Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Legislature working to improve state's economy

"It's the economy, stupid," was a catch phrase during the Bill Clinton presidency.

It was also an accurate statement, as economic health is vital to an area's survival and viability.

With the economy in mind, the Arkansas Legislature has been working to revise how the state tries to attract new industries and which direction Arkansas should be going now and in the future.

State Sen. Percy Malone said the state senate has hired a consultant to help determine the directions for the state economically for the next several years.

"Economically," Malone said, "we must work to do better at providing better paying jobs for the people in the state."

The idea with the new economy, he said, is to help the young people stay close to home instead of leaving the area after college because they can't find decent paying jobs.

Malone will be on the panel examining economic policies for the state.

Jim Pickens, he said, is the new director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED), replacing Barbara Pardue.

Pickens, according to Malone, isn't threatened by talk of regional approaches to economic development. In fact, regional meetings have been scheduled to discuss economic development and what each area of the state wants to do in this vein.

In the past, the ADED would develop a concept based on Little Rock's ideas, and try to force the rest of the state to conform to the idea. Sort of like round peg and square holes.

With the regional concept, though, each section of the state will work to develop its own ideas of what type of industries are needed and how best to attract them.

To help with this, Malone is checking incentives available to industries to make sure Arkansas, especially this part of the state, is competitive in bringing industry in.

"We want to create a climate conducive to bring in new industries and help existing industries," he said.

"We know the workers must be better educated and trained, and need programs in place to guarantee a better work force."

It was along these lines the Southwest Arkansas Technical Learning Center was created. The center literally trains workers to the specifications of industry needs.

One major problem in educating the young, he said, is the outcome of the Lakeview lawsuit. The Lakeview school district sued the state because the school funding formula was, it claimed, unfair.

To date, the court system has upheld the district's suit, which is now in the hands of the Arkansas Supreme Court. Should the lower court decisions be upheld by the high court, the state would have to pay a settlement in the vicinity of $100 billion.

The state, Malone said, must respond to this issue, as a settlement of this amount would bankrupt the educational system.

"I know we can do better in preparing our young people for the job marked and future," he said.

"We must get focused. We don't have the luxury of attacking one problem or the other. We have to improve education and have the environment for bringing in industry so they'll have a place to go to work."

Money has been successfully spent on educating the state's young people, he said, but they've had to leave the state in order to get good jobs and raise their families. "We need to break this cycle."

The third leg of the economic housing, he said, is housing, something lacking in this part of the state.

There isn't enough affordable housing available in this region, he said, and this problem has to be solved. "It's a big one."

"We must be creative in finding a way to help working people afford to own a home. It's the American Dream'."