Business View Civil and Municipal | June 2022

42 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 6 with more than 500 this year. According to Hammond, “We are really trying to be proactive in making sure we have that pipeline of talent, especially coming out of our high schools and through training with Paris Junior College.” The city has a lot of interested developers seeking land for housing. Like many areas, Paris is struggling to provide affordable housing, but has a Five in Five housing plan to incentivize new residential development. Hammond says the average worker commute time to Paris for their high wage jobs is about 45 minutes to an hour, but she hears over and over again, if the housing stock was available, they would move to the city. Grayson Path, City Manager, shares, “The city has partnered with developers and contractors to identify an incentive plan that helps bridge the cost gap in developing housing in our community, more specifically our inner core, encouraging revitalization and growing pride. This is a unique program that has exploded with activity since its inception.” Mayor Portugal believes there’s a shift in the way younger generations are looking at their lives. She says, “Unlike my generation, who moved into larger cities to create robust careers, they are looking for a better quality of life and to come back to their hometown to raise a family and open a business. It’s really exciting because that’s our future.” The historic downtown in Paris has very little available retail space, but Allen matches entrepreneurs and businesses with building owners and managers to accommodate the restaurants, bakery, Airbnb’s, antique shops, and more. In the last three months, they’ve had many businesses commit to coming to the city, including Harbor Freight, TJ Maxx, Big Lots, Ross and an Ultra Beauty Store. Tourism is another large economic driver in the city. It’s a destination for cyclists, who ride the rail trail, Trail de Paris which connects to more than 130 miles of trails. There’s also a world