The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that was recently signed by President Bush has clause that adds Colbert County in northern Alabama to the Gulf Opportunity Zone, the region that gets federal benefits to help with hurricane recovery….a zone that does not include Escambia, Santa Rosa or Okaloosa counties, but does cover Baldwin and Mobile counties in Alabama.
The provision lets National Steel Car of Canada get hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-exempt financing for a plant it is already building in the county. Colbert County is over 300 miles from the Gulf Coast.
