The Fresno Bee reports on a federal grant to assist with the building of a business park in the Enterprise Zone city of Parlier. Parlier is one of the communities that make up the new Fresno County Regional Enterprise Zone.

Parlier City Manager Lou Martinez said Friday a federal $2.6 million grant for development of a business park will be a major boost to the city, bringing an additional 125 jobs.

Money from the grant will be used to finish the second half of an 80-acre development on the Parlier Bio-Agricultural and Light Manufacturing Park. It will pay for water and sewer lines that must be in place before tenants can move in.

“This is very big for Parlier, which has historically been a farmworker community,” Martinez said. “That’s seasonal work, and these will be permanent jobs.”

Parlier has been designated a “renewal community” and State Enterprise Zone in part because of its high jobless rate of more than 20% compared with a national rate of about 5%. Because of those designations, businesses establishing operations there can get federal and state tax benefits as well as credits.