Make the Whole Nation an Opportunity Zone

Having just interviewed for a radio segment, Joel Griffith, an economic expert at the Heritage Foundation, I was motivated to draft this piece about how America re-opens and what will America look like in coming years.

Years ago, during the genesis of the dot com era, companies across the nation were launching incubation centers where innovation, creators and entrepreneurs were mobilized to advance business opportunity across all industries. Governments at all levels should get out of the way with stifling red tape, permits, fees, regulations, taxes and other bureaucratic measures to unleash business transformations.

So, Joel answered that the whole nation should be an opportunity zone where I used incubation centers….same thing.

Just about to collect some thoughts on this article, here comes an email from my favorite law firm, The Pacific Legal Foundation. The firm just published an economic recovery action plan. This plan is a framework that quite useful in supporting the notions of a nationwide economic zone policy or incubation centers.

The plan has 4 simple steps but each one is profound to the principles of economic restoration and practical.

1. Liberate Healthcare
2. Embrace Entrepreneurs
3. Protect Property Rights
4. Get Bureaucrats out of the Way

As the Trump Administration has gathered political and business professionals for the Economic Restoration Council that includes an estimated 100 business personnel from countless industries, new guidance will be shared with all 50 governors to use as a framework to reopen their respective states. This is a perfect moment in time to consider and deploy a revolution in ideas, resources and to eliminate vulnerabilities in the whole society such that lessons learned can be produce new skill sets and advanced solutions to encourage small business across sectors.

The marketplace is sure to change not only for America but across the globe as these discussions with unleashed imaginations are sure to alter everyday commerce, education, healthcare, national security, communications, hospitality, entertainment and perhaps even legislation.

A new discipline in our culture may just be creative new breakthroughs taken from lessons learned due to this pandemic and self-distancing. Where do ideas come from? They begin with discussions to questions we have all asked like: Why don’t we have…How come no one has invented….How did we get here….What do we do now….How do we make sure this does not happen again….

Our country is in distress so the bigger question that should be asked is how do we succeed as an individual, a family and as a business. Rewards are great when one has planned for risks and strategies during any type of crisis. Self management and that of all business is the purposeful task of a systematic strategy that fosters mood, creativity, production, perception and opportunities.

The ‘opportunity zones’ in place today in all 50 states is derived from the TCJA, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Sounds great, however OZ’s leave behind or omits innovation across all regions. Investment capital generally is habitually applied to known and or proven commercial models, brushing aside ventures concepts that take risks unknown and unproven that with some development can be the next Fortune 500 success story.

The Opportunity Zone concept must be considered in all framework guidance coming from the Federal government to the state and local governments to restart the nation, economic liberty, grow the GDP, improve the employment landscape and realize financial victory at all levels.