BENTONVILLE -- "We are open for business and we are business friendly," Mayor Peter Christie of Bella Vista declared Friday morning.
Christie was a speaker at the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce's Business Matters Breakfast at Avondale Chapel.
At A Glance
Metropolitan Area
The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area (often referred to as Northwest Arkansas) is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a four-county area including three Arkansas counties and one Missouri county. The area is anchored by the Arkansas cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville — the state’s third, fourth, eighth, and 11th largest cities, respectively. The region had an estimated population of 487,525 in 2013, growing from a 2000 Census population of 347,045 and a 2010 Census population of 463,204.
Source: Northwest Arkansas Council
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin, Benton County Judge Bob Clinard and Mike Malone, president of the Northwest Arkansas Council, also addressed the group. Third District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, offered a quick update on issues facing the federal government.
Bella Vista is changing, shifting from the retirement community demographic that characterized the community for many years to a younger population, Christie said. About 48 percent of people in the city of 27,000 are under age 50, he said.
The city wants to attract new businesses, retain existing ones and expand its infrastructure, Christie said.
"I need headlights," he said. "I've got to see what's going to happen in the future. None of these initiatives are exclusive. They are all mutually inclusive."
Bentonville also is seeing growth and reaping the benefits of it, McCaslin said. The city's 21c Museum Hotel recently was recognized as the seventh best in the nation among a group of several thousand hotels, he said.
"We're getting notoriety we never thought possible," he said.
Bentonville also wants to attract new growth and investment, although McCaslin added growth in the region benefits everyone.
"If it's invested in Rogers, we win. If it's invested in Springdale, we win. If it's invested in Fayetteville, we win. But in that 'Friday night' mentality, I want it to be in Bentonville," he said, referring to community sports rivalries typically played out on Friday night.
Bentonville has been able to handle growth and provide corresponding growth in city services like streets or parks and recreation by managing its money conservatively, he said.
"Bentonville is not floating in money, but we don't live hand to mouth," McCaslin said.
The city intentionally overstates likely expenses and underestimates anticipated revenue, budgeting for the worst-case scenario, McCaslin said. He suggested to Womack the federal government should do the same.
"I will tell you, Congressman, that is a good way to run a government," McCaslin said.
Clinard said he and the county's other elected officials have built a team of employees who have broken out of the stereotype of government workers, one Clinard said he may have shared before he became involved in government.
"Some people have the picture of one guy digging with a shovel and three guys watching," he said. "That's not the way it is."
The growth of the cities influences the demands on county government, Clinard said. County roads are being used more and more by commuters who drive to and from jobs in the cities. The planned Bentonville West High School in Centerton will affect county roads and state highways and not just that city's streets, he said.
The growth of the county and cities has stretched county resources and has created a need for improvements that will accommodate growth now and into the future. The plan for a new courts building is one such response to growth, Clinard said.
"We need to come up with a plan we can all live with," he said "A plan our kids can live with, our grandkids and their kids."
Northwest Arkansas leads the state and nation in economic growth in many ways, Malone said. He cited growth in population, in jobs, in highway construction and also pointed to growth in cultural and recreational opportunities such as the Razorback Greenway that will stretch for 36 miles and tie the region together from Bella Vista to Fayetteville.
"We've doubled the U.S. growth rate and nearly tripled the Arkansas growth rate," he said. "And we were a big part of that Arkansas growth rate."
The region already has reached the goals set out in a 2010 five-year development strategy that brought together cities, counties, businesses, chambers of commerce and nonprofit entities, he said. Work will begin soon on another plan. One key of the that plan, he said, will be to meet the needs of the region's booming businesses.
"We've got employers who are desperate for talent," he said. "The work of the next few years will be how to fill the talent pipeline."
NW News on 01/24/2015