Bank will form plan for Pine Bluff

Simmons seeking ideas to reverse population decline

PINE BLUFF -- Simmons First National Bank executives announced Monday that they will form a strategic plan for Pine Bluff that is designed to grow the city's shrinking tax base and improve quality of life.

The idea behind the "Go Forward Pine Bluff Task Force," as the effort has been branded, is to figure out where financial help is needed and funnel ideas and dollars to those areas, said George Makris, chairman and chief executive officer of Pine Bluff-based Simmons Bank.

Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth called Monday "a wonderful day for our city. This is what we have been waiting for."

Pine Bluff has lost more than 17 percent of its population over the past 15 years. The U.S. census puts the city's 2014 population at 45,332, meaning fewer taxpayers and others contributing to the local economy.

Many businesses have closed their doors or moved out of town in the past 15 years, as well.

Earlier this year, Simmons announced a plan to finance economic development in the city, but bank officials soon realized that they needed a more precise "must-do" map before implementing it, Makris said.

The plan involved spending $2 million to redevelop downtown; establishing a pool of $2 million for low-interest, owner-occupied home improvement loans; $5 million for non-owner-occupied low-interest improvement loans; $5 million for owner-occupied commercial property low-interest improvement loans; and establishing a downtown planning group.

Simmons also proposed funding a complete redevelopment plan for downtown.

A coalition of Pine Bluff civic, government and business leaders will form ideas about where help is needed most. The planning effort is being funded by Simmons Bank through a donation to the Simmons First Foundation.

Makris didn't announce an amount for the grant, saying only that "money will be there for the work that needs to get done."

The foundation will manage the project and approve any improvement plans funded by the bank, he said.

"We're hopeful that the Go Forward Pine Bluff process will help pinpoint how to direct our efforts most effectively," Makris said.

"We believe that the Simmons First Foundation is the appropriate vehicle for this project. If successful, Simmons can use the foundation to replicate the program in other communities we serve in our banking footprint."

Execution of the plan's objectives will begin in January 2017 with a planned completion date of Dec. 31, 2018.

Simmons First Foundation board member Mary Pringos, who will serve as chairman of the task force, said the city must redefine itself to move forward in the next decade.

"For the plan to be successful, all sectors of the community must be involved in the planning process," she said. "What we don't want is a report that will sit on a shelf and gather dust. The objective is to produce a plan that the community buys into, one that establishes clear, measurable goals and has concrete steps for achieving those goals."

In addition to Pringos, task force members include Tommy May, chief executive officer of the Simmons First Foundation; former Pine Bluff Alderman Irene Holcomb; Pine Bluff Alderman George Stepps; Pine Bluff Commercial Editor and Publisher Byron Tate; University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Chancellor Laurence Alexander; the Rev. Glenn Barnes; Chuck Morgan, president and CEO of Relyance Bank; Lou Ann Nesbitt, president and CEO of the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Economic Development Alliance; and attorney Catherine Smart.

Task force members will determine who serves on four pillar steering committees, according to the plan. Five core members for each pillar group will be selected by the task force, and a task force member will serve on each pillar steering committee as a resource.

Other participants will be selected through an application process. Applications to serve on the steering committees are available through the Simmons First Foundation and will be accepted through Dec. 15. The steering committees will hold their first meetings in January and present a final plan by the end of November 2016.

The process will be facilitated by the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the institute's executive director, Jim Youngquist.

Pringos said she hopes to be able to point to "visible results" within two years, adding: "The bottom line is that the city must decide where it wants to go and then start down that path. The plan will be our road map for the future. Our ultimate goal is to make Pine Bluff a city that people want to call home."

State Desk on 11/24/2015

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