Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Harvel visits city

In one of several meetings on Friday, May 9, the executive director of the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County met with the mayor and council members of Gurdon.

Paul Harvel and Euodias Goza, president of the EDCCC board, met in the Gurdon Municipal Building after visiting with officials and citizens of Amity.

Goza told members of Gurdons City Council that the meeting was to explain what the EDCCC is trying to do in the county.

The meetings were Harvels idea, Goza said. He said Harvel has a strategy and a marketing plan for the county.

We have a great opportunity for economic development in the county, he said.

Harvel said he wanted to go to the cities in the county and explain the regional development concept.

Across the country, economic development is known by regions, Harvel said. Industries look at regions rather than cities or counties.

The name of a city in a regional name does not necessarily represent only that city, he said. For example, the Metropolitan Little Rock Regional Alliance includes a 50-mile circle around Little Rock, reaching cities such as Conway, Cabot, Jacksonville and Pine Bluff.

The Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance will not only include all of Clark County, but other cities and portions of other counties, he said. That will attract industries to the region.

Harvel said it was important for him to meet wtih officials in Gurdon to explain the concept.

He said he understood the city is named Gurdon, but were going to ask you to market it under the name Arkadelphia.

Arkadelphia  not as a town, but as a word, he said.

The area of Interstate 30 and highway 7, in Caddo Valley, will serve as the center of the region, Harvel said, and will extend to about a 50-mile radius. He said he chose the area because he knows it is marketable and because his wife works at Ouachita Baptist University.

Highway 7 is one of the most recognizable highways in the U.S., he said. Its a huge marketing asset.

Not only does the area have the scenery, Harvel said, but it also has DeGray Lake, the Ouachita Mountains, two universities and a state park.

He said that many people are beginning to grow tired of cell phones and being too connected.

People are getting to where they want to turn it off, he said, and thats an economic advantage because the county has things to do like hiking and boating with the benefit of being a college town.

Using tourism as a recruiting tool, Harvel presented two advertising concepts that have already been created. Both involve the educational opportunities in the area: Graduate to good living in Arkadelphia, and Arkadelphia is a college town majoring in tourism.

He said his office will be located at Ouachita Baptist University, which is providing him a space at no charge. The Alliances economic developer, Shawnie Carrier, will have offices in several locations around the county. One of Carriers offices will be in the Visitors Information Center at Caddo Valley. Harvel said he plans to ask the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for their help in establishing and maintaining the Visitors Center.

Harvel said he hopes to eventually see the construction of a new Economic Development Center that would house the EDCCC and the Chambers of Commerce.

Gurdon resident and Rotarian Billy Tarpley said about Harvel that we are so fortunate to have this guy. Hes nationally recognized, and now hes here.

Before taking questions and comments, Harvel said the Alliance is not a political decision  its a business decision.