Eight areas of Iowa will earn a special designation today. The seven counties and one city are poised to enter the “Enterprise Zone.” It’s not something out of a science fiction movie, but a designation made by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. D-E-D program manager Amy Johnson says the enterprise zone areas are “economically distressed.” The designation gives them a tool to spur economic development by allowing them to offer state and local tax breaks. Since the program started, Johnson says the state has approved 32 business projects in enterprise zones –creating over two-thousand jobs and over 174-million dollars in community investment. Johnson says the enterprise zone designation is good for 10 years.The D-E-D votes on enterprise zone designations today in Humboldt, Hardin, Crawford, Guthrie, Cass, Appanoose and Palo Alto Counties and the city of Fort Dodge. That will up the number of enterprise zones in the state to 203.
