2003-009-PEDCR - Laserfiche WebLink

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PEDC Executive Summary 2003-2004 Page 2 The Governor and all economic developers have said that the only way to pull this state out of the budget deficit is through Economic Development. The state finally listened and made enormous strides by passing key economic development legislation which included: I. The complete restructuring of the Texas Department of Economic Development as the new Office of Economic Development within the Governor's Office. 2. The creation of the Texas Enterprise Fund within the Governor's office to be used for economic development. The legislature placed $295 million in this fund. 3. The restructuring and expansion of the enterprise zone program. This will give our community and businesses easier and better access to the tax credits and other benefits of the program. 4. Significant rewrite of the Development Corporation Act. The statute was refocused on its original purpose which is to create primary jobs which in turn will create real wealth in our community. New safeguards were put into place to insure proper use of the sales tax money. PEDC's involvement in TEDC and TEDSTA were instrumental in getting these changes put into place. PEDC was able to have a great deal of influence this legislative session and our community is certainly going to benefit from these changes. As we continue to look at ways we can expand our economy, I am reminded of a quote from Robert Frost that states "Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference". As a community we are going to have to take the road less traveled, because that will make all the difference. If we travel this road, we have yet to see the best Paris can offer.