MICMichael Cavazos/News-Journal Photo Justin DuPont, owner of 205, a downtown Kilgore interior design shop, says he\u2019s pleased with the rise in area business and traffic.The city’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone quietly came into being Tuesday when council members unanimously and without discussion voted to adopt Ordinance No. 1464. A TIRZ is a political subdivision created by a city to implement tax increment financing, a method of using future gains to finance current improvements. Once a site is developed, the increased value and investments increase tax revenues. This increase is referred to as increments. A percentage of the increment is dedicated to financing the debt issued to pay for the project.
Diversity can create tension, but tension can be used to drive positive change and resolution of conflict, according to the guest speaker at a luncheon of human resource and business professionals sponsored by Kilgore Economic Development Corporation.
Kilgore College's Workforce Development Risk Management Institute aims to improve workplace safety and help area workers get better trained for jobs. The college receives $100,000 a year from Texas Mutual Insurance company to train area workers in the ins and outs of a safe work environment. The college offers several courses, including OSHA training, HAZMAT training and disaster management, all for free. Classes require a minimum of 10 students to be held, but has as many as 50 students at any given time.
