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Lamar County — Paris Economic Development Plan <br />General Economic Development Plan <br />It is the goal of the Paris community to diversify the local economy, cause it to grow in size, <br />and significantly improve its quality over the next twenty years. <br />In order to accomplish this, the county needs to have a net gain, from 2007 to 2027, of <br />approximately 3,000 primary jobs. The wage for the jobs created should be about 120% of the <br />county average wage in the year they are formed. <br />Economic development is the activity which increases the size and improves the quality of a <br />local economy through the formation of new primary industry jobs. <br />The Paris community must initiate and fund an aggressive economic development program to <br />prevent economic decline in the future. If the program is successful, the overall size of the <br />economy will grow and its quality will improve. <br />The community focus interviewed by the Researcher agreed. They were asked: "How aggressive <br />should the Paris community be regarding its economic development program ?" <br />On a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "do nothing" and 5 meaning "very aggressive program," <br />the participant response averaged 4.8 (very aggressive program). <br />There are three basic programs which the community needs to implement. All are of equal <br />importance and include: <br />• Existing Industry Program — Expansion and Retention <br />• Marketing — Recruitment Program <br />• Start-Up Program — Entrepreneurial Development <br />Due to Paris' geographic location, it is likely a large number of the new jobs which need to be <br />created will be generated from the Existing Industry Program and the Start-Up Program. <br />Existing Industry Program <br />One of the most important yet least expensive economic development programs is the Existing <br />Industry Program. The program is designed to retain and encourage the expansion of <br />contributory businesses already present in the area. <br />This is accomplished by reducing the cost of doing business and expanding the markets as much <br />as possible for these companies. The more profitable a company is in the area the more likely the <br />company will remain and expand in the community. <br />Research has shown, aside from market conditions, the principal reason a company moves from <br />one community to another is "local community attitude." Local community attitude encompasses <br />a wide range of factors from local taxation, fees, and regulatory requirements. <br />Paris Economic Development Corporation Page 9 <br />