Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

TOP NEWS of 2000 - Economic Devlopment

Economic development played a key role in Nevada County during the past year.

The first salvo fired was in January as reports for the economic outlook improved statewide as more than 9,200 jobs had been created, paying an average hourly wage of $12.10.

This was the message from Barbara Pardue, director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development, as she toured the state.

From there, the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce and the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office worked together to do a survey on what area residents wanted.

The people spoke loud and clear, saying they wanted more grocery stores as their top priority.

This was followed by the need for a wider variety of restaurants, clothing stores and department stores.

Most who responded to the telephone survey, though, were pleased with the availability of goods and services in the county.

Prescott was notified it would receive two grants for economic development in April.

One was from Reliant Energy-Arkla to run natural gas lines from Highway 19 to Exit 46 on Interstate-30, while the other was a Streetscape grant for the City of Prescott to benefit historic preservation downtown.

According to Jon Chadwell, EDO director, the gas line would be ran from where the Buzz Buy convenience store once was to Exit 46.

He said there were at least three prospects who wouldn't locate in this area of Prescott because of the lack access to natural gas.

The Streetscape grant had been applied for in January, with the city not being notified until April.

Prescott received $12,316.25 as its share.

Also in April, the Prescott City Council applied for a grant to renovate the Depot Museum.

Councilman Karen Ward wrote the proposal for $166,000, with the city being notified in December of being awarded $120,000 for the project.

As part of the city's attempt to improve the appearance of downtown Prescott, students with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center were invited to examine the city and determine how it could best be done.

The students presented preliminary findings in June, with sketches showing how downtown currently looked and how it could look with a little renovating.

The students said improving downtown Prescott would be about unity and cohesion, as many of the buildings needed to be cleaned up on the outside, and all could use the same type of awning.

They also said planting trees and different lighting would improve the downtown area.

Another June economic story involved a privately-owned prison looking to locate in Nevada County.

LaSalle Management Company approached Chadwell with the idea, and hoped to build on land where the Arkansas Department of Corrections had looked in 1999.

The prison would require 25 acres of land instead of 250 as needed by the ADC, and would have employed 60 people.

LaSalle took this proposal before the state Legislature, but nothing was done as the year ended.

In July, a business asked to locate in Prescott, but was refused.

AEGIS Biomedical, an Oklahoma-based company, asked the Prescott City Council for permission to operate.

Jim Rayburn, with AEGIS, said it is a heavily-regulated company and has to follow guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Arkansas Department of Health, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

The business would treat medical waste so it could be buried in a landfill. The company offered to pay the city 1.75 cents a pound up to 100,000 pounds per month in royalties.

A health committee was appointed from the council, met once, without bothering to visit any location AEGIS operated at and denied the company access locally.

AEGIS also looked at other property in Nevada County, including near Emmet, but had not received any help in locating in the county.

August arrived with a public meeting to determine what the people of Prescott wanted.

The response was a resounding desire for a truly public swimming pool for all citizens.

Kathy Lee, with the Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District, told those gathered at the Nevada County Courthouse grant money is available for such projects, but on a 50-50 match basis. She urged those pushing for a pool to hold fund raisers to help meet the city's matching requirements.

Other suggestions included new playground equipment at the park, a walking track, making the park more handicap accessible and improving lighting and security at the park.

In an effort to help business and industry, the Partnership compiled a business directory, gathering information on local businesses, contact people, phone numbers and services offered.This was completed in November with copies distributed locally.

With money available to build a new library, the city had to find a suitable site. The location decided upon was the 100 block of West Main in downtown Prescott.

This resulted in five businesses having to relocate, including the Nevada County Picayune, which moved into the Ledbetter building on East Elm after having it renovated.

The city had planned to begin razing the other buildings by mid-December, but were delayed by weather and other problems.

And, in an effort to build a pool of leaders for the county's future, Leadership Nevada County was created.

This program, headed by Chadwell, was designed to help those attending learn what it takes to be a community leader, including developing the required skills and learning how local government works.

Bad news arrived in late October, but not necessarily for Nevada County directly. An announcement was made that the International Paper Co. plant in Camden would be closed in early 2001, putting some 600 people out of work.

Chadwell said Nevada County would be affected as some residents worked at the plant.

State Rep. Percy Malone helped Camden get $500,000 to help renovate an existing building and make it more attractive to industrial prospects.

The year closed with the potential for good news for the county as Chadwell told the Nevada County Quorum Court and Prescott City Council two industries are looking at possibly locating here.

One of the industries is a cosmetics firm considering locating in the defunct Nevada County Hospital, while the other has been talking about buying 30 or 40 acres in the industrial park.