in Woodland Hills and Arcadia, California Tel: (818)887-7839 www.igvlaw.com   Continued from page 46 For example, a hypothetical high-rise hotel is being built in downtown Seattle using EB-5 funds. The hotel, upon completion, is in need of 150 full-time service workers. It would be reasonable to assume that the small census tract in which the hotel is located would be insufficient to supply all 150 of those workers. Considering its small population base and available workers, supply cannot meet demand. However, we can assume that the area surrounding the hotel, which is composed of several census tracts with higher levels of unemployment like South Seattle, for example, can meet this demand. This reflects the program’s overall intended purpose of creating job opportunities for those in need within a broader area that may extend beyond a narrowly-defined census tract. It is not the wealth of the businesses or their customers that is important, but rather the economic status of the people who reside in nearby areas – the kind of people that need the jobs the most. opportunities for needy residents in relative close proximity to a project site. One of the most important pieces of EB-5 legislation on the table now is Congressmen Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Jared Polis’ (D-CO) American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2015. This bill, among other improvements, codifies a 2013 USCIS memo that defers TEA designations to the states. States have different rules on combining tracts to make TEAs but must still ensure compliance with the statutory requirements, and it should stay that way as states are in the best position to determine what works best locally for economic development and job creation. Washington, like all other states, approves TEAs before they are officially designated. That way, state officials can look at the tracts and determine that the economic impact will likely spread to the areas listed in the TEA. ★ In large cities like Seattle, combining tracts should not be viewed as “gerrymandering” if these high unemployment tracts are in close enough proximity and allow for easy access to the project site. Inner city tracts will cover a much smaller geography than those in smaller communities. For example, five downtown Seattle census tracts may cover the same-sized area as a single tract in a less populated area, so the number of tracts in this scenario should be less of a concern. Furthermore, it should be understood that developing a project in any TEA cannot guarantee that only workers living in the TEA will be hired. The intent is to create reasonable job 48 Elliot Winer is the founder and chief economist of Northeast Economic Analysis Group. The company provides professional economic analysis and assistance, focusing on analyzing targeted employment areas in the EB-5 program. Winer works with his clients to organize documentation needed for TEA approval. Winer is the economist behind EB5Investors.com’s TEAChecker. Elliot Winer EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE