Several organizations in the Federal Reserve’s Eighth District states are among 73 recipients of federal Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awards.

The City of Arkadelphia is the first recipient of the Arkansas Entrepreneurial Community of the Year Award presented by the Arkansas Small Business Development Center (ASBDC). The award recognizes Arkadelphia’s organized efforts to assist and encourage entrepreneurial activities.

Arkadelphia’s community and economic development strategy includes nurturing new and existing small businesses. A central component of these efforts is the completion of the Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative survey.

The six subcommittees of the Clark County Strategic Plan are prepared to begin working, thanks to a training session Monday afternoon. Ed Bee, director of Taimerica, the firm hired to facilitate the planning process, gave the leaders of the subcommittees some guidance about their duties.

Clark County has seen virtually no population growth in the last 10 years, according to information gathered by Taimerica, a consulting company hired to facilitate the Clark County Strategic Planning process.

Ed Bee, president of Taimerica, presented the information to the planning committee Tuesday night at Central Primary School.

Residents of Clark County feel the community has many strengths, including low crime rate, air quality and adequate health care, but are dissatisfied with local government and leadership. The results of a survey were announced Tuesday evening during the county’s Strategic Planning Committee meeting at Central Primary School.

The first of a series of subcommittee meetings of the Clark County Strategic Plan Committee will be at 6 p.m. today in the Caplinger Airway Science Lecture Hall at Henderson State University.

According to Dr. Wesley Kluck and Dr. Alan Wright, the first session will allow subcommittee chairmen and advisors to meet with the plan’s facilitator, Ed Bee.

Planters Service and Sales Inc. announced plans Friday to build a modular biodiesel plant on Highway 20 south of Helena-West Helena.

The community survey part of the Clark County Strategic Plan (CCSP) has closed and the results will be announced next Tuesday evening during the next meeting of the committee.

The survey was conducted by Taimerica, a consulting firm hired to facilitate the creation of Clark County’s Strategic Development Plan.

With all the planning for the future taking place in Clark County, some confusion is perhaps inevitable, according to Dr. Wesley Kluck, one of the chairmen of the Clark County Strategic Planning Committee.

Kluck recently aided the Arkadelphia Planning Commission by distributing information about a design charrette for the Comprehensive Development Plan.

A new UNEP FI report assesses how investment banks are integrating environmental, social, and governance factors and linking them to financial performance in their research.