3 new members tapped to serve on EDCCC

By Joel Phelps
The Arkadelphian

Three potential employers, one of which has emerged in the past month, will be discussed this week at the February meeting of the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County.

Dubbed Project “Innovex,” the prospective industry is among others on the agenda, the details of which are left to the imagination. “Innovex” joins the list of two other projects the 15-member EDCCC board will have to talk about.

Project “Cupcake” has been on the table since it was announced in late November, predated by Project “Yellow Pine.” The EDCCC during that meeting offered a $2 million incentives grant for “Cupcake” to land in Clark County, one of three potential sites for the nationally known company. Officials remain tight-lipped on the project, citing a non-disclosure agreement with the company.

Both “Cupcake” and “Yellow Pine” are promising prospects, according to J.L. Griffin, CEO of the EDCCC, which oversees a voter-passed 1/2-cent sales tax for job creation.

New EDCCC members

With three outgoing members whose terms expired, Griffin will introduce new members at Tuesday’s meeting. 

Selected by the county judge, the volunteer EDCCC board members must be approved by the Clark County Quorum Court before beginning their two-year terms.

At this week’s Quorum Court meeting, County Judge Troy Tucker announced his three candidates: Lori Ross, Bill Conine and Terry Bird. 

Ross is president of Citizen’s Bank. She has a degree in business administration from Henderson State University and has 16 years of banking experience.

Conine is a retired Clark County native. He has a degree in business administration from Ouachita Baptist University. He has served as CEO of South Central Electric Cooperative, Petit Jean Electric Cooperative and the Little-Rock-based Arkansas Electric Cooperative.

Bird is vice president of the Bank of Delight in Gurdon. He has 28 years of banking experience, 13 of which have been in Clark County.

These three will “bring a lot of experience to the table and help lead us as we move forward in economic development,” Tucker said of the candidates. The court gave its approval of the recommendations after Justice Albert Neal asked about the application of the Rev. Johnny Harris, who publicly voiced his interest in serving at the January EDCCC meeting.

Tucker was brief in answering Neal’s inquiry, saying there were “several people that were interested” in a seat on the panel.

Other business

Also on the agenda is the county’s tax utilization by the EDCCC, as well as an update on trails.

The meeting begins at noon Tuesday, Feb. 22, at Fairfield Inn & Suites, 258 Red Hill Road, Arkadelphia. EDCCC meetings are open to the public.