As more and more Arkansans enter the marketplace, it's important to have jobs for them. However, our fair state has never seen a job it didn't like, and there are bad jobs.
Are we still recruiting bad jobs? You bet we are! It can be a hog farm on the Buffalo National River watershed, or a polluting pulp mill, or a maximum security prison. "Bring 'em on if they create jobs" seems our goal.
During the six years I served on what was then the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, when a potential threat to the environment came up in considering a permit the question was "How many jobs will that create?" Not "How will this plant or permit impact our environment?" In the past, and sadly even today, any job created in the state is welcome with open arms. A lot of jobs here today came because we had and still have lax environmental regulations.
Times have changed in our country, but has our state changed? Or do we still follow the old mantra that there are no bad jobs? Let's consider a few facts.
• The country is at full employment, and there are over 6 million want ads out there looking for workers. If you have a pulse, you can find a job.
• We should only recruit good jobs, but we don't. If a job has a negative impact on air, water, and land in the state, it's not a job we want. The hog farm on the Buffalo National River watershed flashes before my eyes, but it's not the only source of bad jobs.
• You can't process pulp without some pollution, and we already do our nation's share of pulp wood processing. A Chinese pulp mill is coming to Gum Springs, five miles from Arkadelphia, and unless the Chinese have come up with a non-polluting paper mill, you can't process pulp without some pollution. Anyone who has been anywhere within 20 miles of a paper mill knows the smell; I've caught a whiff of the mill near Pine Bluff in Little Rock. So when the fans sitting in the stands during the college football rivalry that is Battle of the Ravine get a snootful of paper processing that will make them want to gag, will they just say, "Oh, wonderful. It smells like jobs and money"?
I opposed that paper mill when Union County was in the running for the plant, and a few years back when Union County was close to getting a new maximum security prison, I and others opposed it.
Where are the good jobs? There are thousands of skilled high-tech workers who live in mega-cities, and they want out. Some are looking to retire early, and others have had it with traffic, pollution, and hectic two-hour commutes. They're looking to relocate. They want a smaller attractive town with a mild climate that offers the amenities they have become accustomed to having. The towns and states that attract these skilled individuals will prosper in the 21st century.
The bad news is we have very few if any towns that have all of what these individuals want. But the good news is the items they want are the same things we want. These individuals have jobs, and the last thing on their list is an empty industrial park. Our state has dozens of vacant or near-vacant industrial parks that should be turned into quality subdivisions.
But let's cut to the chase. These skilled workers want good entertainment, quality restaurants, good schools, an attractive downtown, and a low crime rate. So let's get after it. Stop trying to win the jobs lottery, and cut out the junkets to China. if we really want to have growing and vital towns, we will spend what it takes to create these amenities. If we don't, many of our towns will slowly waste away.
But there are ways to stem the outflow.
El Dorado hired Roger Brooks, a destination expert from Seattle, to turn the city around, and that is exactly what the Murphy Arts District intends to do. Mr. Brooks said, "If a town doesn't become a destination for people to visit, it will slowly lose population and one day cease to exist."
Results so far are encouraging. The recent opening of Phase One--the Griffin Restaurant, MAD Amphitheater, and MAD Music Hal--drew crowds larger than the population of El Dorado. Phase One is still a work in progress, and the largest children's PlayScape in the state will open May 15.
Phase Two will add an 8,000-square-foot art gallery with exhibits from regional and national museums. The final part of the project will be the renovation of the crown jewel, the Rialto Theater, which will be a Lincoln Center-quality venue.
Not every town can be an entertainment destination, but our state has such an abundance of natural beauty that by focusing our efforts and building on that natural beauty, we could provide many of the amenities these skilled workers are looking for. If we use our limited funds wisely to enhance our towns, we will not only create jobs. We will increase the quality of life for all of us.
Richard Mason is a registered professional geologist, downtown developer, former chairman of the Department of Environmental Quality Board of Commissioners, past president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, and syndicated columnist. Email richard@gibraltarenergy.com.
Editorial on 03/18/2018