Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City Working On ACE Recertification

Being certified as an Arkansas Community of Excellence (ACE) is important to Gurdon.

According to Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith, it's time for the city to recertify as an ACE community. He said the city council will need to help work on a new three-year marketing plan so the city can keep its ACE status.

"The three-year plan," Smith said, "is critical."

Having the ACE symbol on city limits signs is important because it commands respect by industries looking for a new site.

It also insures ACE cities are basically given first shot at new business and industry by the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (AIDC).

"The most important aspect of ACE," Smith said, "is when clients call the AIDC, Gurdon and Arkadelphia will be exposed to them (as are all ACE communities)." This is under a mandate established by former-Gov. Bill Clinton, who helped create the ACE program.

Gurdon was visited by Joey Dean, community development consultant with the AIDC, last week concerning the city's ACE status.

Smith said the initial visit looked good, as Dean was given a tour of the city and surrounding area, as well as being shown potential industrial sites.

"We'll be getting a new profile sheet," he said. "We went over the three- year plan (from 1994), and he saw we've done almost everything on it."

All of the projects have been tackled, Smith said, though not all have been completed. Interestingly, one of the items on the first three- year plan was the annexation issue.

At this time, he continued, Clark and Saline counties are tied with the lowest unemployment rates in the state. Clark County has the distinction of being the only county with two ACE communities in it, with Arkadelphia being the other.

Smith credits this as part of the reason the jobless rate is so low, and why new industries are willing to come to the area.

The AIDC, he said, knows ACE cities have economic development offices intact, with trained people and a community working toward a common goal.

"Attracting industry is nothing more than a sales job," Smith said. "It's a professional business people need to be trained in. This is something the AIDC's adamant about -- training and preparation."

Should the agency decide to, representatives from the AIDC can make surprise spot inspections of ACE communities to see if they are following the criteria to maintain their status and attract industry. If they aren't they could be in danger of losing their ACE standing.

Since the program's inception, only Texarkana has lost its ACE certification. Other ACE communities saw the result and have worked hard to stay in good standing. Texarkana found it difficult to attract new business and industry without the ACE certification.

These random checks, Smith said, keeps Gurdon ACE communities on its toes and always prepared.

One of the top requirements for maintaining ACE status, he said, is to file the three-year marketing plan and get it approved by the AIDC.

Once the plan is approved, Gurdon will then begin working to meet its objectives and goals under it.

"I stress taking advantage of and capitalizing on the fact Gurdon is an ACE community," he said "because of all the opportunities you get.

"When Gurdon was approved, we created a letterhead with the ACE logo on it. It commands respect and is probably the most important thing that's happened to Gurdon under my administration, and maybe several years before then."

Smith said the ACE standing is partly responsible for the grant money Gurdon has been able to procure of late, including the funds for the park improvement and rural water project.

"We also get the opportunity to work with the AIDC on a regular basis," he said. "They know where we are. They're the first ones exposed to industrial prospects in Arkansas and it's not hard to single Gurdon and Arkadelphia out."

The first step, though, will be for Smith and the council to begin looking at areas for improvement in Gurdon, establish a plan, get it approved and begin work.

"We will be aggressive," he said, "in filing a plan and keeping out ACE certification."