Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Weather Woes Cause Delays For Polycarbon

Weather problems have delayed Polycarbon from completing construction on its building in the Clark County Industrial Park.

This, Percy Malone, executive vice president of the Clark County Industrial Council, means the company won't be in operation until the first of June.

However, more than 2,000 applications were received by the company from people who want to work with them. Some 35-40 have been selected for Polycarbon's training program.

Malone said more hiring could occur in June or July as demand for the company's product is high at this time.

Additionally, he told the board, Ed Redinbaugh, with Rohr Industries, contacted him last week, telling Malone the company is working on a cost report to finish its building in the industrial park.

Malone said indications are the company will be making a decision on what it will be doing locally in the next few weeks.

The CCIC members were informed 96 percent of all prospects who look at Arkansas want a building before they come.

He said the council may need to look at putting up another spec building for future prospects. Officials with Polycarbon said they had no objections to the CCIC erecting such a structure.

When Polycarbon announced its plans to locate in Clark County the CCIC agreed to hold up on building another spec building until the company was up and running.

Additionally, the CCIC, along with the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (AIDC), is working on a $150,000 grant to help Daily Lumber Co. get a new water source. Two of the company's wells have gone dry.

"This," Malone said, "shows we're not only working hard to bring in new jobs, but to take care of existing industry."

The industrial park will have fiber optic capabilities next year. Malone said this will be a tremendous tool for the CCIC and county as a whole.

Mark Moffitt, executive director of the CCIC, said he spent some time with Dennis Mills, a Southwestern Bell Telephone representative, and toured the area where the fiber optic line will be installed.

Moffitt said work on the project will begin this summer, and fiber optics will be a great marketing tool for the CCIC and AIDC. "We can target specific industries," he said.

From there the program was turned over to Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith, who hosted the meeting.

Smith reminded the CCIC the press is one of its best friends. The coverage the council gets, he said, is very important to its success.

"The things we do depend on the help of the people," he said.

Smith spoke to the council on the progress Gurdon has made recently, including recertifying for Arkansas Community of Excellence (ACE) status.

He said it is easy to see the difference the ACE program makes in areas which have attained it. Agencies, such as the AIDC, take more notice of ACE communities and this makes it easier to recruit industrial prospects.

There are only 23 cities in Arkansas which have earned ACE status. Of these, two are in Clark County. Gurdon and Arkadelphia are both ACE communities.

In applying for the ACE status, Smith said, the city had to file a three-year plan, along with a one-year plan of action. Gurdon achieved 70 percent of its three-year goals in the first year.

Other accomplishments in Gurdon include moving into a new high school complex and getting 33 new customers on the water and sewer line.

The next step in the rural water project, he said, is obtaining more than 400 easements. "This is not a project the city began," Smith told the panel. "The people in rural areas started it. The people got together and got started. Gurdon agreed to help them and provide water (once the project is completed)."

Gurdon's Lowe Field received a grant for $75,000 from the Arkansas Aeronautics Administration for the first phase of airport improvements. The initial phase, Smith said, will see the runway widened.

Once this is done, he said, the runway will be wide enough to land small corporate jets.

In 1995, he said, Gurdon received a grant for $150,000 for a child care center. This center has been constructed and is operational at this time. Smith said it still needs some landscaping and a sign, before dedication ceremonies are held.

Other good news for the city included updating equipment for the Gurdon Fire Department, and the volunteer firefighters getting more training.

The Gurdon Housing Authority received a grant for $243,000 for needed improvements, and the Clark County Youth Development Center moved into the old Gurdon Middle School, once students from it were transferred to the old GHS.

Smith also spoke of a grant for $11,000 the city was just notified of for park improvements from the Office of Rural Advocacy (see related story).