Pulaski County does not have the land and buildings necessary to attract businesses, Jay Chesshir, chief executive officer of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Monday.
That was one of the findings of a strategic plan for economic development for Pulaski County through 2020. The MetRock 2020 plan was unveiled during a program at the chamber office.
The plan highlights the need for a business park to house a new generation of logistics and distribution businesses in Pulaski County, Chesshir said.
"Do we have the land and buildings available for existing business to expand and for new businesses to locate within our region?" Chesshir asked. "The short answer is no. We know that we are losing projects because we do not have a competitive product offering for most of our key sectors."
The plan includes a focus on six areas: business vitality and policy; infrastructure and product; marketing and communications; entrepreneurship and innovation; workforce talent and community vitality.
"While we have a lot of work ahead to remain competitive for jobs and investment, we need to focus on each of these six areas," Chesshir said in a prepared statement. "Economic development is not just about working deals. We need to make sure we are investing in our total community product, which will lead to additional successful expansion and new location decisions, and most importantly, growing the economy for all."
At least two sectors have potential to grow by double-digit percentage levels by 2020.
Advanced manufacturing, which has more than 3,800 jobs in Pulaski County, has the potential of 16 percent growth by 2020. The health care sector, which has more than 34,000 jobs in Pulaski County, has the potential for 11 percent growth in the county by 2020.
The MetRock 2020 plan will be adaptable if necessary, Chesshir said.
He gave the example of the Little Rock Technology Park, which began out of the medical field, Chesshir said.
The park now hosts 44 companies, many involved in financial services. Another company, Bond.AI, a startup firm from last year's financial technology accelerator program, has decided to move its headquarters to Little Rock, Chesshir said.
"We want to be nimble enough to take advantage of the opportunities we have today but flexible enough to look at what the future includes," Chesshir said.
A team of 17 community and business leaders worked with more than 500 others through interviews, focus groups and surveys. They spent nine months developing the plan with Boyette Strategic Advisors, an economic development strategy firm in Little Rock.
The process included comparing Little Rock with area cities that are its competitors, said Rick Riley, chief executive officer of Entergy Arkansas and chairman of the chamber's economic development committee.
The complete report will be available on the chamber's website, littlerockchamber.com, at a later date, Riley said.
Business on 05/01/2018