Thursday morning, during a U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Hearing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent referred to Erie as, “the poster child in a great way for opportunity zones.”
His comment was in response to Rep. Mike Kelly inviting him to tour Erie and see what opportunity zones have brought to the area.
Brandon Mendoza, President and CEO of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, could not have agreed with Sec. Bessent’s comment more and told Philip Ward that he is looking forward to focusing on expanded opportunity zones in rural areas following the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act in 2025.
“Rural zones have a big return on investment in terms of how they are set up, so there is a lot of focus on identifying how to build, what census tracts to utilize and figuring out if there are areas in Erie County where we can get some good rural census tracts,” Mendoza said.
Sec. Bessent also told Kelly that he looks forward to coming and visiting Erie.