Paris Economic Development Corp.’s latest project is a real jewel.
The PEDC board Tuesday voted to spend up to $250,000 on “Project Jewel,” a bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing company that will produce an animal milk replacer for the dairy and beef industry. The project is expected to bring 312 new jobs and $36.3 million in capital investment to Paris over a five-year period.
With the agreements still pending, PEDC officials declined to specify which company is working under the project name, but board Chairman Doug Wehrman said details should be forthcoming within two months.
About $150,000 would go for expanding animal studies designed to demonstrate the effectiveness Jewel’s mammary amyloid A technology. Another $100,000 would be to work with Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center and the Texas Engineering Extension Services of Texas A&M University for a variety of services, including:
These costs will be repaid by the company as part of a 24-month loan agreement.
“The $250,000 is all PEDC, though we are looking from some grant and/or foundation funding to offset,” PEDC Director Steve Gilbert said. “Think of TMAC/TEEX as a contractor who is providing a service, and they also open the door to relationships with TAMU System resources like AgriLife Research.”
A final draft of the agreement will be brought to the board at a later date.
The board also instructed PEDC staff to work with the city to determine the proposed facility’s zoning, permitting and licensing requirements, as well as the impact on the City’s wastewater system. The facility would be located at PEDC’s industrial park on Loop 286.
Project Jewel’s product includes a protein found in colostrum that inhibits colonization of bacteria on the intestinal wall, inhibits fatal infectious diseases, and diarrhea and reduces infant death, both in animals and humans.
PEDC’s business plan, implemented earlier this year, calls for a focus on specific industries, such as agribusiness. Project Jewel fits squarely in that strategy – and Daisy’s new operation doesn’t hurt, either.
“The Paris EDC is committed to attract the best minds, thought leaders and innovators to our region by opening our community to the newest ideas and strategies that improve upon the competitiveness of our industries and the lives of our citizens, and to create an innovation hub at the Paris EDC’s industrial park focused on advanced manufacturing and launch a rural forum on food and production sustainability,” Gilbert said.
The board also recommended staff coordinate an introduction with the owners of a local manufacturing company known as Project Sparkle to work with the Red River Region Business Incubator R3bi and the Paris Small Business Development Center SBDC to finalize a business and marketing plan for a potential expansion. PEDC will likely consider financial incentives upon completion of the business and marketing plan, when the name of the company would be made public, Gilbert said.
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