03-B PEDC (11/20/02) - Laserfiche WebLink

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PEDC Meeting November 20, 2002 Page 2 He had contacted Jackson Products again about trying to revive that project. They told Mr. Vest that they wanted to put it on the back burner until after the first of the year. They have not had as good of a response from the periodical advertisements, so they are going to try a billboard on Interstate 30 promoting Paris as an industrial location. He was hopeful that there will be two billboards on Interstate 30, one for tourism and one for economic development. Mr. Vest thought this would generate a little interest in the City of Paris. Mr. Vest said there were two prospects from the Texas Department of Economic Development: Project Carl and Project Clearwater. He stated that work on the application for economic assistance, which follows the flexible incentive plan, is progressing and should be ready for Board approval next month. Mr. Vest advised that Eric has just returned from a real estate course in Dallas sponsored by the International Economic Development Council, which is the national association for economic developers. He reported that Paris was well represented in Austin for the request for funding from the Texas Department of Transportation for the completion of State Highway 24 from a two-lane roadway to a four-lane divided highway. Mr. Vest told the Board that Don Wall was meeting with Michael Berringer regarding this matter. Mr. Vest advised the board that he and Eric attended the Northeast Texas Economic Development Roundtable meeting in Tyler on October 16, 2002. He also submitted a grant request to the Economic Development Administration for assistance on a rail spur for Sara Lee. Mr. Vest said that Sara Lee wants to rebuild the rail spur into their plant, but so far, he has negative feedback on that and he did