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The District: How Mountain Home is leveraging a new law to revitalize their downtown

The following post originally appeared as an article in the October 2020 issue of Arkansas Municipal League’s publication City and Town. Click here to learn more.

In 2019, Mountain Home Mayor Hillery Adams attended an Arkansas Municipal League meeting where Executive Director Mark Hayes spoke about potential laws coming through the Arkansas Legislature. One bill in particular caught Mayor Adams’ attention that would allow cities and towns in Arkansas to establish entertainment districts in a designated area of their city.

Mayor Adams saw the potential of an ordinance like this to serve as a catalyst for revitalization efforts in downtown Mountain Home. Following the meeting, Adams and his team went to work researching entertainment districts, drafting an ordinance and presented it to the Mountain Home City Council. 

“We wanted to be the first in the state to have an entertainment district,” explained Mayor Adams. 

On July 24, 2019, the Mountain Home entertainment district, dubbed The District, became the first entertainment district in Arkansas.

The District is open daily between 4:30 p.m. and midnight allowing patrons to leave a restaurant or bar with a single commercially branded paper or plastic cup of beer, wine or a mixed drink to be consumed in the boundaries of the district. Since establishing The District, there has been a steady increase in business, activity and community engagement in downtown Mountain Home.

The downtown area is beginning to look more inviting with hanging flower pots paid for by the city, banners created by a local leadership group and murals popping up all over Mountain Home. In recent months, there have been multiple real estate transactions involving buildings in downtown Mountain Home with talks of new restaurants and shops coming into the area. There are even “Wine Walks” that invite patrons to drink a glass of wine and enjoy the downtown area and public art with their family and friends.

There has also been an increase in cultural events in Mountain Home. Hickory Park is right outside of The District and has been revitalized to host concerts and community events. Earlier this year, Farmers and Merchants Bank donated $75,000 to install a permanent stage for concerts in the park that have been utilized all summer in the Baxter Summer Concert Series. During the concert series, the tennis court in Hickory Park transforms into a food truck park and beer garden featuring local restaurants and breweries. COVID-19 has unfortunately disrupted some of the community events that were set to take place this fall, but some events, like the concert series, will continue with social distancing and mask wearing requirements.

When asked about entertainment districts, the Executive Vice President of the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce, Angela Broome, said, “I have only seen positive changes with The District. We are seeing many improvements downtown; noticing more socialization and an increase in patronage.”

From her perspective, visitors are looking for things to do at night after enjoying fishing, hunting and golfing in and around Mountain Home. The District and summer concert series have been a way for residents and visitors to spend more time and money in downtown Mountain Home.

Mayor Adams shared a few key takeaways for communities looking to open an entertainment district in their own town:

Set Your Intention 

Mountain Home had a clear purpose for establishing their entertainment district which was to focus on downtown revitalization and capturing tourist dollars to be spent at restaurants and shops in downtown Mountain Home. If your community is considering an entertainment district, make sure that your community has an agreed upon intention and a plan for establishing an entertainment district that works for your community’s specific needs.

Involve the Downtown Community

Establishing an entertainment district may feel like a big change for your downtown community. In Mountain Home, leaders established an Entertainment District Oversight Committee that involved downtown business leaders and residents to establish rules, regulations and procedures for citizens and businesses to follow during entertainment district hours. Involving the downtown community will create buy-in from local businesses and provides a formal body to review potential events in the entertainment district area.

When asked for a final piece of advice, Mayor Adams said, “Come visit Mountain Home. It’s going to look a lot different since the last time you’ve been here.”

If establishing an entertainment district is right for the needs and interests of your community, it can be a catalyst for activity, engagement and business in your downtown area. Mountain Home is leading the way on entertainment districts in Arkansas and their downtown community is starting to thrive because of it.

You can learn more about Mountain Home and The District by visiting cityofmountainhome.com. 

By Dylan Edgell

Posted in: Uncategorized on March 2, 2021

First Impressions Tour gets to know Arkansas town from a unique perspective

The following post originally appeared as an article in the September 2020 issue of Arkansas Municipal League’s publication City and Town. Click here to learn more.

