By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
ARKADELPHIA, Arkansas — Clark County officials were hoping to roll out the red carpet for prospective industries, but it appears as though one company has already pulled up in a limousine.
Improvements are on hold for the nearly 1,000-acre Gum Springs site west of US Highway 67 as an unnamed prospect is reportedly considering Clark County as a place to conduct business.
“We are getting some really good looks at our site [including] one very, very interested prospect that we’re working with,” Shelley Short, CEO of the Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance said during a public meeting Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
The Economic Development Corp. of Clark County, a 15-member governing body that oversees the spending of a voter-approved 1/2-cent sales tax for job recruitment and retention, listened as chairman Kevin Jester explained that improvements to make the super site more marketable and accessible are “on hold until we can see where the prospect with this client goes.”
Short wouldn’t name the company or even disclose what sector the company is involved in. “They are very tight-lipped and private,” she said. Jester would later add that the company “holds things closer to their vest than about anyone we’ve ever worked with.”
Whatever company it is, local job officials remain hopeful that they can take this newly forged friendship to the next level. “They’ve been on the site, they’ve made visits — it’s a very serious prospect,” Jester said.
Short did at least offer one teaser — the prospect is a Fortune 100 company.
The unnamed company is among seven existing/active projects Short listed in her report: two data centers, one battery component manufacturer, one wood products, one local expansion, one advanced manufacturing, and one distribution center.
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission is also involved in recruiting the company, Short said. There was no discussion as to whether the company would be seeking tax incentives from the EDCCC, although Short hinted that a special-called meeting might be necessary prior to the EDCCC’s July meeting.
“This would be a very big deal for our community,” Short said. “We’re really hoping it comes to fruition.”
Other business
• Short reported that the possibility of a transload facility near Georgia-Pacific is making some headway, but negotiations are still under way. A decision on that, too, could come before the EDCCC in a special-called meeting in coming weeks.
• The board awarded a $4,235 bid received from Beene’s Bush Hogging to maintain the Clark County Business & Technology Park on W.P. Malone Drive. The cost includes bi-weekly lawn care for the 40-acre park, as well as brush hogging 6 acres of the property, from June through October. Under a recently approved lease agreement, the tax-funded EDCCC now manages properties owned by the Clark County Industrial Council, which lacks a constant funding source to market its properties. A second bid, from Sparks Lawn Care, totaled $3,410 but did not include brush hogging services.
• It was announced that Stacey Marlar, currently a voting EDCCC member, will replace Dr. Wesley Kluck as chair of the Alliance.
• While not naming the farming operation that leases a portion of the super site, the board was made aware of an issue with the lessee’s late payments the past couple of years. Huneycutt Farms leases some 300 acres that includes farmland and a house. The current agreement allows Huneycutt Farms to farm the land for $15,000 each year. The current amount, due in April, is $7,500 for the first bi-annual payment.
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