Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Chadwell updates court on travel

On the road again, describes Jon Chadwell's, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, activities of late.

Chadwell, addressing the Nevada County Quorum Court at its March meeting, said he has been traveling a lot and making good contacts. He spent a week in Chicago at the end of February at a trade show, working with the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED). The ADED, he said, was advertising the state at the National Manufacturing Show. "We made good contacts and let the state know we're serious about economic development," Chadwell said.

Economic Development is more competitive than ever, he said, as foreign nations try to recruit U.S. industry. These nations use the enticement of lower wages for the workers, but, according to Chadwell, several American business concerns have learned the lower wages result in shoddy quality. People tend to return the merchandise and not buy again because of the quality.

"Businesses are finding they can do better in the U.S.," he said, "and I think this is a trend we'll see in the future."

Chadwell also has a trip to Little Rock on his travel agenda for a meeting on how to work with businesses in the region. The idea, he said, is if a local business or industry plans to expand, the expansion needs to be kept local. From there, it's onto Washington, D.C., for a National Workforce Incentive seminar. The EDO will be fully reimbursed for the Washington trip.

The number one issue, he said, with prospects the EDO has talked to is the number of people available in the workforce and the quality of the employees. "We need to develop our workforce effectively. I'll bring ideas back we can use here."

Pipe is being laid for drainage on the sidewalk project along Second Street. Chadwell said it's messy, but will be nice once it's done, and the crews are getting closer to being finished. Changes have been made in the project, but it's still within the proposed budget.

Work has begun on the new fire station/parks office across from Central Baptist Church. Chadwell said there were some rumors it was a swimming pool because of the way the dirt was removed. However, it isn't. Footers will be used to help stabilize the structure because of its proximity to the railroad track. These footers should help keep the foundation from cracking.

The construction crews, he said, have about 180 days to get the building finished. Members of the Prescott Fire Department will be working on the interior, getting it finished out. The original contract was for the foundation and shell metal building.

Plans are being finalized for the walking/jogging trail by the Nevada County Health Unit, he said. However, before anything can be done there, an extended period of dry weather will be required.

Talking about the street project, Chadwell said the map has been drawn, and the architect and engineer will be coming down to drive the streets. The drive will be done with the superintendent of the Prescott Street Department and a member of the Asphalt Institute, who will be on hand to tell all how to do it properly.

There are empty buildings in Nevada County, he said, needing to be measured so they can be added to a spec sheet for prospective industries or businesses. Once the information is gathered, it will be sent to the ADED and be collated into the proper format. The buildings will then be placed in a regional inventory of buildings.

Chadwell will be working with other economic development entities in the southwest part of the state to try and become a regional EDO, or sorts. The idea, he said, is to recruit industry to the region, because everyone profits. If an industry locates in Hempstead and Clark counties, Nevada County people will apply for jobs there. "We want to try to attract industry to Southwest Arkansas," he said. "We'd rather have the plant locate here (in Nevada County), but better to keep industry in the region than have it go to Northwest Arkansas."

One industry looked seriously at locating in Nevada County, he said. Had it located here, it would have employed 600 people. However, it chose to locate elsewhere because company officials didn't think they could get enough employees from the county. Chadwell said the county exports 850 people per day who drive elsewhere to work. These same people would be glad to work closer to home and eliminate the drive.

There are 89,000 people available to work in a 45-mile radius, he said.

He was asked about the possibility of building another spec building, as the first one is occupied by Prescott Rubber, Inc., which should begin operating soon. Chadwell said it would be nice, but the EDO, city and county don't have the money to make the payments if it doesn't move quickly.

However, he said, the EDO is looking at a "virtual" spec building. This is a facility with the dirt work done, building plans and specifications  just no actual structure. If a company was interested in the virtual spec building, construction could begin immediately. In addition, there are no payments on a virtual spec building.

He closed saying the rural water project is scheduled to be completed by this fall, and is on schedule at this time.