CCSP talks broadband, renovations to downtown storefronts
Dr. Wesley Kluck spoke to the Economic Development Subcommittee of the Clark County Strategic Plan Monday about the possibility of bringing broadband Internet to all county residents.
Dr. Wesley Kluck spoke to the Economic Development Subcommittee of the Clark County Strategic Plan Monday about the possibility of bringing broadband Internet to all county residents.
Henderson State University’s Small Business and Technology Development Center, with the support of Southern Bancorp Capital Partners, City of Arkadelphia, Clark County, and Southern Bancorp, will offer a 10-session busniess training program beginning Sept. 3.
Del Boyette of Boyette Strategic Advisors met with the EDCCC Tuesday at Dawson Cooperative, giving the 15 voting members and others present an update on the “blueprints” his economic development firm has advised the county to follow.
Annual disaster drill to be Aug. 29
Extra state funding for fire protection will be shared by the fire departments in St. Francis County after a unanimous vote Wednesday by the mayors in the county.
The mayors also learned of a disaster drill planned for later this month.
Shane Dallas, Emergency Management Coordinator, discussed the extra money, made possible by Act 884, with the mayors. According to Dallas, the Act 884 funding is similar to the Act 833 funding which can be used for the purchase of firefighting equipment.
The Clark County Child Care Center celebrated 100 days of operation Friday, and parents who work odd hours are encouraged to apply for the services. The idea of a child care center came from the Clark County Strategic Plan, and was constructed by Southern Bancorp Community Development Corp. Gov. Mike Beebe was the guest speaker at the ribbon cutting of the facility’s opening, when Danfoss Scroll Technologies presented a $17,000 grant for playground equipment.
ARKADELPHIA—Southern Bancorp recently completed the acquisition of Timberland Bank of El Dorado, a $140 million community bank in south central Arkansas.
When people hear the words “economic development,” they think of manufacturing jobs or new industrial employers opening their doors. But it can mean much more. In Arkansas, we’re focusing our economic-development efforts on making lasting progress in our communities, especially in rural areas and in the Delta, where citizens have been underserved for far too long.
Note: Southern Bancorp provided a $100,000 grant to the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival in 2009.
Jul 23rd 2009 | MANCHESTER, TENNESSEE
From The Economist print edition
Music is big business in small towns
FOR most of the year, Manchester looks like any small Southern town. It nestles between Nashville and Chattanooga with a county courthouse flanked by war monuments, and a Wal-Mart on the outskirts of town.
Mother Nature more than cooperated with sunshine and fall-like temperatures Saturday for the official unveiling of the Civil War Helena Interpretive Plan. Optimism was the order of the day as a sizeable number of locals and out-of-state visitors turned out to witness what the residents of this Delta community hope to be a rebirth through tourism-generated dollars.
The time is rapidly approaching for Helena-West Helena and the Phillips County community to put up or shut up. On the surface that statement bay seem a little harsh or brash but think about it.
For almost three decades now, this area of the Delta has been trying to pull itself up by the bootstraps out of a hole that was dug when the family farms practically went belly up. For almost 30 years, Helena-West Helena and Phillips County have been trying to come up with a viable industry to come here and take roots. It simply hasn’t happened.