Almost 100 people from all sectors of the area, including government and school leaders, local business people and civic groups and organizations attended a planning strategy meeting Wednesday at Love Civic Center.

The goal of the day, according to Steve Gilbert, PEDC executive director, was to develop basic strategic actions to strengthen and move forward on the area's economic development.

"It's time to roll up our sleeves and work together to set a direction for the future," Gilbert said.

Former Paris resident Rickey Hayes of Retail Attractions told the group the city of Paris has the potential to be "The city on the hill."

He stressed the need for a long-term unified vision throughout all sectors of the community - including the city government.

"There's enough wisdom and vision in this room to change the world," he said.

Attendees were divided into groups, and were asked to develop strategies to address seven priority issues the community defined through surveys held by the PEDC the past few months.

Those issues included developing a long-range plan for the area's abundant water supply, improving the community's image on diversity, enhancing the depth and consistency of local leadership, addressing the area's aging infrastructure, improving the transportation system, implementing aggressive business retention and expansion programs to decrease the risk of closure of the area's top employers and cultivate cooperation and coordination between and among governing bodies and civic organizations.

An in-depth look at strategies and suggestions developed during the workshop will be covered in the Sunday edition of The Paris News.