Butler Snow attorneys Jetson G. Hollingsworth and Tray Hairston are set to present at the Southeastern Regional Opportunity Zone Summit on Tuesday, October 1 at the Jackson Convention Complex. The summit will examine how the new federal Opportunity Zone incentive can accelerate regional efforts to build a stronger, more vibrant and resilient Southeast economy, and strengthen equitable growth in communities across Mississippi, the region and the country. The two-day event is hosted by the state of Mississippi, the Mississippi Development Authority and Milken Institute, and speakers include Opportunity Zone and economic development experts and government officials, as well as keynote speaker Dr. Benjamin Carson.
Hollingsworth will be a member of “The Mississippi Story” panel, offering insight on how Mississippi became the first state to capitalize on the Opportunity Zone Initiative. He will speak alongside Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, as well as the mayor of Vicksburg and a manager of Vicksburg Forest Products.
Hairston will participate in the “Community-led Investments: Stories of Financial and Social Impact” panel, detailing best practice stories of public and private collaborations where financial and social impacts were realized. The panel will be moderated by Ja’Ron Smith, deputy assistant to the President of the White House Office of American Innovation.
More information about the summit can be found here: https://www.innovate.ms/event/southeastern-regional-opportunity-zone-summit/
Hollingsworth is a member of the firm’s public finance, tax incentives and credit markets group. He has served as investor counsel, counsel to community development entities, leverage lender counsel, and QALICB or Developer counsel in over $800 million in Historic Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credits and Renewable Energy Tax Credit transactions, including numerous twinned tax credit transactions combining a variety of leverage sources. In addition, Hollingsworth has recently focused a large amount of his practice on advising developer and investor clients on Opportunity Zone transactions both establishing Opportunity Zone Funds and Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses.
Hollingsworth is a member of the American Bar Association, National Association of Bond Lawyers, Novogradac Working Group and the Mississippi Bar. He has been honored as a Mid-South Super Lawyers® for Securities & Corporate Finance (2010-2015). He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Southern Methodist University.
Hairston is a member of Butler Snow’s public finance, tax incentives and credit markets group. He concentrates his practice on public finance and economic development matters, including all types of municipal bond issues, serving as bond counsel for both taxable and tax-exempt financings. He has served as bond counsel for various cities and counties and has worked on over $100M+ in transactions. He is former counsel & economic development policy advisor to Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, and prior to beginning his legal career, Hairston was a member of the Global Business Division at the Mississippi Development Authority where he provided project management assistance to companies & consultants looking to locate new businesses in Mississippi. He has served as an adjunct law professor at Mississippi College School of Law and regularly publishes scholarly legal articles. His most recently published paper is entitled The Future of Economic Development, 35 Miss. C.L. Rev. 370 (2017). Currently, Hairston serves as a lecturer at the Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at The University of Southern Mississippi in the school’s Master of Economic Development Program.
Hairston is recognized by The Bond Buyer as a Rising Star (2018), Mid-South Super Lawyers for Government Finance (2016-2019), Mississippi College School of Law as Young Lawyer of the Year (2013) and Mississippi Business Journal as one of its Top 40 under 40 (2012-2013). Hairston is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, International Economic Development Council, Southern Economic Development Council, Mississippi Economic Development Council and Mississippi Bar Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College, his MBA from Belhaven College and his Juris Doctor from Mississippi College School of Law.
