Phillips County’s newest industry Delta Yams is already getting ready for an expansion and this comes after only a year of operation.

Over a million dollars has been made available through a grant of $700,000 from the U.S. Department of Commerce-Economic Development Administration and another $300,000 from the state Department of Economic Development for the expansion of Delta Yams, located on Highway 49, just west of Barton. However, that expansion’s success depends on the participation of six additional new sweet potato growers.

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, Entergy Arkansas presented Southern Good Faith Fund with the “Making Things Brighter Award in Community Leadership” at their Low-Income Advocates Leadership and Community Development Conference. This is an annual award to recognize contributions made in improving the lives of low-income families.

HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. (AP) – Helena-West Helena city officials and a community-driven Delta Bridge Project are in their fifth year of economic development work in the pre-Civil War town, the seat of one of the poorest counties in the country.

The Delta Bridge Project initiative has leveraged more than $60 million to revitalize Phillips County. Also, a voter-approved 2-cent city sales tax has generated more than $1.1 million for city services since July 2007.

PINE BLUFF- A hot summer in a struggling economy has left more elderly and disabled customers than normal unable to pay their energy bills, nearly depleting the funds available to low-income Arkansans through Entergy Arkansas’s Power to Care program.

Formerly known as Project Deserve, Power to Care is a program funded by contributions from Entergy Arkansas customers, employees, retirees, and shareholders to help our less fortunate customers pay their energy bill during times of financial crisis. The fund is administered by Southern Good Faith Fund (SGFF) of Pine Bluff.

HELENA-WEST HELENA – It’s one of those deadly hot days in the Mississippi River Delta, the kind that gave the region’s famed blues musicians more reason to shuffle and moan.

Only a handful of people walk the downtown streets. One woman among them shouts as she hurries into an air-conditioned building: “Not a good time to visit the Delta.”

The Arkadelphia City Board passed three resolutions Thursday night: one concerning a 5 mill tax against personal property, one that adopts the Clark County Hazard Mitigation Plan and one applying for a parks improvement grant.

The first ordinance was the third and final reading of a 5 mill tax against real and personal property – a resolution the Clark County Quorum Court requires the board to pass each year.

On Saturday night, SGFF won the 2008 Economic Leadership Award from the Arkansas Citizens First Congress and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. The award is “in recognition of your leadership, dedication, commitment, and positive impact on personal and community assets.”

Clark County leaders spoke in front of a group of state representatives and senators Monday night at the DeGray Lake Lodge about economic development. The meeting was the first of two, with a second taking place today at Henderson State University dealing with highway.

“We’re on the brink of something big, and we wanted to share with them the good news,” Dr. Johnnie Roebuck, state representative, said.

A National Historic Landmark, the church was built by a black architect and was pastured by Rev. Elias Camp Morris, the first president of the National Baptist Convention USA, now the largest and oldest African-American religious organization in the country.

Several junior high and high school students from Clark County attended the “What’s Next” education forum at Ouachita Baptist University’s Walker Conference Center on Saturday.