LeadAR 20 Community and Economic Development, Newport, Ark. - Day Two

by Sherry Beaty-Sullivan, County Extension Agent, Agriculture/Staff Chair - March 26, 2024

LeadAR Class 20 member, Sherry Beaty-Sullivan, shares her recollection of day two of the LeadAR seminar in Newport held on March 15, 2024.

Day Two in Newport started with Rachel Norris, director of Domestic Programs for the Clinton School of Public Service.  She informed the class that the Clinton School impact in Arkansas up to this point was 600+ projects with over 150,000 service hours. Student in the school do three projects throughout their three years enrolled in the school: a practicum (team project), an international project, and a capstone project that can be done anywhere.  Students help find solutions for organizations before starting a project through needs assessments, program planning, program evaluation, program impact, they also assist with funding, and facilitation. Partners for these projects also have expectations to participate. The partners provide a project supervisor, an orientation to the project, organization, and community, host site visits and meetings between student, projects supervisor, stakeholders, and Clinton school staff, and complete student performance assessment and general project feedback. Norris showed that there were several community partners across the state and highlighted some of the successful projects of recent years.

Next, Class 20 heard from a community leader panel on educational opportunities. The class learned about barriers to homeownership for minority communities, community development, economic development, professional development for chamber directors and board members, and work force development. Class members engaged with the panel on potential barriers and solutions and just overall had a really good discussion.

Randy Zook with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce visited with the class about workforce issues and resources. There are more than 80,000 jobs available in Arkansas, but some of the limiting factors to find people to fill those jobs include: transportation, housing, childcare, skill set. Zook informed the class that 45% of people who graduate with a bachelor are not doing the job they went to train for at school.

Some solutions he suggested:

1. Stop accepting the fact that our kids can’t read at or above grade level. (Only nine school districts in the state are at 50% or above.)
2. Reskilling people.
3. More flexibility from employers.

The class got to take a bus tour of Newport community and economic development projects hosted by Jon Chadwell, the Community and Economic Development director for the Newport Economic Development Commission. He talked about the downtown area clean-up efforts so as not to have the “Monica Closet” effect. The old train depot is now an incubator for start-up businesses; the old bank is being converted into a wedding venue, and the old jail now serves as a women’s shelter. He told the group that the old courthouse is one of the oldest ones still in use. It was built in 1893.  We got to experience a crypto farm at the edge of town.

The Newport school system is experiencing growth after going many years with losing an average of 60 students/year for 10 years. There are 1,200 students K-12. They also host the largest strawberry farms in the state with Bill’s Berries. The prison farm grows its own vegetables and soybeans. Near the prison is a medical marijuana facility. The state prison system is the largest employer in Jackson County. We also learned that the crime and health statistics from the prison are included in the city/county statistics. Those statistics skew the statistics for the city/county, making them appear to have higher crime and STD outbreaks than actuality.  Housing continues to and issue in Newport, the last subdivision was built in 1984.

Chadwell went on to show us the Airbase Industrial Park, where the ASU-Newport campus is housed, a tech center for high school students, a lineman tech program, a Shears factory where On the Border Chips are manufactured, and Delta stock trailers. Jackson County has the fourth-highest wages in Arkansas, and he stated that “collaboration is key.”  We also saw two steel mills: one makes railroad tie plates, and the other makes railcar components. The armory was turned into a youth community center. 

After a fabulous lunch of pho and gumbo, we heard from Federal and State Development Resource panelists.  We learned that successful communities seek grants that fit their needs, seek information, try to establish relationships with funders, do research and talk to previous grant recipients, and use the same language as grantor/funder when filling out grant applications.

We heard from Esperanza Massana-Craine from the Small & Minority Businesses Resources section of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. She informed the class that Arkansas is the third least expensive state to start a business. She shared steps on how to apply for assistance from the AEBC.

The Utility Partners and Economic Development Panel discussed why utilities get involved with community and economic development. They want to help communities grow and add new jobs to the region. The #1 reason is the quality of life for Arkansans. They discussed how communities could be more competitive:

1. Have an economic developer as a point of contact.
2. Having a site or building a company can utilize.
3. Workforce.
4. Housing.

Economic development should be a holistic approach. Many utilities have resource sites on their web pages. These sites help communities prepare for economic development opportunities. They also shared that each community needs to have a unique experience for each entity that visits it.

We wrapped up the day with Chadwell giving an overview of the Economic Development process. Some of the take-home points were:

• Economic development brings money into the circle.
• Community development circulates money within the community.
• What the high schools and colleges prepping students for (workforce development).
• Look at infrastructure and its capacity.
• Build and promote community work inside out.
• Grow the community in which we want to live.

LeadAR is a program designed to help Arkansans broaden their understanding of issues and opportunities facing our state and strengthen their ability to make a difference. For more information about LeadAR, visit the website or contact Robinson, jrobinson@uada.edu, or Lisa Davis, ldavis@uada.edu.