Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 9

33 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 residents,” Gomez adds. A large majority of Farmersville’s working population commutes to nearby Visalia, Tulare, and Exeter for work, although there are some who work in the area farms. “We have a lower percentage of farm workers than when I moved here 40 years ago,” Mayor Boyer reports, “but there’s still a number that work in the surrounding ranches and farms. There is still employment there.” The city’s largest employer is the Farmersville Unified School District, with 249 employees in six area schools. For those looking for employment, job training, or skilled workers, workforce development programs are available through the Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County. Non-profit agencies such as Community Services Employment Training (CSET) and Proteus, also connect potential employees with work opportunities in the community. “They try to hire people from our community to work on FARMERSV I LLE , CAL I FORNI A projects, so they get the job skills. We use them a lot for our park projects, for work on irrigation, tree planting projects, and things like that. I know that CSET will try to find local people to work our local projects,” says Gomez. Students of Farmersville Highschool can also enroll in various pathway programs, gaining knowledge and job skills in areas like building and construction, agri-science and welding. Over the next few years, Farmersville will see an increase in their housing inventory, with 100 acres of land slated for development into single family residential units. There are also plans to add a multifamily housing complex with over 100 units. That development will bring a lot of people – those new to Farmersville and current residents that are looking for an opportunity to purchase their first home. With industrial land zoned and ready for additional infrastructure, there is also space available for industrial expansion in the community. An Opportunity Zone in the northern part of the city