The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) Community Development Institute (CDI), a three-year community and economic development training program with one week of training per year, is held the first week of August by the Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED). Like many other large events across the state, due to rising COVID-19 cases, the CCED staff decided to cancel CDI 2020 for the Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 classes. Fortunately, the CDI 2020 Advanced Year class, an optional, additional year of training for a small group of CDI graduates, was able to move forward! 

During the week of August 3 – 6, nine CDI graduates and community and economic development experts from Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma traveled to Beebe to conduct a high-level assessment of the community based on online research, a driving tour, interviews with community leaders, on-the-street interviews and a virtual focus group with citizens. Through their work, they shared a community presentation streamed via Facebook Live on the city’s Facebook page that outlined strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, “Badger Bites” (short term goals) and “Vanguard Vision” (long term goals). 

While the CDI Advanced Year is a unique experience for both CDI participants and the Arkansas community they are working with, other communities across the state can easily replicate the Advanced Year process to assess their own community. 

The class completes what the CCED staff call a “First Impressions Tour” (FIT) of the community. The FIT entails the following:

Online Research

The community’s online presence is assessed through the lens of different personas. These personas include: a single, young professional looking to move to the community, family with children looking to relocate, retiree, current citizen, tourist, small business owner and industrial prospect. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis is completed for city and community websites, social media pages, Arkansas Site Select, online real estate databases and travel websites based on the personas.

Driving Tour  

The driving tour assessment focuses on the community’s physical infrastructure (highways, roads, sidewalks, public utilities, signage and beautification efforts), social infrastructure (schools, healthcare, arts and cultural amenities, parks/recreational amenities and housing) and economic development infrastructure (small businesses, large employers, site and commercial building availability and downtown development). These amenities in the community are rated as very good, average, needs improvement or not available. During the driving tour, notes should be taken about why each amenity was given a particular rating.

Interviews and Focus Groups with Leaders and Citizens

Interviews and focus groups with community leaders and citizens are a very important part of the FIT process. If possible, these conversations should include representatives from: local government, Chamber/economic development, healthcare, education and workforce, nonprofits, faith-based organizations and the business community.

These representatives are divided into groups to have open conversations centered on the following topics: (1) Education and Workforce, (2) Health and Wellness, (3) Recreation and Things to Do, (4) Downtown Development, (5) Business and Industry, (6) Arts and Culture and (7) Physical Environment (built environment, natural environment, infrastructure, utilities, etc.). Participants in the interviews and/or focus groups are asked what is working well, what are the greatest challenges/opportunities and what should be prioritized moving forward for each topic area.

Based on the information gathered, a summary of findings are shared with the community and “next steps” (short or long term goals) are identified for the community to consider moving forward. The First Impressions Tour can be led by leaders within a community, but CCED staff recommends that a community interested in completing a FIT reach out to community and economic developers or leaders from a different community to assist with the assessment.

The CCED staff will continue to follow up with Beebe leaders, and a printed report of the CDI 2020 Advanced Year’s findings will be shared with the community. 

If your community is interested in developing a First Impressions Tour of your community, please reach out to Shelby Fiegel at sfiegel@uca.edu or 501-450-5269. If you are interested in learning more about the Community Development Institute, visit www.uca.edu/cdi. CDI 2021 will be held August 2 – 6, 2021.

By Shelby Fiegel

Posted in: Uncategorized on February 2, 2021

CCED Student Opportunities

The Center for Community and Economic Development is committed to providing opportunities for UCA students to enhance their college experience and prepare them for the workforce. The Community and Economic Development Fellowship is one of these opportunities.

Each semester, CCED reviews and interviews applicants to become CED Fellows. The mission of the CED Fellowship is to expose students to a variety of community or economic development careers and provide networking, coaching and mentoring to enhance student career preparedness. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was restructured from an in-person format to a virtual one to ensure safety.

