Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Economic Office To Set Up 11 Committees

Committees are being formed to help improve Prescott's chances at attracting industries to the area.

According to an interlocal memo from Chandler Russ, executive director of the Prescott- Nevada County Economic Development Office, there will be 11 committees created and working with the Interolocal Board of Directors.

Russ said these committees will help the area become more effective in delivering the broad scope of economic development services needed for the county. Those committees are: technology; healthcare; education; youth development; workforce development; industrial parks and sites; fund raising; city-county governments; and existing industry and recruitment.

Each panel, he said, will pick a chairperson and meet at least twice a moth in the beginning. Once the committees are established, Russ continued, the meeting time and frequencies can be adjusted accordingly and be determined by the chair.

The original proposal is for the chairmen of each committee to meet with the Interlocal Board and give a report on the fourth Friday of each month.

Each committee will have the same goals in their own specific area. These goals are to first assess the current status of the particular area using the SWOT method strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Next is to realistically determine where the community wants to be in the next three years and plan steps to achieve these goals and objectives.

Education, he said, will become a key issue, if not the key issue, for future economic growth.

Firestone has to go through 40 applications in order to find one suitable worker. Potlatch administers a work-keys test some high school graduates can't pass. Funshine Furniture is having problems finding a labor force that can read a ruler, Russ said, with this information coming from plant managers.

This committee will work on issues concerning education and how to improve the area's K-12 program.

Workforce development, he said, is the key to maintaining the current companies and having a program in place to attract new industries.

This issue is being driven by state and federal governments because of welfare to work programs initiated on the state and federal level.

The question, Russ said, is how to get the current untrained labor pool trained and the trained labor force retooled to compete. This will be the goal of this panel.

One of the best ways to get an industry to look at an area for possible relocation is to have a solid industrial park, with plenty of potential building sites.

This will be the goal of the industrial parks and sites committee. It will work to develop and maintain the publicly owned land and any lands the city and county have under option. Proper management of these properties will also be under the auspices of this committee.

Next on the list is the fund raising committee. Attracting industry and helping existing industry expand is anything but cheap.

Russ said the need to increase the EDO budget will continue to be a major internal issue needing to be addressed.

Fund raising, he said, is not limited to the operational expenses of the EDO (salary, utilities and office supplies), but also for travel and marketing.

This panel will explore ways to get more private and public funds for these efforts.

The city-county government body will examine ways for joint collaboration by the two entities. The city and county governments, he said, must continue to look long-term and maintain the cooperation currently enjoyed.

Prospects, he added, along with existing businesses need the confidence the government on the local level is supportive, aggressive and will work together for the betterment of the area.

In the area of youth development, he said, the group will serve as a vehicle to reeducate young leaders to the possibilities being offered in this region. It is also an opportunity to involve young minds in the development process and give young people a sense of involvement, while stressing the importance they have on the area's future.

The youth development task force is already a working committee, with the EDO being selected as a community service site by the Arkansas Department of Volunteerism. Students can volunteer their time for credit hours in school under this program.

For health care, he said, the Health Alliance is already a working organization of the Interlocal Board. This panel is composed of area health care providers.

It's function will be to remain being proactive and aggressive in handling and solving health care related issues.

Turning to the technology panel, Russ said this is the future of the American economy whether we like or not. Technology, he said, can be in the form of computers, data, computerized equipment and machinery, technicians, fiber optics or the Internet.

Questions on how best to handle the technological boom will be addressed by this entity including the issue of how to prepare the labor force to adapt to technological advances. It will also work to make sure the area's technological infrastructure is in place and can handle expansions or changes of location.

Housing is a major thorn in the side for Southwest Arkansas. Housing shortages exist over most of this part of the state.

The housing committee, Russ said, has one basic premise: if the area is successful in economic development and recruitment, where will the new employees live?

All the recruiting in the world is useless if there is nowhere for workers to live. It will do no good to have industry in Nevada County if the employees live elsewhere and are spending their earnings outside the area.

The housing shortage exists in all areas: buying, renting and low and moderate income homes.

This committee will address the issue of how to expand the current housing market and increase it for the future.

In the area of existing business and industries, this committee will focus on developing the current businesses and industries to their fullest potential. A full 80 percent of all new jobs are created through existing business and industry.

The members of this panel will be responsible for visiting those businesses and industries already in Prescott and Nevada County, finding out what they need and how to solve their problems.

Finally is the business and industry recruitment committee (BIRC). It will depend on the quality and quantity of information supplied by the other 10 committees.

This group will take the scientific approach to assessing what best fits this area and where the best possibilities for growth and attracting new industries will be.

The BIRC committee will examine possible markets to send targeted direct mail pieces, magazines to place ads, trade shows best fitting the area'