Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Committees working to improve Prescott

Eleven groups are working in a concerted effort to get Prescott re-certified as an Arkansas Community of Excellence under the new state guidelines.

Prescott has been an ACE community for the past six years, with former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker coming to the Prescott Elementary School to bestow the distinction in 1996.

Prescott is one of about 37 communities in Arkansas to have earned ACE certification.

In order to maintain ACE status, said Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, the city must complete a three-year strategic plan every three years. The time to update the plan has arrived, hence the committees.

"We don't want to do the minimum to get certified," Chadwell said, "Instead, we'd rather create a plan that will effectively guide us over the next three years."

The certification is based on population, and Prescott is required to formulate a plan in three of the nine community development areas and at least two of 11 economic development areas. The plan will be submitted to the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED) for approval.

The EDO, Chadwell said, picked six community development areas: education, workforce development, health care, housing, law enforcement and fire protection; along with five economic development areas: established industries, manufacturing, agriculture and agri-business, commercial development and area partnerships.

Approximately 100 people agreed to serve on the different committees, which will meet four times during the course of their existence. So far, each group has met twice, and will meet at least two more times, possibly more if necessary, to complete their tasks.

Some of the committees have set their goals, while others are still working on theirs.

The goals for the health care group are to get more people to the proper weight and wellness measurements and promote a healthy lifestyle; prevent tobacco use among teenagers; increase the number of mammograms and colonoscopies done each year; and provide transportation to any event associated with the above projects.

The housing committee's goals are to clean up deteriorating and abandoned houses in town and set ordinances on trash, grass and weeds; increase the amount of desirable rental property; create a central listing of all available rental property in the area; and take advantage of housing programs for the poor and elderly.

Goals set by the education committee include: more parental involvement; improving reading skills (especially at the middle school level); create better job shadowing and work place activities; and have better communication from top to bottom at school districts.

The fire protection set the following goals: put 9-1-1 dispatch in a room by itself when it becomes available; coordinate equipment purchases for fire departments on a county-wide basis; reserve a communication frequency for fire departments; and increase funding for all fire departments.

The only other committee to establish goals was workforce development. It's goals are: incorporate relevant business/industry skills into high school classes; better advertising of local jobs available; and form new partnerships between education and industry.

Each committee meet on a monthly basis to discuss what the members have found out and where to go from there.

The data is kept in notebooks and regularly submitted to Chadwell at the EDO to be collated.

According to the ADED, the ACE program is designed to empower a community to thoughtfully and methodically determine the desired direction for its future and to develop a plan to achieve its goals.

The program will enhance a community's overall livability, while strengthening its competitive position to retain and attract new jobs and investments, according to ADED.

Communities earning ACE status identify top-priority local goals, implement a three-year plan, which enables it to become a change agent for the future in a changing economic environment.

The ADED recognizes each certified community in an award ceremony held in its community, where a framed certificate indicating ACE status is presented.

What makes being an ACE community so important is the ADED will discuss such places with prospects first. It also shows industrial prospects the community is willing to go an extra mile to make sure it can meet the industry's needs.

Chadwell said his goal is to have the committee findings completed by October so the information can be collated for presentation to the ADED.

"I'm pleased with all that's been done so far," he said.