Economic development work is necessary for Arkansas. It is critical to the success and well-being of the state.
Feel free to attach any number of noble descriptors to the job being performed by folks at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Certainly, their efforts can be rewarding. But is it, you know, cool? How hip is it to come up with a mix of economic incentives that attracts an employer to the state or keeps one here?
A trio of grants issued by the agency over the past year just might fit the description. For all the good that the economic development commission has done in the state, there is a certain amount of pride that accompanies these three grants in particular because of what Executive Director Grant Tennille describes as their "cool factor."
Core Brewing and Distilling in Springdale received $50,000 from the commission's economic infrastructure fund. Diamond Bear Brewing received $116,000 from the Governor's Quick Action Closing Fund, and international bicycle company Orbea, whose U.S. headquarters is in downtown Little Rock, received $100,000 from the quick action fund.
Diamond Bear's move into the old Orbea location in North Little Rock was aided by the grant money. Likewise, Orbea moved into a new spot in downtown Little Rock with assistance from the state. Core used the funds to help start its canning line.
Tennille and I visited recently to discuss the work of the commission and how that might look different in Little Rock as opposed to Fayetteville. We talked through the uniqueness of the economies in Northwest and central Arkansas and the friction that sometimes exists between the two. When the conversation turned to how the commission viewed quality-of-life amenities as a recruiting and retention tool, Tennille told me about the awards for Core, Diamond Bear and Orbea.
None of the three will employ 500 as is projected for the $1.3 billion Big River Steel project in Osceola. Nor will they generate an additional 975 jobs over the next 10 years like the new $30 million corporate headquarters of ArcBest.
Still, the commission saw the incentives as being in line with their mission.
"We did it, not because either one is going to employ a few hundred next week, but because I really believe you need those sorts of amenities in your community to help the cool factor," Tennille said. "It makes a little bit of a statement about your community.We need to create an image of a place that defies expectations. That's what this quality-of-life stuff is about."
Central Arkansas -- specifically the Little Rock metropolitan statistical area -- is home to six publicly traded companies. Northwest Arkansas -- Benton and Washington counties in particular -- has five of the companies on our Arkansas Index. As we detail elsewhere in the section, the Little Rock economy is often tied to the finance, government and health care sectors, while Northwest Arkansas is built around retail and logistics.
For all that's different between the two regions, they find common ground in needing to recruit workers. Once those workers are recruited, they need to be retained.
Craft breweries and trail systems have the potential to be draws right alongside the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock and Verizon Arena in North Little Rock or Crystal Bridges in Bentonville and the Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers.
While bicycles and beer might, on the surface, seem like an odd investment for an agency that exists to "stimulate job creation, retention, and capital investment and to support and increase the development capacity of communities," these are expenditures that Tennille stands behind. Arkansas is often trying to attract the best and brightest from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and beyond, so the more, well, cool the town and state, the better for economic developers.
"We need to be in the surprise and delight business," Tennille said. "Because we're not, well, we don't have the storied history of any of the cities or states on the coasts. We're not St. Louis. We're not Dallas. This is Arkansas and we're often not the first on anybody's list, but once people come to look, though, it makes an impression."
If you have a tip, call Chris Bahn at (479) 365-2972 or email him at cbahn@nwaonline.com
SundayMonday Business on 10/19/2014