Anticipating infrastructure needs, improving workforce development and creating a succession plan for current regional leadership are among the key elements of a three-year strategic plan unveiled Tuesday by the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Civic and corporate leaders -- including Tyson Foods CEO Donnie Smith and Sam's Club CEO Rosalind Brewer, the council's current presiding co-chairman -- attended the council's winter meeting. A five-year plan for the region implemented in 2011 was retired last year.
Northwest Arkansas is benchmarking itself against a new peer group as part of its 2015-17 regional development strategy. Below are the regions and how Northwest Arkansas compares in rankings
compiled by AreaDevelopment.com.
Region Overall Rank Workforce Year-to-Year Growth
Northwest Arkansas 69 32 45
Austin, Texas 15 63 42
Des Moines, Iowa 29 29 54
Madison, Wisc. 45 2 130
Raleigh-Durham, N.C. 55 43 102
Under the new plan -- the Greater Northwest Arkansas Development Strategy for 2015-17 -- the council is asking regional leaders to focus on regional stewardship, economic development, infrastructure and workforce development as the four key areas. A list of 15 priorities includes a 25-year infrastructure capacity plan, continuing attempts at improving multimodal transportation in Northwest Arkansas, better marketing efforts for the region and increased emphasis on promoting racial, cultural and ethic diversity.
"There is already a lot of great work being done in the region," Northwest Arkansas Council President and CEO Mike Malone said. "We're filling gaps that may still exist and adding key pieces to the foundation that's already in place. These are things that are easy to say and challenging to do, but this area does challenging things."
Northwest Arkansas is now home to more than 505,000 residents, an increase of 7.5 percent since the original strategic plan was announced in 2011. That compares with a 3.1 percent increase nationally and 1.5 percent for the state during the same time period.
Unemployment in Northwest Arkansas was at 3.9 percent in November 2014, a decrease of 45 percent over the past four years. Nationally, unemployment was down 40 percent over the same span and it fell 27 percent in Arkansas.
Employment grew 9.5 percent in Northwest Arkansas during that same span, compared with 7.1 percent nationally and 3.2 percent in the state. Wages improved 16 percent in Northwest Arkansas, 7.4 percent in Arkansas overall and 6.5 percent nationally during the four-year period.
Capitalizing on that growth is critical to the region, said consultant Ted Abernathy, who works in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and helped develop the Northwest Arkansas plan.
Part of the new strategic plan includes using a different peer group for Northwest Arkansas to measure itself against. Raleigh-Durham; Austin, Texas; and Des Moines, Iowa, are among those that will now be used as benchmarks. Marketing to outsiders the way those regions have will be key, Abernathy said.
"How many of those regions think they're competing with you?" Abernathy said. "Who is worrying about Northwest Arkansas, thinking y'all are going to kick their butt? Y'all are sneaky."
Part of the plan for workforce development includes better equipping high school and college graduates for jobs that are in demand in the region. Another key piece of the plan includes better recruitment and retention of employees who originated outside the region and state.
Northwest Arkansas is outpacing the South, Arkansas and the United States in growth among the population between the ages of 25-44, according to data presented by Abernathy. Finding additional ways to keep those workers and attracting more is important for the region, Brewer said.
"This workforce development piece will probably be the most critical work we can ever do. Then everything else falls into place," Brewer said. "The one thing we don't want is to have the employers here compete for the same talent pool. That won't work. It won't allow us to grow."
Business on 01/28/2015