The Montgomery College Germantown campus is now a Regional Institution Strategic Enterprise Zone.

Becoming a RISE zone allows the college to grow economic opportunities in the area with nearby commercial and industrial businesses.

Those businesses will then be allowed to benefit from property and income tax credits.

Businesses that enter the RISE zone will have access to the campus’ cyber lab, bioscience education center and Holy Cross Germantown Hospital.

“We are the only community college to date to have this designation,” said PIC MC Foundation Executive Director Martha Schoonmaker. “We are the only RISE zone to date in Montgomery County so we feel like we are really pushing ahead with an innovative tool the state and the county has provided to increase economic development.”

The Germantown campus has also been named an ‘opportunity zone’, providing tax incentives to grow community investment in the Germantown community.