Huhtamaki Named PEDC 2026 Industry of the Year After $85M Paris Expansion

PEDC honored Huhtamaki as its 2026 Industry of the Year at the Chamber's Celebration and Banquet, held October 20, 2026 at the Love Civic Center in Paris. Plant Manager Adam Routon accepted the award on behalf of the company, joined by PEDC Executive Director Maureen Hammond and members of the PEDC board. The announcement, published October 26, 2026, points to Huhtamaki's continued investment in Paris and Lamar County as the reason for the recognition.

The award cites an expansion first announced in 2023: an estimated $85 million investment that added roughly 400,000 square feet to the plant at 800 W Center St, along with road and rail enhancements. The project was designed to preserve about 190 existing jobs and add up to 80 new ones. The ribbon cutting on the completed expansion was held June 3, 2026, as covered earlier in this journal, and this award is the formal acknowledgment of what that investment means to the local economy.

Why an industry award matters to commercial investors

An annual award is a signal, not a statistic, and the signal here is that Lamar County's largest employers are expanding rather than consolidating. Huhtamaki is a global foodservice packaging company, and its Paris plant anchors the city's manufacturing base. When the PEDC and the Chamber celebrate that anchor, it tells prospective tenants, lenders, and investors that the local economy has an industrial heartbeat strong enough to earn formal civic recognition.

That context matters to the commercial market in a practical way. Manufacturing payroll supports retail, dining, and service tenants across Paris, and expansions like Huhtamaki's widen the base of demand for commercial space of every kind. The award also follows a string of PEDC wins this year, from the Competitive Economic Development Association honor to the leaner 2026-27 budget, that together frame Paris as a city actively recruiting and retaining industry.

The read for 1905 E Price St

The property at 1905 E Price St is a commercial flex asset in a Multi-Family Dwelling District with 12 private rooms, 13 bathrooms, a commercial kitchen, laundry, and office areas, plus dual road frontage on 1+ acre. Investor demand for flexible commercial space tends to follow a market's industrial confidence, because employers expanding payroll are the same businesses that fill offices, training rooms, and short-term lodging. A city that just honored one of its industrial champions is a city with lease demand behind it.