The Virginia Enterprise Zone (VEZ) program is a partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia and local governments designed to incentivize job creation and real property investment. The goal of the program is to promote local and regional economic development and revitalization, particularly in areas that are (or were in the past) considered “economically distressed." The VEZ was originally established as a tax credit program in 1982. In 2005, the General Assembly passed the Enterprise Zone Grant Act, which replaced the former tax credit incentives with the Real Property Investment Grant (RPIG) and the Job Creation Grant (JCG). These grants are performance-based, requiring firms to create jobs meeting specific requirements and/or place a real property investment into service before applying for grant awards. The 2005 Act allowed prequalified firms to continue accessing the former General Income and Investment Tax Credit incentives. The tax credit program officially concluded in 2019. When used in conjunction with other local, state and federal programs, Enterprise Zone incentives can leverage substantial private sector investment for economic development in localities across the commonwealth. The commonwealth’s 45 Enterprise Zones encompass approximately 245 square miles, and include boundaries in 20 cities, 34 counties, and 12 towns within those counties.