Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

CCIS Informed On "Net" Values

Members of the Clark County Industrial Council were given a demonstration on "Surfing the Net," at the group's regular monthly meeting Thursday.

Mark Butzberger, with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Institute of Economic Advancement, informed the CCIC there were 40,000 people looking at Clark County in June alone, while 60,000 have browsed the web site to date in July.

This, he said, is more than 600 people per day looking Clark County over.

The purpose, of the web site, is to let the rest of the world know about Clark County and what it has to offer.

According to Blane Smith, executive director of the Arkadelphia-Clark County Chamber of Commerce, the information on the web site is the same data used in the county's industrial recruiting package.

In addition to information on Arkadelphia, Smith said, the site also has data on surrounding communities, such as Bismarck and Gurdon.

Weather information on the Clark County region is also available, and is updated on an hourly basis, Smith said.

The web site also contains reports on Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University, as well as a dining guide, hotel-motel information, and other items of interest to tourists.

In fact, Butzberger said the industrial information also contains an aerial map of the Clark County Industrial Park, as well as a schematic diagram of the aerial view detailing what businesses are where in the park.

There are three to four E-mail messages received at the Chamber daily, Smith said. These are people interested in Clark County the CCIC didn't have to call. In addition, these interested parties didn't have to call the Chamber or the CCIC because all they needed to know was available on the web site.

Butzberger said those who call after browsing the web are more than just interested, they are pre-qualified customers.

This site, he continued, has information on tax packages, bonds, training programs, on the job training, utilities, and basic infrastructure information in one convenient location.

There are about 20 million people on the Internet each day worldwide, according to Butzberger.

The Clark County web page, he continued, has five or six megabytes of information, or about 600 pages.

This data is cheaply conveyed and current.

"You're not waiting for prospects to call," he said. "You're looked at daily by people all over the world. There are solid customers who are definitely interested and want to be contacted."

The Net, he said, is making the world a smaller, more intimate place.

Smith said in addition to the information Clark County has for business, industry and tourism on the web, a children's directory also exists for the region.

According to Smith, some of the "hits" on the web are coming from military personnel looking to retire or relocate after their time in the service. This, he said, is a valuable tool for them and the county.

In other news, CCIC President Brown Hardman said the group is still searching for an executive director.

There have been some good applicants for the position, but the committee has not made a selection yet.