During the program, fellows attend virtual site visits that showcase community and economic development organizations in Arkansas. The fellows also participate in activities such as mock interviews, resume and cover letter reviews and mentorship from CCED staff. Additionally, fellows also have the opportunity to attend Community Development Institute and become members of the Arkansas Community Development Society. Fellowship activities are customized to fit students’ interests and needs.

We are currently accepting applications for the Spring 2021 CED Fellowship. To apply or learn more, click here.

Posted in: CCED on January 19, 2021

Creating healthy communities

The following post originally appeared as an article in the August 2020 issue of Arkansas Municipal League’s publication City and Town. Click here to learn more.

We often associate health with physical or mental wellbeing on a personal level. Commonly, individual health is seen as something solely determined by lifestyle choices and is addressed in a clinic by a doctor, one-on-one. In reality, the components of health expand far beyond an individual’s body and/or choices. The community and environment we live in significantly impacts our individual health, and the Delta Population Health Institute (DPHI) is working to illuminate the extent of this impact in the Delta region. DPHI’s Executive Director Dr. Brookshield Laurent and Deputy Director Dr. Jennifer Conner are working to re-define what health means to Arkansans.

The Delta Population Health Institute is the community outreach arm of the New York Institute of Technology’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) at Arkansas State University. Launched in November of 2019, DPHI’s mission is to promote opportunities for better health by addressing health disparities in population groups and works to cultivate “opportunities for health in our families, neighborhoods, schools and jobs, achieving greater health equity among all people throughout Arkansas and the Delta.” Their mission is carried out through research, education, community engagement and policy engagement. 

Through these avenues, DPHI helps Arkansas communities create a culture of health. Dr. Laurent shared that a culture of health involves assessing your community and ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity and access to resources to thrive. 

“Countless studies have shown that the greatest impact of health outcomes in our community concern factors outside of the clinic and outside of the hospital setting – specifically the conditions where we live, learn, work, grow and play,” she said. 

According to Dr. Laurent, one thing we can do today to create a culture of health in our communities is to reassess our definition of the term health with community members. 

The determinants of health expand beyond the individual. Every asset in a community is a determinant of health, from education to infrastructure. Redefining health also includes redefining how we heal. DPHI emphasizes the importance of thinking beyond the clinic. 

“You don’t need a medical degree to address health in your community,” said Dr. Laurent. The role of healer is not limited to doctors or nurses in a hospital. Anyone in a community who helps a person meet their basic needs is a healer. An educator is a healer. Even the roles of medical professionals expand beyond their office to the community to serve as leaders and resources, a concept DPHI teaches NYITCOM students.

While the COVID-19 pandemic creates difficult circumstances, it illuminates the interconnectedness of health and brings a new definition of health to the forefront. Dr. Conner cited access to the internet as an example of an issue exacerbated by the pandemic. A community with poor internet access is a community lacking in educational and economic opportunities and access to valuable resources. Dr. Conner added that we should listen to our community members and allow them to tell their stories. Then we can begin to fully understand the health impact on our communities.

The Delta Population Health Institute offers health resources, community resources and regularly updated information on the COVID-19 pandemic on their website. DPHI also published their inaugural report, which is accessible on their website. To access these resources and to learn more about DPHI, visit https://delta-phi.org/ or email deltaphi@nyit.org 

By Emily Cooper Yates

Posted in: Article, CCED on January 5, 2021

COVID-Safe Poverty Simulations

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted nearly all aspects of our lives, gatherings and events. Suddenly, out of an abundance of caution, we couldn’t attend or host events anymore, personal or professional. Thankfully, as the year has progressed, we have found ways to meet safely.

For the CCED Team, one of our favorite events to host is the Poverty Simulation. Of course, many of our Poverty Simulations were put on hold this year due to COVID safety measures and restrictions. Typically, these events facilitate groups well over 30 people. We move throughout large rooms, set to resemble a real town. We interact with each other, as families and neighbors. So one of our biggest challenges was determining a way to host these impactful events with safety at the forefront of our planning. 

Through collaboration with professionals and careful research, we were able to outline some COVID-19 safety guidelines. The safety guidelines we outlined were adopted by the Missouri Community Action Network. Click here to read more!

