Opportunity Zone Success Insights from OZ Policy Summit

On May 7, 2025, the Opportunity Zones Policy Summit convened at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., for a panel discussion titled “Leveraging Policy for Opportunity Zone Success.” Hosted by Ja’Ron Smith, a policy expert with deep experience in advocacy, legislating, and policy strategy, the summit brought together key figures to address the future of Opportunity Zones. The session featured U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina as moderator, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, and former HUD Secretary Ben Carson.

The panel explored strategies to enhance opportunity zone success, focusing on housing affordability, public housing, and bipartisan policy solutions to address systemic challenges like poverty.

Addressing Housing Challenges

Senator Tim Scott opened the discussion by emphasizing the need for policies that enable all Americans to thrive, aligning with President Trump’s vision for a unified, prosperous nation. He highlighted Opportunity Zones as a cornerstone of this agenda, noting their potential to revitalize struggling areas by incentivizing investment.

Senator Tim Scott

The president wants everybody to thrive in the country. I see that as part and parcel of a large coalition of Make America Great Again. It only makes sense that we give governors the opportunity to identify zones in their states that need an extra boost of incentives.

Scott stressed the importance of housing affordability, distinguishing it from government-directed affordable housing, and identified urban challenges, particularly in areas like Northern Virginia, where families struggle to afford homes due to restrictive zoning and high land costs.

Senator Tim Scott

I sort of draw the distinction between affordable housing, which may be government directed, and housing affordability. If you live in Northern Virginia or other big urban areas, you’re worried about having a house for your family. The biggest part of the cost of a new home is the land. If you put artificial boundaries in your state, and you can’t build beyond it, there’s enormous pressure to take over single-family zoning areas within an urban boundary.

He criticized opposition to suburban expansion, often labeled as “sprawl,” arguing that such resistance perpetuates poverty rather than addressing housing needs, a key barrier to opportunity zone success.

Senator Tim Scott

There are great forces that don’t like building more suburbs. They are aesthetically opposed to it, they call it sprawl, and they limit the building out of urban boundaries. They don’t like sprawl, but they’re happy with poverty. That’s something we can’t accept, and we need to be pushing for building more units across the country.

Scott underscored housing as a top priority, second only to financial inclusion, and connected it to the broader goal of a blue-collar comeback, a key driver of Trump’s election.

Senator Tim Scott

Housing is my second top priority, frankly. Financial inclusion is number one. Housing is my number two priority. It’s nearly impossible to have a blue-collar comeback without talking about housing. That, to me, is who elected President Trump—the blue-collar coalition put him in office. Opportunity Zones provide a real incentive for us to have that conversation and see meat on the bone.

Leveraging Opportunity Zones for Community Impact

Scott turned to former HUD Secretary Ben Carson, asking how Opportunity Zones fit into broader economic goals. Carson emphasized their role in fostering public-private partnerships, uniting diverse stakeholders to enhance opportunity zone success.

Secretary Ben Carson

Opportunity Zones fit extremely well, because from the very first day when we were talking about public-private partnerships, those are the things that work. All the programs throughout the whole time I was there, the ones that really worked well were the ones where you were able to combine federal, state, local, private sector, and the faith community together, working in tandem. It didn’t matter whether you were dealing with Republicans or Democrats, because we set the overall goals, and had everybody work on the goals.

Carson highlighted the bipartisan appeal of Opportunity Zones. He noted their ability to bring people together for the common good, a principle rooted in America’s early communities.

Secretary Ben Carson

Opportunity Zones are really about enhancement of the community. In this country’s early days, there were communities that were isolated—50 or 100 families, no other communities around for 50 miles. They thrived because they believed in the common good, a phrase we heard frequently from the founders of this country. Not what’s good for this group or that group, but what’s good for all of us together. That’s what we call the United States. Opportunity Zones are a good way to emphasize that.

He also pointed to the involvement of 16 federal agencies, elevating the initiative’s priority and drawing widespread support.

Secretary Ben Carson

We had 16 different federal agencies involved. When you do it that way, you draw people in, and it automatically prioritizes it to a higher level.

Housing Affordability and Opportunity Zones

Senator Scott then engaged U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, focusing on housing affordability and its intersection with Opportunity Zones. Turner, building on Carson’s legacy and the foundational work of policy advisor Vince Haley, stressed the transformative potential of Opportunity Zones in addressing poverty and housing challenges, viewing them as tools to restore dignity through self-sustainability.

Secretary Scott Turner

When you think about social safety nets and affordable housing, it’s never meant to be a resting place. It’s never meant to be a hammock. Instead, it’s meant to be a trampoline. We want to get people off government subsidies and into a life of self-sustainability. Opportunity Zones help us achieve that goal and achieve that dream for people around our country to build a new foundation, to live a life of self-sufficiency.

Turner emphasized that housing and poverty transcend political divides, impacting all communities.

