PEDC Executive Director Maureen Hammond Appointed Chair of TEDC Workforce Committee for 2025

The Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC) appointed Maureen Hammond, executive director of the Paris Economic Development Corporation (PEDC), as chair of its Workforce Committee for 2025. The appointment places Hammond at the helm of the TEDC's policy and programmatic work on workforce development, one of the most pressing economic issues facing communities across Texas, both urban and rural alike.

The Workforce Committee works to identify and promote best practices in workforce training, talent pipeline development, and employer-education partnerships. As chair, Hammond will lead the committee's efforts to shape TEDC policy recommendations, organize workforce-focused programming at TEDC conferences, and facilitate knowledge sharing among economic development professionals across the state. The appointment leverages Hammond's direct experience building workforce partnerships in Lamar County, including the PEDC's collaboration with Paris Junior College, East Texas A&M University, and local manufacturers.

Workforce as the growth constraint

Workforce availability has become the most frequently cited constraint on economic growth in rural Texas. As the state's major metropolitan areas tighten their labor markets, employers are increasingly looking to smaller communities for available workers, lower turnover, and lower labor costs. But the availability of workers alone is not sufficient. Workers need skills that match employer requirements, and that alignment requires active coordination between economic development organizations, educational institutions, training providers, and private employers.

Under Hammond's leadership, the PEDC has been proactive in building those pipelines. The organization partnered with East Texas A&M University to host Industry Connect 2025, an event designed to connect emerging talent with local industry leaders. It has worked with Paris Junior College on vocational training programs, supported the JET grant applications that brought over $660,000 in workforce training funds to Paris ISD and Paris Junior College, and engaged Rural Development Partners to explore financing for workforce-related infrastructure.

Industry Connect 2025: a template for rural talent pipelines

One of the PEDC's flagship workforce initiatives has been the Industry Connect 2025 program, developed in partnership with East Texas A&M University. The program connects students and recent graduates with local manufacturing, logistics, and professional services employers in Lamar County. For students, it demonstrates that career opportunities exist locally, reducing the brain drain that has historically pulled young talent toward Dallas, Houston, and other major metros. For employers, it reduces the cost and time required to fill skilled positions.

Industry Connect 2025 is the kind of replicable program model that Hammond's TEDC committee role will allow her to promote across the state. If the model works in Paris, a city of approximately 25,000 residents in a county of 51,500, it can work in similar communities across rural Texas. That scalability is precisely why the TEDC appointed a rural practitioner to lead its workforce committee.

Why it matters for commercial property investors

Workforce capacity is a leading indicator of commercial property demand. Employers will not expand or relocate to markets where they cannot find qualified workers, regardless of how attractive the real estate economics are. The PEDC's investment in workforce development, now amplified by Hammond's leadership role on the TEDC Workforce Committee, directly strengthens the long-term demand fundamentals for commercial property in Paris and Lamar County.

For investors evaluating properties like 1905 E Price St, the workforce story is as important as the physical asset. A building with flexible commercial zoning in a Multi-Family Dwelling District is valuable only if there are employers, workers, and residents to fill it. The PEDC's workforce work ensures that the talent pipeline exists to support the employers who will lease the space, buy the buildings, and hire the people who live in them.