It's possible you looked right past what I'll argue is one of the state's more meaningful economic development announcements last week.
As is customary with company growth of a certain size, we wrote a brief about Southworth Products Corp. adding 35 jobs in Mississippi County. There are places in the state where the addition of 35 jobs barely registers.
We've all heard projections in the past that Northwest Arkansas, for example, was adding nearly 30 jobs per day during certain stretches. So an announcement that size is easy to dismiss as routine until you consider the realities facing Manila, a northeast Arkansas town of 3,200, and other communities in Mississippi County.
Certainly, there have been larger developments in the area. Big River Steel is employing about 1,800 in Osceola during construction. Once operational the plant will employ more than 500 workers daily.
But there are only so many Big River Steel projects. And, as the closings of textile plants and Eaker Air Force Base at Blytheville in previous decades remind folks, an area can't rely on only one or two major employers to survive.
So the addition of 35 jobs in a town of 3,200, most of whom commute to neighboring towns for work, matters. It's why you saw Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director Mike Preston on hand to deliver news that Southworth, which already employs about 140 people, would expand.
About 2,500 jobs have been added to Mississippi County over the last decade.
Clif Chitwood, executive director of the Great River Economic Development Foundation, and other area leaders point to a half-percent sales tax approved by Mississippi County voters in 2003 as key to the jobs that have been added. Only 63 votes wound up being the difference that meant an extra $2.5 million a year earmarked for industrial recruiting when the measure was first proposed.
It was extended until 2023 after a 2009 vote.
Southworth serves as an example of how the money is being used to entice growth from existing companies. Mississippi County pledged $350,000 -- $10,000 per job created -- to help the company with its expansion into a building owned by the city of Manila. Through AEDC, the state matched that $350,000 with economic development incentives for Southworth.
Each job announcement -- 500 at Big River Steel or 35 at Southworth -- leaves folks in the county optimistic that maybe they can turn the corner.
"It's a difficult fight," Chitwood said. "But if your community has made a decision that it wants to survive and go on, which Mississippi County has done through two votes, you're talking about the opportunity to make a positive impact, whether it's 35 jobs in a town of 3,000 people or something larger. Any growth matters."
If you have a tip, call Chris Bahn at (479) 365-2972 or email him at cbahn@nwaonline.com
SundayMonday Business on 01/10/2016