Hope Completes Prospect Readiness Education Program

By Staff, 03/10/17 10:03 AM

HOPE – Hope has successfully completed the requirements for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s (AEDC) Prospect Readiness Education Program (PREP), and was awarded with the certificate for such Friday morning.

PREP offers communities hands-on training on all aspects of the economic development visit. The program provides local economic development teams with the necessary training and resources to properly prepare for, execute and follow-up on prospect visits to their respective communities. To date, fifteen Arkansas communities have completed the program.

“The Arkansas communities that have completed PREP are always well prepared with information and tools when it comes to working with prospective companies,” said Mike Preston, executive director of AEDC. “Small details matter in the site-selection process. Hope now has an advantage over competitors as local leaders know the steps it takes to successfully work a new location or expansion project. I encourage any Arkansas community interested in economic growth to reach out to our community development team to learn more about this valuable program.”

Through PREP, community leaders in Hope have:

• Promoted team building and cohesion among community leadership that will have a role in the site-selection process for future economic growth.
• Enabled the community to be better prepared for prospect visits.
• Provided tools and resources to make Hope more competitive in the site-selection, particularly the site visit.
• Encouraged its local leaders to be more proactive in the site-selection process by developing local incentive programs.
• Learned about the site-selection process from start to finish.
• Developed comprehensible and achievable strategies that can be used during local site visits.

“The process of going through the training from AEDC has been beneficial to our local team in refining our presentation on community assets,” said Steve Harris, president of the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation. “We learned practical tips on handling prospect visits, being organized and prepared to showcase our community.”

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