Our team always enjoys time spent in Independence County – those folks are hard working, dedicated, and ready to take action to make their communities flourish!
Over 40 community leaders from multiple cities in and around Independence County attended “Saving Your Small Town: Home Grown Community and Economic Development,” a community and economic development training event hosted by our team at the Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) and our friends at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, on November 12 at Lyon College. “Saving Your Small Town: Home Grown Community and Economic Development” was created through a medley of elements from our own premiere community and economic development training program, the Community Development Institute (CDI), and the St. Louis Fed’s program of the same name. The training is an initiative to support the Center’s Rural Community and Economic Development Grant awarded by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation (WRF), as a part of their Moving the Needle Strategic Plan 2.0.
The Center will offer training events and technical assistance across the state throughout the next three years supported by funding from WRF.
At the free event, attendees learned the basics of community and economic development, how to market their communities, business recruitment, site selection strategies, the “Role of the Local Official in Economic Development (10 Things You Need to Know),” youth entrepreneurship initiatives, how to utilize a “grow your own” strategy, and participated in an interactive exercise called “Using What You Have.” Knowledgeable leaders in community and economic development throughout the state and region led each session: Ivy Owen (Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority), Steve Jones (Arkansas Economic Development Commission), Amy Whitehead (Center for Community and Economic Development), Teresa Cheeks Wilson (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Memphis Branch), Jeff Amerine (Startup Junkie), and Kathy Moore Cowan (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Memphis Branch). Drew Pack of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Little Rock Branch, deserves a special shout out for securing sponsorship of “Saving Your Small Town” and helping us coordinate the event.
The event was also held in partnership with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce and White River Planning and Development District.
To view photos of the event, please visit our Facebook page.
Does this training sound like something you would be interested in hosting or attending? Do you know local officials or community leaders that would benefit from this kind of training? If so, we encourage you to reach out to us at (501) 450-5269 or sfiegel@uca.edu to get plugged in to future activities at the Center. As previously stated, the Center will continue to hold regional training events throughout the next three years – in spring 2016, we plan to hold events in Southwest Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas. More details on these events will be released next year.
