The continued economic and population growth of northwest Arkansas is almost a given. Combine the success of the region's major companies with the investments of the Walton Family Foundation in quality-of-life initiatives, and it's hard to think of many parts of America that have a more promising future. The good things happening in the state's northwest corner have kept many Arkansans from noticing that the Little Rock area has also been on a roll lately.
ManPowerGroup, a work-force solutions company in Milwaukee, produces an employment outlook survey each quarter. More than 7,700 interviews were conducted before the survey for the third quarter of 2020 was released. Of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, the Little Rock MSA ranked second for expected job growth. It trailed only Columbia, S.C.
In a rapidly urbanizing state where almost two-thirds of counties are losing population, it's vital that both northwest Arkansas and central Arkansas continue to prosper. As I contemplate the long-range outlook for the Little Rock region, here are four things it has done well and four things that need to improve.
Things that have been done right include:
• Development along the riverfront. The major entities on both sides of the Arkansas River--the Clinton Presidential Center, the Museum of Discovery, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's nature center, the River Market entertainment district, Simmons Bank Arena, Dickey-Stephens Park--are first-class attractions. They provide a critical mass of activities for residents and visitors alike. Add in the development of hiking and biking trails, spectacular pedestrian bridges, sculpture gardens, etc., and you have a riverfront that most cities in America envy. Little Rock and North Little Rock have come a long way from the forsaken riverfront of my youth, which was littered with warehouses and abandoned industrial sites.
• Investments of $70 million in the renovation of the Robinson Center (now one of the region's premier performing arts venues) and $128 million for the renovation and expansion of the Arkansas Arts Center in MacArthur Park. These investments create cultural anchors that will pay dividends for decades to come. They not only give people a reason to visit Little Rock but also are the type of amenities that attract the young, talented workers any city must have if it expects to grow.
• Development of the Port of Little Rock and Clinton National Airport. Amazon's decision to build a regional fulfillment center at the Port of Little Rock is one of the biggest economic development coups ever for the region. The center will employ more than 1,000 people and lead to jobs in related companies that will be attracted to the port. Both the port and airport have recently announced new tenants.
SCA, a maker of compound drugs for hospitals across the country, announced last month that it will add about 180 jobs and spend $10 million renovating a 42,000-square-foot facility at the airport. That building once housed a Southwest Airlines reservations center. SCA also will construct an adjoining 20,000-square-foot building. In addition to the massive Amazon project at the port, HMS Manufacturing Co. has renovated an existing 550,000-square-foot building and expects to create 90 jobs at its injection molding facility. Expect additional announcements at the port and airport in the months to come.
• Development of a world-class medical corridor along Interstate 630. Little Rock has truly become a regional medical center that attracts patients from Arkansas and surrounding states. With the country's population aging, the importance of the city's hospitals, clinics and research institutions will only increase in the years to come.
Things the area can do better include:
• Helping the University of Arkansas at Little Rock grow, along with the neighborhoods that surround UALR. The nation's most successful cities tend to have first-class universities. UALR has untapped potential. It's time for Arkansas businesses to step up their support of UALR. And it's time for legislators to realize the institution's importance to the state and quit starving it financially.
• Supporting Little Rock's two HBCUs, Philander Smith College and Arkansas Baptist College. I spent five years representing those two schools when I was president of Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities. The simple fact is that the vast majority of Little Rock's business and civic leaders have failed to do their part to support the two colleges. A key to the future success of Little Rock will be a growing Black middle class. These two institutions must play a leading role in that process.
• Improving the Main Street and Capitol Avenue corridors in downtown Little Rock. These should be two of the top streets in the state. Instead, the two tallest buildings on Main Street--Boyle and Donaghey--are empty and deteriorating. And rather than being a grand boulevard, Capitol Avenue starts at Interstate 30 with tall weeds and dead limbs at the city's main post office (I know the Postal Service has financial difficulties, but the failure to maintain those grounds has baffled me for years) and ends with tacky surface parking lots near the state Capitol.
• Enhancing the city's parks. Former golf courses at War Memorial Park, Hindman Park and what was the Western Hills Country Club are ripe for redevelopment and could serve as further attractions for the young, talented workers mentioned above.
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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.