Posted in: CCED on December 22, 2020

Mule Kick Brings Unique Twist to Magnolia, AR

The following post originally appeared as an article in the July 2020 issue of Arkansas Municipal League’s publication City and Town. Click here to learn more.

After watching her mom-and-pop gas station in Taylor, Arkansas burn in the fall of 2017, business-owner Christy Oeui and partner Burt Adams realized the cost to rebuild was prohibitive. The couple set their sights on opening a unique establishment in Magnolia – one that would link the City of Magnolia and Columbia County with Southern Arkansas University (SAU). The business opened in June 2019 under the name Mule Kick and quickly became a major player in the community and economy of the region.

According to its website, Mule Kick is, “proud to offer unique pizza of the highest quality! From dairy free cheese to gluten free crusts, we feature options so that everyone can enjoy our fare. In addition to the pizzas, we have coffee, ice cream and snacks all made inside the Natural State.” I sat down with Christy Ouei to learn more about Mule Kick and its impact on the surrounding community:

Question: “What is the driving goal of your business?”

Ouei: “Business models suggest that there be ONE featured area and ONE driving goal. While that may be best for many businesses, I could not adopt that for Mule Kick. Customers pay for an experience, and we aim for them to have that every time. Our beer doesn’t take a backseat to our coffee, and our pizza doesn’t sit in second behind the beer. We are all of those things equally. We are simply more than you expect us to be.

We are the first restaurant in our area to make a wholehearted effort to be green. Promoting products made in Arkansas not only cut down on fuel requirements to bring in products from other states, but it highlights features of our state that Magnolians might not have known about otherwise.”

Question: “In what ways does Mule Kick get involved with the City of Magnolia and SAU?”

Ouei: “I want to let the community see us (all of us, managers and employees) working alongside them in Relay for Life, city cleanup days, and homecoming events. We will not just be the pizza place on the north end of town.

We don’t just have music on Saturday nights. We host trivia nights, comedy nights, painting on the patio, painting with a pro, classes to make reusable grocery bags out of old t-shirts, Improv, and talent shows. We sponsor many sporting events with SAU and Magnolia. I am on the board of the Magnolia Blossom Festival, Kiwanis Club, as well as the Workforce Development Board.”

Question: “Describe how Mule Kick connects with SAU students and prepares them to enter the workforce of the region.”

Ouei: “In hiring primarily SAU students, we wanted to be the springboard for them into a job within their career. We felt like they needed structure in an environment where making mistakes was considered learning and not failing. When we decided on a [business] name, we hosted a logo contest among the junior and senior graphic arts majors. It gave us a great connection to the art department and gave three students published work for their portfolios.

I feel like college preparation (no matter how thorough) can only take you so far. Eventually you have to get out into the real world and experience it for yourself. Mule Kick shines in this aspect. I hired an accounting assistant that is now working for Murphy Oil as an accountant; my technical officer is now working full time for a bank as their technical officer. One of our team members, who is a bartender and my brand manager, has started his own clothing apparel line.”

Question: “How have you adjusted your operations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and what advice would you give to other business-owners during this time?”

Ouei: “The person I rely on most heavily now is my social media manager. She is the voice of Mule Kick to the world. We had a meeting right after we shut our doors and talked about how it was imperative that we remain visible to our customer-base. We serve pizza and beer, but we also sell atmosphere – an atmosphere that we now have to give away for free so that we will still have customers on the other side of COVID-19.

[To other business-owners:] do not take this time for granted! We have all been given a reprieve (unwelcome as it may be) from the constant motion of being in business. Haven’t had time to train that new staff? Now you do. Haven’t balanced your checkbook in the last year? You have plenty of time. Got a crew that isn’t connected as well? Have a potluck meal!”

___________________________________________________________________________

Mule Kick represents what small, local businesses can achieve when entrepreneurs, like Christy Ouei, integrate their distinct passions and ideas with the communities they serve. To learn more about the products and services offered by Mule Kick, visit their website: www.mulekickmag.com.

