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 $38,600 Civic Leadership grant to the Phillips County Chamber of Commerce.
• Two Delta Bridge Project Grants totaling more than $600,000 were awarded in support of two anchor Civil War sites. Funds will go towards the phase two of construction of the replica Union Fort Curtis as well as for the construction of Freedom Park, the first official Underground Railroad site in Arkansas.
• The City of Helena received a $67,560 Recreational Facilities grant from the Department of Rural Services in partnership with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. This grant will extend the existing boat ramp to ensure that the entire 60 foot ramp is accessible throughout the year, solidifying Helena’s position as one of the best public access points to the lower Mississippi River.

Grants submitted:

• A Delta Bridge Project grant was submitted to fund two feasibility studies analyzing the viability of expanding the local biodiesel and alternative energy industry.
• A Delta Bridge Project grant was submitted on behalf of the Helena-West Helena Police Department to provide a computer-based tracking and reporting system and process consulting.

Date & Time: Thursday, December 8, 2011; 12:00 pm-1:00pm

Location: Delta AHEC

Description: The quarterly meeting of the Health Care Goal Team led by Becky Hall and Jim Sato.

Health Care Goal Team Meeting Minutes for 12.8.2011 (.pdf)

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.

Date & Time: Monday, November 7, 2011; 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Location: Chamber of Commerce

Description: The quarterly meeting of the Leadership Goal Team led by Doug Friedlander and Kathleen Bell

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 7, 2011; 12:00 pm

Location: Delta AHEC

Description: The quarterly meeting of the Health Care Goal Team led by Becky Hall and Jim Sato.

9.7.2011 HEC Goal Team Meeting Minutes (.pdf)

This summer Civil War Helena (Tourism Goal 4), the 29-site tourism initiative focused on telling Helena’s unique Civil War story, will be ramping up with work on several key sites.

FORT CURTIS: Work began last week on Fort Curtis, the earthen-walled Union fort once located in the downtown. The fort will feature several cannons, one of which will be operational, and will allow visitors to walk through and explore its interior.  Located on Columbia Street at the former site of Jefferson Elementary School, this three-fourths replica of the original fort will occupy the entire block and will be the only reconstructed fort of its kind in the region. 

FREEDOM PARK:  Engineering and survey work is underway for Freedom Park, a four-acre site located on South Biscoe across from Estevan Hall. Freedom Park has been designated as the first Network to Freedom site in Arkansas, a National Park Service designation for key Underground Railroad sites across the nation.  The park will feature five major outdoor exhibits and is expected to be one of the major draws for the Civil War Helena initiative.  The exhibits will explore the African-American experience in Civil War Helena, following the journey from fugitive slave to Contraband to freedom and, for some, enlistment in the Union Army and participation in the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863.