Helping guide that effort is Shad Burner, a principal with KBS Group, an economic development consulting firm hired by the city to assist with the Opportunity Zone project and other economic development initiatives. “The city of Charleston has hired KBS Group to help support the Opportunity Zone project as well as some other economic development efforts,” Burner said. Their purpose is to encourage investment in designated communities by allowing investors to receive favorable capital gains tax treatment. “If they invest those gains into an Opportunity Zone, they can defer their federal capital gains taxes for five years,” Burner said. Burner said the Opportunity Zone effort is just one piece of a broader strategy aimed at encouraging private investment.