 

By William Gloster

Posted in: CCED on December 8, 2020 Tagged: , , , ,

Thanksgiving 2020 – Thankful for the CDI Podcast!

Like most workplaces, the beginning of 2020 presented a new set of challenges to the CCED Team as we were directed to begin working from home. Our work is heavily hands-on and collaborative, so pivoting to an all virtual world was intimidating at first. What projects can we take on entirely from home? One such project was The CDI Podcast. 

In an effort to market the Community Development Institute and continue to promote education in the field of community development, we began recording interviews on Zoom with community development professionals all over the midsouth. We heard from all kinds of professionals, such as Talicia Richardson with 64.6 Downtown Ft. Smith, former CCED student workers, and even author Quint Studer. We found that individuals often begin their careers in community development through nontraditional means, we heard about new ideas to engage our communities, and inspiring stories of towns transformed.

In the season one finale, the CCED Team gather on Zoom once again to reflect on the year 2020 and the CDI Podcast. We discuss our favorite episodes of the podcast and who we would like to interview in the future (Oprah, Dolly Parton, Ina Garten – we’re looking at you). We also take some time to reflect on the highlights of an otherwise incredibly challenging year. In 2020, the CCED team evolved – taking on new members and sending others off on new adventures. Just this year, we have new graduates, new parents, and newlyweds… and a New Year to anticipate! And for that – we are Thankful! 

Thanksgiving is this week! What are you thankful for this year? What were some of the highlights of your 2020?

To listen to the Season One finale and other episodes of the CDI Podcast – click here!

Posted in: CCED, CDI on November 25, 2020

A Glimpse Into Real Life Community Development

Recently the Center for Community and Economic Development at UCA hosted their Futures Game virtually with community leaders across the state. The exercise was provided to the Community Development Institute year one, year two and year three participants through the Zoom platform.

The Futures Game was first created by Innovate Leadership Australia through research developed by David Beurle, Alliant Energy, and Iowa State University. The Center for Community and Economic Development took the game and altered it to fit the social and economic landscape of Arkansas. The Futures Game is an exercise that tests the decision-making skills of community leaders and explores the many issues that face towns and communities in the real world today. The game is based on making major decisions on how to respond to critical issues and the outcomes that would result from those decisions.

The game used the fictional community of Sweet Tea County AR to provide the landscape of the decisions we’d have to make. Some of the issues we had to focus on were a declining population, young people leaving the area for larger cities, decreased economic development, and a general concern about the future of their community. The game begins with 2020 and ends in 2040 with certain moments where the members of the exercise will have to two choices to choose from at a major decision point for the community. There were five different ending scenarios, from the least ideal to the most ideal and depending on the choices the group makes at the end you find out how successfully your community developed.

Thankfully for our group, we made decisions that ended with our community evolving into a very rejuvenated and booming town. What in reality was the true success of the Futures Game was the ability for community leaders from across the state to work together and build on one another’s expertise in community and economic development. Having a mayor, a representative from Workforce and Labor, a director from a housing authority, and a director of Volunteerism from a University and others all working together provided a bounty of ideas, knowledge, and expertise that is needed for real life development. As a first-time participator, I found myself quickly invested in this make-believe town and was blown away by the group’s ability to communication and work together, leading to a successful end to the Futures Game. I would invite any community leader or person interested in economic development/community development to check out the 2021 Community Development Institute offered by the UCA Center for Community and Economic Development!

by Andrey Archer, CCED Intern

Posted in: CCED on November 10, 2020

Make Your Downtown “Walkable”

If you’re anything like me, you love a good walk around your town. One of my favorite places to walk in Little Rock is the River Market. I enjoy walking past the local shops, restaurants, and getting an incredible view of the Arkansas River. What exactly makes an area of a town “walkable”? It takes a little more than funky local shops. 

