Business Incentives & Districts

Renewal Community Zone
Through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a substantial part of the City of Lawrence has been designated a Renewal Community Zone-one of only 40 in the nation-which qualifies the area for significant economic aid in the form of wage credits, tax deductions, capital gains exclusions, and bond financing to stimulate economic development and job growth.

Economic Target Areas (ETAs)
The communities of Amesbury, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Methuen, Newburyport, North Andover, and Salisbury are designated Economic Target Areas (ETAs) by the Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD)-the state's primary economic development and business assistance agency-which qualifies them for special economic incentive programs. Within MOBD is the Massachusetts Business Resource Team (BRT), a single point of contact for businesses looking for information on available state aid. The BRT will do all the work matching your business needs with the available state resources.

Economic Development Areas (EDAs)
Closely aligned with ETAs are Economic Development Areas (EDAs). EDAs are areas that are currently an ETA or that would otherwise qualify to be an ETA. An EDA designation qualifies a community for possible brownfields redevelopment assistance. The communities of Amesbury, Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Methuen (part of), Newburyport, North Andover (part of), and Salisbury are designated EDAs. For more information about brownfields redevelopment assistance from the state, please visit the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone)
Through the U.S. Small Business Administration , the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program offers federal contracting assistance to qualified small businesses.  Assistance is offered to small businesses that obtain HUBZone certification in part by employing staff who live in a HUBZone.  The company must also maintain a "principal office" in one of these specifically designated areas..

Concentrated Development Centers (CDC)
Areas of concentrated development, including a city or town center, consisting of existing and appropriately zoned commercial, industrial, and mixed-use areas suitable for high-density development.

Priority Development Sites (PDS)
A PDS is a privately or publicly owned property that is: 
(1) commercially or industrially zoned or mixed use; 
(2) eligible under applicable zoning provisions, including special permits or other discretionary permits, for the development or redevelopment of a building at least 50,000 square feet of gross floor area in new or existing buildings or structures; 
(3) sites must be approved by the local governing authority and state Interagency Permitting Board; and 
(4) once established, the community must render permitting decisions within 180 days. Several parcels or projects may be included within a single priority development site. For more information, please visit the Massachusetts Permit Regulatory Office.

Growth Districts initiative 
Haverhill and Lawrence are designated Growth District Communities through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED). Under its Growth Districts Initiative, EOHED partners with municipalities "that have identified one or more areas within their communities as being appropriate locations for significant new growth, whether commercial, residential, or mixed-use. Within those identified growth districts, EOHED works with the community and property owners to make the district truly development ready with respect to local permitting, state permitting, site preparation (including brownfields remediation), infrastructure improvements, and marketing.

Green Communities 
Andover, Newburyport, and North Andover have been designated as Green Communities by the Green Communities Division of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, which qualifies them to receive free technical assistance to help cut municipal energy bills through targeted investments in energy efficiency and locally generated renewable power.