Hope Lions Hear Program on Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation
(pictured are Office Manager/Program Coordinator Brandi Tuttle and EDC President Anna Powell)
The Hope Lions Club heard from the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation on Monday (4-29). Anna Powell, President, explained the make-up of the EDC which includes two members from the quorum court, two members from the City Board, ex-officio members including our local representatives in the legislature, the chancellor of UAHT, County Judge Jerry Crane, and City Manager J.R. Wilson. There also elected members from the investor group. Powell noted there are about thirty private investors and three people are elected from this membership each year. The EDC is funded by contracts from the county, the city of Hope, and Hope Water & Light. Other funding comes from the membership investment for both individuals and local companies.
Powell noted the board and members of the EDC have wanted the organization to have more of a public presence and make the community aware of what they do. Powell has made it a priority to speak to local groups such as the Lions and the group has also been more active on Facebook in the past six months. This also includes working with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and especially that organization’s Arkansas Small Business Development Technology Center. She also works with the Business Development Division where leads come from for site selection and prospects. Powell says they work with project managers almost daily.
Powell joined the EDC in June of last year. She said in that time they’ve worked on about 15 projects. The majority came from the state and there were a couple of projects that came in directly. Powell also noted they also get calls that are scams and are nothing more than a person or organization simply trying to get incentive money. She noted Hope does not have a tax to support local incentives for bringing in new companies or helping existing industries expand. A quarter-cent tax for economic development was proposed in 2022 but was voted down. Because of this, Hempstead County can’t always be as competitive in getting a new industry. Powell says one of her goals is to create education around what these incentive packages are used for and how they can be important to potential growth, business retention, and expansion.
The EDC markets property according to Powell. “We market property on behalf of individuals, we market property on behalf of Hope Water & Light, we market property on behalf of the city of Hope. If the county had property, we would market that too,” said Powell. This is to attract new business and industry to the area. She noted they use a tool in partnership with the state economic development office called “Arkansas Site Selection”. Powell said they want to increase the number of certified sites they have in the area. Last year the EDC hosted a site selection and real estate class. This led to the EDC being invited to market a large piece of privately-owned property locally. Powell said the site selection and real estate class involved local realtors. Powell said they had recently updated a video and information on the Arkansas Site Selection website for the Porter Building Supply property.
The EDC hosts an annual meeting in conjunction with “Explore Success”, a career exploration day at Hempstead Hall. This is to work with southwest Arkansas students who are interested in manufacturing. Another program the EDC had was a Wadley/Pafford partnership lunch which discussed all of the healthcare offerings the hospital and Pafford offers as well as what the community needs to do to support those. Powell also talked about the “mayor’s summit” the EDC hosted for Hempstead County mayors together to talk about opportunities on grants and tools the EDC can offer them. Powell also talked about the Arkansas Broadband Leadership Network and the efforts locally to check broadband speeds. Powell said the EDC has been able to promote their marketing efforts statewide. Another effort the EDC had undertaken is working with Leadership Hope/Hempstead County, a program through the Chamber of Commerce to grow leaders in the area. Powell also noted the EDC is part of the Southwest Arkansas Regional Intermodal Authority and they hosted a meeting involving people from seven counties recently in Hope.
Powell shared some informational material the EDC has prepared. For instance, one detailed Hempstead County Forests and the Forest Industry locally from 2021. This material detailed the forest types in Hempstead County (Pine, Oak, Hickory, Bottomland Hardwoods) as well as the product class timber in Hempstead County, the number of jobs related to forestry (282 in 2021), and income both for labor and the industry (both of these were in the tens of millions).
Powell noted she likes to work with reinvestment by existing industries in Hempstead County. She said this means these companies intend to stay in our area when they reinvest and initiate capital improvement projects.
Some of the things potential industries want to know about include potable water, electricity, sewer, waste water, and broadband. The EDC has 13 properties listed on Arkansas Site Selection with information on these topics.
Powell said the EDC is excited they will soon be listing a 450-acre site on their website. This is across from Wal-Mart and is privately owned and represented by a realty company. The property connects both sides of I-30.
The EDC has completed the qualifications for becoming an “ACT Work Ready Community”. The previous EDC President, Steve Harris, had gotten the EDC to completing 98% of the requirements. Powell said they worked with the college to complete the qualifications and receive the certification.
Powell talked about marketing to international companies and noted there are four here now including J & S Metals, Holsom, Funder America, and Old Castle.
A marketing video was also shown to the Lions and the program ended with some questions from the Lions.