Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Fighting To Keep Dawson Cooperative In Clark Co.

By JOHN MILLER

Clark County's Industrial Council is working hard to keep the Dawson Educational Cooperative where it is.

State Rep. Percy Malone met with Rick Saunders of the co-op to find out what the Dawson people needed in order to stay.

The co-op has met with the Ross Foundation to see what it may have to offer.

However, Malone informed the CCIC members he has been told the Dawson people would like to remain where they are.

Dawson was offered land in the new business park by Interstate 30, and property at the front of the Clark County Industrial Park on Highway 67.

Malone said the Ross Foundation is renovating Magnolia Manor as a non-profit center to house groups such as Dawson.

Saunders, though, told Malone the group would like to stay where it is. If it decides to move, however, the business park would be its second choice.

Malone said if the cooperative moves to the business park, the land will be offered at a discount, with the CCIC looking at utilizing reuse money to handle a lease for Dawson. The co-op is required to work with no more than two-year leases.

The CCIC members were also informed the council had not been asked for a formal proposal.

Hot Springs and Malvern have also made their interest in getting Dawson known with proposals tendered, as have Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State universities.

"Dawson houses different people for different programs," Malone said. "This is a complex issue and it's not easy for them to just pick up and leave."

Brown Hardman, CCIC president, said Malvern had made an offer to build Dawson a building at $27 per square foot. Hot Springs has offered the use of an existing building.

"They have not said where or what they want," Malone said of Dawson. "Basically, they've said they want to stay where they are. They have an option on a building across the street.

"We need to encourage them to stay. They're a good co-op, one of the best in the state."

Peter Lawson, executive director of the CCIC, changed topics for the members, saying he's working on better communications with state agencies and the CCIC on rules and regulations for recruiting industry, loan guarantees from local banks for federal programs, money for infrastructure and worker training and incentives.

He discussed school to work programs for those students who don't attend college. He said these students need to be trained in areas needed by local and area industry to provide a skilled and ready workforce for them.

According to Lawson, Clark County has a problem, but it's one most county's wouldn't mind having -- a 2.7 percent unemployment rate.

He said some prospects are looking for more available labor than a 2.7 percent rate appears to give.

Because of this, he continued, the way the jobless numbers are looked at need to be changed to put the county in a better light for prospects.

Lawson said there are four areas the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (AIDC) feel are vital to industrial growth in Arkansas. These are the telecommunication field, food processing, plastics and equipment engineering.

The AIDC says Arkansas produces too much raw material and is losing on the next stage where the material becomes an actual product. The materials the state produces in excess, he said, include chicken, cattle and rice.

Plastics follow suit in the packaging for food processing.

At this point, Lawson said, telecommunications is the wave of the future and Clark County is poised on the edge with its planned fiberoptic park. He suggested the CCIC look at industries requiring fiberoptic capabilities and recruit them heavily.