Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

State EDO Changes Industry Focus

Recruitment will no longer be the primary focus of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

This, Barbara Pardue, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said at a meeting of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office board of directors meeting Friday afternoon.

Instead, according to Pardue, the AEDC will focus on working with existing business and industry to help them grow. However, this doesn't mean the AEDC will stop all efforts at recruiting industry to Arkansas.

A prime area for growth, Pardue said, is knowledge based industries. These industries, she said, include bio-tech, agriculture and health care. All are good paying jobs, with many allowing the employees to telecommute.

But, she continued, a problem is Oklahoma and Tennessee are recruiting Arkansas industries, trying to entice them to relocate to their states. Some 85 percent of all new jobs created come from existing industry.

Other areas the AEDC will focus on include tourism development and retiree relocation.

The AEDC, she said, has been streamlining itself, going from 10 divisions to four teams. These teams include finance, policy and research, marketing and community development. This, Pardue said, will lead to better communication within the organization and cut the red tape somewhat.

The Arkansas Community of Excellence (ACE) program will remain a key part of the AEDC, though it, too, will change.

Pardue said industrial recruitment needs to include the planning of an entire community and is best done at the local level. The AEDC will offer any assistance it can in the recruitment process. She said expansion of local businesses and industries should also be done at home as well.

In this way, Pardue said, the ACE designation will be even more meaningful.

The AEDC will be working to education and help train local workforces, she said, as its part with the ACE program. By so doing, the ACE program will address an entire spectrum for business and industry needs.

Within its own framework, Pardue said, the AEDC is working to eliminate duplication of effort and partnering more with such entities as the EDO.

Meetings such as this, she said, will get dialogue started and allow the economic development offices to be better partners with the AEDC.

In order to insure this, Pardue has added staff to the community service section of the commission.

At this time there are 97 people working with the AEDC, though the budget is funded for 123. There is currently no attorney on staff, though this will be remedied soon.

Discussing the AEDC's budget, Pardue said it was cut to $10 million in 1997, though the department is usually funded at $20 million annually.

When the Arkansas General Assembly gathers in 1999, she said, this issue will be brought up again. And, when it is, the AEDC will be asking for more funding because of the need for industrial access roads.

This is because the Arkansas State Transportation and Highway Department (ATHD) has basically dropped the construction of access roads for industry into the AEDC's lap.

The AEDC, she said, is looking for ways to change incentives and keep business and industry already in Arkansas able to compete on the global economy.

With massive changes going to occur in the House of Representatives and Senate because of term limits. The AEDC will be needing the legislature to fund a work force development program.

In addition, Pardue said, there will be policy shifts within the AEDC and more interest in local development. The AEDC will help smaller communities with ideas, policy and research and discuss trends these areas can take advantage of.

Along with this, she said, members of the AEDC will make site visits to smaller communities. "Our role is to level the playing field for rural communities. Our job is to help with the recruitment of business and industry."

She said the AEDC will gladly help existing industry find locations within the state for any planned expansions, while helping communities plan for these site visits by industry leaders.

"We can help show off your assets," she said. "We need to do follow up and closure better."

Pardue said anything the AEDC can do to help with the expansion of business and industry in the state, it will.

Chandler Russ, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said Prescott's job is to feed information back to the AEDC and let them know what's happening here.

Locally, though, the top priority of the EDO is to take care of the existing businesses and industries already located in Prescott and Nevada County.

The existing industry committee visits with business and industry leaders, finding out what they need and working to make sure they are happy to be in the area.

The EDO's next priority, he said, is the further development of the industrial park. The mayor and city council approved a two-year budget which will allow the EDO to help finance the park.

Russ said 114 more acres have been purchased for the park. Future plans include building an access road for the park and constructing a spec building to show prospective industries.

But, he said, to do this, the EDO will have to partner with other agencies, including utilities. The overall idea is to increase prospect visibility.

In addition, Russ said the Partnership, a merger with the EDO and Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, will be working harder on community development. This will be done to make the city more showable to clients.

To do this, the council has funded a beautification project and hired an architect to develop plans for making Prescott more physically attractive.

And, he continued, the EDO will do whatever it takes to get those businesses and industries already committed to Prescott and Nevada County up and running. This includes Funshine Furniture, St. Michael's Health Clinic, and two truck stops.

Russ said the EDO is working to improve the region's telecommunications infrastructure. Research is being done on a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system at this time. Preliminary indications, he said, are one can be installed for between $120,000 and $140,000 because of the size and population of the county.

The Office of Emergency Services is working to help draft a resolution to present to the Nevada County Quorum Court to seek its help with a 9-1-1 system.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Chamber, said a recent retail merchants meeting was successful and well attended.

The Chamber, she said, is being restructured due to the merger with the EDO as the two have become the Partnership and help one another.

Godwin said she will be focusing on the city's retail merchants. The merchants