This will determine whether the project will create enough jobs to obtain the EB-5 capital needed. Just as in the full job creation study, a unique, multi-county economic model is built for your specific location.
With the passage of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 a TEA or Targeted Employment Area must now be adjudicated by USCIS. This implies that an EB-5 Economist must analyze the data and submit the findings to USCIS.
Targeted Employment Areas (TEA) and Rural Areas
Targeted Employment Area: The Reform Act defines a TEA as the project census tract and any directly adjacent census tracts with a weighted average unemployment rate of at least 150 percent of the national average rate or it must be a Rural Area.
The Area may include a geographic area or subdivision within an MSA, a city, or town, i.e., can be as small as a single census tract.
Rural Area: any area outside an MSA and outside the boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more.
We can construct a TEA using Census Tract data. However, it is necessary that surrounding areas have high unemployment rates while also having a large labor force.
Surrounding Census Tracts with high unemployment but low numbers in the labor force will not help as these calculations are weighted averages.
Will the project(s) be done in phases, e.g., a first building to be opened two years from now, a second to open four years from now, etc. Where will the principal production/operation facilities and management offices be located (city, county, state)?
Finally, the actual or planned income, expenditures, and employment of individuals in all phases of the project(s) are needed.
Barnhart Economic Services, LLC has extensive experience creating business plans for new regional centers and individual projects ranging from $1mm to over $150mm in total project cost.
We work closely with our clients to ensure that all requisite information is included per USCIS guidelines and Matter of Ho compliant. Our business plans typically include but are not limited to:
Located in beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida, our client base is national.