October 31, 2011
Education Goal Team Meeting – 4:30pm
Date & Time: Monday, October 31, 2011; 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Location: Great River Co-op
Description: The quarterly meeting of the Education Goal Team led by co-chairs Suzann McCommon and Debby King.
These are the posts from October 2011
October 24, 2011
Chamber Launches Business Retention & Expansion Program
- Customer Service Training recently held at Phillips Community College
In August, the Phillips County Chamber of Commerce announced the priorities for their comprehensive Business Retention and Expansion Program (Economic Development Goal 2). The program is funded with support from a two-year, $95,000 Delta Bridge Project grant. Executive Director Doug Friedlander has targeted a number of ambitious goals for retention and growth, including a net zero job loss rate for businesses participating in the BR&E program over the next two years.
The program is focused on generating the following positive impacts for the business community through a variety of strategies:
- Increasing revenues of local businesses
- Increasing access to capital and credit
- Lowering the cost of doing business
- Improving the quality of the retail experience
- Improving the quality of the available workforce
- Connecting more quickly to the true priorities and needs of members
- Insuring maximal effectiveness through a monthly business e-newsletter
To learn more specifically about the Chamber’s BR&E Goals and how they plan to create the impacts listed above, visit http://www.phillipscountychamber.org/documents/BRE_Overview_Summer2011_CURRENT.pdf
The trail will connect with the nearby National Forest.
In mid-October the Delta Bridge Project began working with the community to develop a Trails and Greenways Master Plan (Tourism Goal 7, Action Step A). Funded by a $105,130 Delta Bridge Project grant, the plan will outline the design of a trails and greenways system that will physically connect Helena’s tourism features, including key Civil War Helena sites, Historic Downtown, and Helena River Park. The firm leading the project, Alta Planning & Design, is the same group leading the development of the regional trails system in northwest Arkansas.
Once the plan is complete, the construction of the trail project will be broken up into several phases. Phase One will be a two-mile stretch connecting the Civil War Helena anchor sites of Fort Curtis, Estevan Hall and Freedom Park with the downtown. Completion of this phase is targeted for 2013.
The Education Goal Team and the Chamber’s Education Committee are working in coordination to increase community engagement in local schools. Lynn Chadwick, Chair of the Chamber’s Education Committee, has worked with community members to launch the Arkansas Scholars program. This statewide program focuses on promoting student achievement by recognizing students for meeting specific academic criteria. The program includes regular student incentives and school visits by business and community leaders.
Over the course of this school year, Goal Team members will focus on supporting further opportunities for parent and community engagement, as well as efforts aligned with increasing the number of students who enroll and complete post-secondary programs. For more information about getting involved in local education, please contact Lynn Chadwick (lynn_chadwick2898@yahoo.com) or Julia Nordsieck (jnordsieck@banksouthern.org).
The King Biscuit Blues Festival was the recent recipient of a Delta Bridge Project grant.
Below is an update on recent grant activity in support of the 10-year Strategic Community Plan:
Grants received:
- The Delta Bridge Project approved a $223,000 grant in support of the Sonny Boy Blues Society’s efforts to increase the year-round impact of blues tourism and improve the long-term sustainability of the King Biscuit Blues Festival. Funding comes from the Walton Family Foundation and Southern Bancorp Capital Partners.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently awarded SBCP a $2 million Rural Innovation Fund grant. The grant will fund an economic development and housing program in Helena with several innovative components. More details on the specific components of the grant will be announced in the coming months.
- The Delta Bridge Project approved a $105,130 grant for a Trails and Greenways plan, with funding support from the Walton Family Foundation (see full story for more details).
- An Arkansas Community Foundation grant for $6,000 was recently awarded to Main Street Helena to purchase the equipment needed to accept EBT.
Grants submitted:
- SBCP recently submitted a Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant for more than $300,000. SBCP and its community partners were finalists in last year’s competition for the program, which seeks to replicate some of the successes of the “cradle to college” model developed by the Harlem Children’s Zone.
- The Phillips County Chamber of Commerce submitted a $42,200 Delta Bridge Project grant for a civic leadership initiative.
- Two Delta Bridge Project grants totaling more than $500,000 were submitted for construction of the Union Fort Curtis and Freedom Park, the state’s first official Underground Railroad site.