November is one of the busiest times of the year. Our team is balancing training events and projects across the state while preparing to wrap up the 2017 year as the holidays approach. And even though our hands are full, we made time to host two of our biggest events the first week of November: Hot Spring County Conversations and Community Development Basics.
Hot Spring County Conversations was an event hosted by Hot Spring County, with the support of County Judge Dennis Thornton, in partnership with Entergy Arkansas, West Central Arkansas Planning and Development, Hot Spring County Economic Development Corporation, Malvern/Hot Spring County Chamber of Commerce, College of the Ouachitas, and our team at the Center. This event brought over 100 Hot Spring County community leaders together to hear community and economic development professionals from across the state and offer a forum for conversation to build a brighter future for the county. Jon Chadwell of the Newport Economic Development Commission and Russell Carey of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation shared how to engage young families and leaders and information related to Arkansas’ current and future workforce needs. Attendees also discussed the future of Hot Spring County, and were issued a challenge from the county judge.
You can view photos from Hot Spring County Conversations here.
Right after completing Hot Spring County Conversations, our team hosted Community Development Basics. This event was a one-day training session on (you guessed it!) the basics of community and economic development. The purpose of this session was to educate community leaders on the basics of community and economic development in an effort to strengthen Arkansas communities. Participants explored topics such as community and economic development, community capital, how data relates to community and economic development, cross sector collaboration and integrative leadership. Speakers included representatives from the UCA PhD Leadership program, Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, Arkansas Community Foundation, Arkansas Economic Development Institute, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and the Jack Welch Institute for Management.
There is no cost to attend either of these training sessions. They were made possible through the Moving the Needle Grant from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
If you are interested in hosting a community and economic development training event in your community or if you need assistance with a program or project in you community, please reach out to our staff through our assistance form: https://uca.edu/cced/request-assistance/