Secretary Scott Turner

When I go around the country and talk about Opportunity Zones and affordable housing, and we talk about attacking poverty, it’s not about a party. Housing is not political. Housing is Democrat and Republican, because all of us are impacted by housing. Poverty doesn’t have a party—it’s not Democrat, it’s not Republican, and poverty’s not black, it’s not white. It impacts all of us, either directly or indirectly.

He shared a success story from Philadelphia, where an Opportunity Zone transformed a vacant manufacturing site into a vibrant community hub, demonstrating the tangible impact of these policies.

Secretary Scott Turner

We were in Philadelphia at an Opportunity Zone called The Battery. It was an old manufacturing facility, vacant for 50 years on the Delaware River. It was beautiful but doing nothing for the economy or community. Now it’s workforce housing, affordable housing, market-rate housing, commercial, retail, athletic facilities. It’s bringing people new jobs—revitalization means new life. Opportunity Zones give us a platform to bring new life to communities across America.

Turner highlighted the broader impact, noting that Opportunity Zones have lifted one million people out of poverty in their first two years, attracting $89 billion in private investment, a testament to their role in opportunity zone success.

Secretary Scott Turner

A million people were lifted off the poverty rolls inside Opportunity Zones in the first two years. That’s not including the multiple cases of families. $89 billion of private money has been invested in Opportunity Zones. People say, this would not have happened had it not been for the Opportunity Zone legislation.

Turner credited the vision of Senator Scott, Secretary Carson, and Vince Haley for the initiative’s success, underscoring their collective impact on opportunity zone success.

Secretary Scott Turner

Along with Dr. Carson and Vince, thank you for dreaming big. I believe we’re just getting started.

Complementary Policies for Opportunity Zone Success

Senator Scott asked Carson about complementary policies to enhance Opportunity Zones, focusing on rural and urban poverty. Carson advocated for a pragmatic approach, learning from existing programs like LIHTC (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit) rather than dismantling them.

Secretary Ben Carson

There are a lot of things like LIHTC. It isn’t perfect, and it’s very complex. Rather than tearing it apart, we should be saying, what can we learn from the way that it’s been administered? It can work in tandem very well to create affordable housing when it’s necessary. We have the technology to produce affordable housing, but by the time we get through adding all the regulations, you take something that costs $150,000 to make and it’s $600,000 in Los Angeles. If we could put the facts on the table and orient our solutions around the facts, we could make progress.

Turner addressed the role of public housing, often located in or near Opportunity Zones. He emphasized HUD’s mission to ensure these authorities serve their communities effectively.

Secretary Scott Turner

When we first came to HUD, there had not been a secretary there. We want to take inventory of every program at HUD to ensure it helps achieve the mission and serves the people we’re called to serve. There are over 3,000 public housing authorities around our country. We want to make sure they’re carrying out the mission and serving people with excellence. Some of those are in Opportunity Zones, and we can use Opportunity Zones to build new affordable workforce housing, enhance existing housing, and bring forth workforce training. My heart is to see people thrive, to see able-bodied and able-minded people have dignity restored. Work brings dignity. Learning a new craft brings it.

Turner highlighted HUD’s ongoing efforts to engage with public housing authorities, ensuring they align with the mission of opportunity zone success.

Secretary Scott Turner

I just left Atlantic City last week, Wisconsin a week before, Orlando this week. We visit public housing authorities and talk to their leaders. It’s a big priority for us to clean those up and ensure they’re serving the ones they’re supposed to serve. At the end of the day, success looks like more people living with self-sustainability and sufficiency than when I took this role, fulfilling their God-given potential.

A Vision for the Future

Senator Scott concluded by asking Carson about broader policy priorities to support an incentive-based economy akin to Opportunity Zones. Carson emphasized returning to America’s foundational values to foster unity and progress.

Secretary Ben Carson

We have to go back to our roots as a nation. How do we go from a bunch of ragtag militiamen to the pinnacle of the world in record time? It was because of our belief system, our values. Our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, says our rights come from our creator, not from government. Our Judeo-Christian values teach us to love your neighbor, not to cancel your neighbor if they have a different god sign. Those are the values we need to go back to.

Carson also praised Turner’s role in the success of Opportunity Zones, crediting his tireless efforts.

Secretary Ben Carson

I just wanna conclude by saying, with the Opportunity Zones, you created them, but the person who had the most to do with making them successful is sitting right next to you. Scott Turner was everywhere in the country, every day, unbelievable. We call him Energizer Bunny, and it made people believe. That really had a lot to do with the success.

A Unified Approach to Opportunity Zone Success

The panel discussion at the Opportunity Zones Policy Summit highlighted the transformative power of Opportunity Zones, with Senator Tim Scott, Secretary Scott Turner, former Secretary Ben Carson, and policy advisor Vince Haley emphasizing their role in revitalizing communities. They underscored the need for bipartisan collaboration, addressing housing affordability, public housing, and community development to restore dignity through self-sustainability. Their insights offer a blueprint for opportunity zone success, demonstrating how policy innovation can empower all Americans to thrive, regardless of political or geographic divides.