The Altoona Blair County Development Corp. is gearing up to market Blair County’s newest Keystone Enterprise Zones as well as the extended Altoona and Logan Township zones.

The new EZ designations include all of Hollidaysburg, Roaring Spring, Tyrone and Williamsburg not currently earmarked as residential zones.

The EZ program provides both tax credits and low-interest loans to private companies investing in rehabilitating, expanding or improving buildings or land located within designated enterprise zones resulting in jobs created or retained.

These extended and new zones could be a game-changer for the county, said Stephen McKnight, ABCD Corp. president and CEO. The development group was notified Wednesday the areas were approved for the designation by the Wolf administration.

“This is major news and a big investment incentive for our Blair County First Frontier mountain main streets,” McKnight said. With the new zones, Blair County has established one of the largest concentrations of EZ zones in the state, he added.

Neil Weaver, secretary of the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development, said the region has taken steps to grow in recent years, citing the city as having exited Act 47 in 2017 as one example.

That accomplishment “was a big step to show what the city and region have done to continue to move forward and make the area a better place for residents and businesses to live, work and play,” he said in an email.

McKnight said the Enterprise Zone program has been a big incentive to accelerate projects that are already in the pipeline or entice development to take place where it might not have otherwise occurred.

In talking about the EZ designations, McKnight said there are a few projects he believes will move forward quickly because of the new approval areas.

Without going into detail, McKnight said, there is “probably at least one project” in the pipeline in every municipality that’s included in the zones.

Some of those projects are mixed use — a commercial/residential combination — within the $2.5 million to $3 million capital range, he said.

EZ tax credits are offered for 25% of the amount invested for up to $500,000 in total tax credits per project and can be sold or transferred upon completion of the project.

Completion of the project is key, McKnight said.

“The tax credits are given at the end of the project, so you have to do the project to get the tax credit,” he said. “It’s a thank you for doing the project.”

Tom Seasoltz, ABCD’s chief financial officer, is also the enterprise zone coordinator and the contact person to talk through a project, McKnight said.

“We can talk about the project scope and how the project may or may not apply,” he said, noting that if a project doesn’t qualify for the EZ program, it could qualify for other available incentive programs, such as the Keystone Opportunity Zone.

ABCD looks at projects based on economic impact, job creation and retention and the change in the tax base — the property value moving from a lower tax base to a higher tax base, among other considerations, McKnight said.

“We’re looking through the lens of human-scale development,” he said, noting that the pandemic has changed the way businesses and individuals do business.

Williamsburg, for instance, is becoming a trail town from the development of recreational facilities and that means the area has a lot going for it, he added.

“You won’t necessarily see a large corporate presence” in these areas, but smaller development projects based on the recreational values of the area could work.

The whole dynamic is changing quickly, he said.

“We’re a mountain town, and folks are seeing the benefit of the lifestyle,” he said. “They’re figuring out how they can work in that environment and they’re not necessarily lassoed into a certain area.”

While Roaring Spring, Tyrone and Hollidaysburg also offer recreational opportunities, those municipalities have rail service, which was a draw for Rockland expanding into Claysburg, McKnight said. The I-99 corridor is also a consideration, as is the Altoona-Blair County Airport.

As ABCD Corp. continually works to market the area, the EZ designation will be another tool to bring in business, he said.

In the last 10 years, ABCD has managed 25 EZ Tax Credit applications, totaling $7,643,787, and 52 EZ loan approvals, totaling $15,049,000. Together those investments resulted in more than $70 million in economic impact, ABCD Corp. reported.

“The area certainly has a bright future ahead of it,” Weaver said.

For more information and maps locating Blair County Enterprise Zone Communities, visit abcdcorp.org/.