In partnership with the Crossett Chamber of Commerce and the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District, our team held the last of our 2015-2016 regional training events, or as we have referred to them “boot camps,” in Crossett, Arkansas. This event, titled Empower Your Small Town, targeted southeast Arkansas community leaders and shared community and economic development topics similar to past regional trainings, such as: “Economic Development 101 & Community Branding and Marketing,” “Role of the Local Official in Economic Development,” “Site Selection, Preparing the Product, and Working with AEDC,” “The Community’s Role in Retaining and Growing Small Businesses in a Challenging Economy,” “Fueling Local Economic Change through Youth Entrepreneurship,” and an interactive activity called “Using What You Have.”
Twenty-eight community leaders from various southeast Arkansas communities attended Empower Your Small Town. Participants were able to interact with one another to build regional partnerships and got to interact with our amazing speakers: Jon Chadwell with the Newport Economic Development Commission, Steve Jones with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Jeff Amerine with Startup Junkie Consulting, and Stephanie Horton with the Arkansas Small Business Technology and Development Center in Monticello. You can view pictures of Empower Your Small Town on our Facebook page.
Empower Your Small Town is a part of initiatives 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 a variety of similar training events and technical assistance across the state throughout the next three years supported by funding from WRF.
Does this training sound like something you would be interested in hosting or attending? 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. You can also review upcoming training events here. As previously stated, the Center will continue to hold regional training events throughout the next two years and we would love to come to a community near you.
