BUSINESS MATTERS

A half-million reasons for region to celebrate

Generally, if a company or organization breaks out a special social media hashtag, you know they're excited about something. Doesn't always means it's something important, but you know they're excited.

So what should we make of the Northwest Arkansas Council unveiling #NWA500K to help celebrate what the council regards as a significant milestone: 500,000 people living in the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area (Washington, Benton and Madison counties in Arkansas and McDonald County in Missouri)?

Council President and CEO Mike Malone sat down to explain the importance. A transcript of our chat, slightly edited for space and organization, follows:

Why does 500,000 matter?

It's an indication we're doing a lot of things well. In practical terms it will put us on the list and in the conversation for more business relocation opportunities. We understand some site selectors won't even give an area a look if you're under a half-million people. Some retailers look for a metro area of 500,000-plus. It puts us on more lists and gets us under consideration for a lot more opportunities. Continued growth, if it's high-quality growth, sets us up well for some of the quality-of-life amenities we want.

How accurate is the number?

We don't know precisely. We don't. Using the rate of growth, the most recent census estimates, it's our best guess. It might be next month. It could have been last week. We're talking about the census-defined MSA. If you think about Carroll County, the census bureau doesn't define it as part of our MSA, but they're part of Northwest Arkansas. People live there. They work there. They're going there for recreation. If you add Carroll County and other surrounding counties, we've been at a half million for a long time.

It's hard to sum up 20-plus years of growth in a few bullet points, but I'll ask anyway.

Homegrown flagship industries [Wal-Mart, Tyson, J.B. Hunt] are a big piece of that. They've all grown at a great rate, almost simultaneously. A flagship research institution and higher ed in addition to those industries is great. The growth of suppliers and service industries to support the large employers has been a key component. The recent emergence of start-up, small and even mid-sized industries is what we think is going to really propel us the next couple years.

Estimated population has doubled since 1990. Should we realistically expect or, better yet, want that to continue?

I think the growth is a great thing. It adds to the richness and makes it an interesting place to live. We've got people who have moved here from all over the world, various culture, various faiths, various ethnicities, and it really makes Northwest Arkansas a very interesting place to be. I think if we continue the focus on high-quality jobs, higher-wage employment, then growth is a great thing. If we're going to continue to grow, let's be deliberate about it and do it in a way that's real thoughtful and sets us up well for the future.

On the subject of thoughtful growth, how often does the council re-evaluate its goals?

In January 2011, we released the communities' five-year blueprint for growing jobs and growing economic opportunity in Northwest Arkansas. A lot of the work in that five-year plan has been accomplished or put in place, and we're at a point of just maintaining what's been developed. So we're already starting to think about what future regional priorities need to be to make sure we grow in a smart way.

There are surely some challenges at 500,000. Traffic ...

I know. I know. Our infrastructure is never going to get ahead; the best we can do is try to catch up and keep pace. We're always going to have highway needs. We've got a need for more investment in transit in our region. ... A focus on livable, walkable communities that provide young, creative talent with great experiences is something we need to compete. Our median age is lower than the U.S. and most of our peers, so making sure we're training the next generation of leaders and connecting them with jobs and community opportunities to feel engaged is a challenge. We've got to get that right.

Do other communities reach out for advice?

We're having a lot of partnership discussions with other parts of the state. ... We've been talking to central Arkansas about economic development and workforce initiatives. We've been talking to Fort Smith and the River Valley leaders about a system of way-finding signage. Our trail system has drawn interest.

We built an economic development strategy and part of that is bench marking yourself with regions you compete with or aspire to compete with. We're starting to see some examples where other areas are benchmarking against Northwest Arkansas.

That's pretty neat to see.

SundayMonday Business on 06/01/2014

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