Providing housing options to meet growing demand is the goal of an upcoming workshop.

Hosted by the Pike County Economic Development Corporation, the workshop will take place from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Troy Municipal Airport terminal training facility. Its focus is providing information about financing options for single family housing and multi-tenant house development.

“It’s all driven by these jobs that our businesses are creating,” said Marsha Gaylard, president of the PCEDC.

Gaylard said while working with George Tarbox, local manager at CGI, on an expansion project that could add as many as 150 jobs to the facility, Tarbox expressed concerns about the availability of housing for professionals and families.

“I conducted an available housing survey and was just dumbfounded at the results, especially in the rental housing market,” Gaylard said.

The survey prompted Gaylard to coordinate, with the cooperation and support of the Board of Realtors and local owners, an inventory of available rental properties on the PCEDC website.

In addition, the workshop was developed to give bankers, Realtors and potential developers information about available financing options. With representatives from the Alabama Housing Authority, Alacom Finance and USDA Rural Development participating in the workshop, Gaylard said she hopes to be able to provide these potential developers with much-needed information about financing.

“There are a lot of loan guarantee programs out there,” Gaylard said.

She also said several developers have expressed interest in building townhouses or duplexes in town. Others are considering an upscale apartment complex geared toward professionals rather than students.

“We’re trying to get everybody who is interested in building together to determine what their needs are,” she said.

In addition to expansions at local industries, such as CGI, Troy is slated to gain another 150 jobs from a new industry opening soon. The industry, which has been courted by the PCEDC and City of Troy, is known only as “Project FRESH” but Gaylard said an announcement will be made soon with the details.

This growth is helping spur the development of the housing market, she said.

Gaylard said while the seminar is open to the public and free of charge, space is limited. To register to gather more information, contact Gaylard at 334-670-2274 or 334-372-2940.