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.
Kilgore Economic Development Corporation is sponsoring a luncheon for Business Managers and Human Resource Professionals Tuesday, August 24, 2010, at Synergy Center, from 11:30 AM to 2 PM. The program will feature Elizabeth Campbell, Partner and Chief Diversity Officer of Andrew Kurth LLP in Houston. Her presentation will demonstrate the opportunities available through application of diversity and inclusion principles and will feature a popular movie, a cartoon fable and practical tools.
Kilgore Economic Development and the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring a series of 45-minute webinars on federal tax incentives. The series begins August 10 and ends August 26.
Between industry and tourism, things are looking up on the sales tax front. It’s been years since July numbers have fared so well, according to a report from the Kilgore Economic Development Corporation, which tagged a 27.67 percent increase from the 2008- 2009 year to the same month in 2009-2010.
As Tropical Storm Bonnie fizzles along the Gulf Coast, crews are making their way back to site of the oil well. Anticipating the storm, cleanup efforts were put on hold, including one East Texan who has been on the front lines of the cleanup.