While there are a number of aspects that contribute to an area’s “walkability,” here are just three you can consider in your own city’s downtown…

  1. Accessibility
    It’s no secret that everyone wants to be included, so you must take into account the mobility of all residents. Is it safe and easy for a wheelchair to travel across a crosswalk? Is it comfortable to push a stroller down the sidewalk? Be sure all parts of your town are ADA compliant.
  1. Amenities
    Consider adding benches and interesting flowers to your sidewalks. This can encourage visitors to literally “stop and smell the roses”. Amenities motivate visitors to spend time and even further explore an area. They are more likely to walk around, stop into shops or restaurants, should an interesting path lead them there.
  1. Complete streets
    “Complete streets” take into consideration all forms of transportation – walking, biking, and driving. Complete streets are not only easier for everyone to navigate, regardless of their mode of transportation, but they are safer too!

By taking these three elements into consideration, you can help improve your town’s walkability.  

Believe it or not, making your city “walkable” and improving the walkability of certain parts of your town can benefit your town in nearly every aspect, including economically! Check back soon to learn more…

To find out more about walkable cities, check out Episode 9 of the CDI Podcast featuring Dave Roberts of Crafton Tull. CLICK HERE to listen.

Posted in: CCED on October 20, 2020 Tagged: , ,

UCA Citizens Academy promotes local engagement

The following post originally appeared as an article in the March 2020 issue of Arkansas Municipal League’s publication City and Town. Click here to learn more.

In the fall of 2019, the University of Central Arkansas Division of Outreach and Community Engagement, in partnership with the UCA Political Science Department, launched the first-ever UCA Citizens Academy. During this program, UCA students and Conway residents embark on a 13-week program aimed at emphasizing civic engagement at the local and regional level.

Many cities around Arkansas, such as Jacksonville, Bella Vista and Mountain Home, conduct their own citizen academies. However, these academies focus primarily on law enforcement. The UCA Citizens Academy is unique in the way its curriculum is designed to cover a variety of topics ranging from the local judiciary system to the Conway Sanitation Department. The focus of the course is to “bring residents together to become more informed about local and regional government, the entities and institutions of which its composed and their activities, and with the idea that with a greater understanding of local government and activities, they will be more disposed to participating and engaging with it.” The topics covered in the academy include those in the public and nonprofit sectors, such as finance, economic development, transportation, safety, ecology and sanitation, and human services.

Clay Arnold, chair of the Political Science Department at UCA, designed and led the class as a part of a campus-wide initiative to promote civic engagement and citizen participation within UCA’s student body. The university partnered with Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities that aims to promote civic participation and community development within institutions of higher education. In addition to being offered to UCA students, the program is open to Conway residents so they would be able to learn more
about their local government and services. Participants in the program interacted with local officials from regional government and nonprofit agencies in a series of classes once a week for two hours. The presenters ranged from elected leaders, such as Faulkner County Judge Jim Baker, to Daniel Tyler, the founder of Deliver Hope, a local nonprofit.

After the completion of the program, participants are tasked with creating a civic engagement plan to help local agencies provide services more efficiently and create a better community. Another goal of the program is the development of a civic action plan library that could be made available to any civic group looking to perform a project to benefit their community. Arnold believes that the community civic engagement plans may inspire other communities, whether in partnership with institutions of higher education or not, to develop their own citizen academies.

In helping plan and create this program, Conway City Council Member Shelley Mehl, who is the former associate vice president of UCA Outreach, believes the academy is “an opportunity for UCA to reach out, educate and engage the community,” adding “this program is a way to bring all parties together in a constructive way that we hope would improve communication and support the development of engaged citizens.” It is courses like the academy that Mehl believes are “the start of moving our community forward.”

Participants in the class felt the program allowed them to engage with local leaders in discussions that permitted them to ask more in-depth questions to more fully assess the needs within the community.

Booker White, a junior at UCA from Mayflower, said, “The class was very informative about the ways both state and local government and nonprofits work together and independently to serve the public. The civic engagement plan inspired me to look more closely at the needs of the community and come up with possible solutions or alternatives that will allow me to help work in a hands-on way to develop a better community.”

You can learn more about the UCA Citizens Academy at www.uca.edu/outreach/citizens.

By Javier Hernandez

Posted in: Article, CCED on October 6, 2020
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