Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced $10 million in grant funding for site development projects on Dec. 11, 2024. Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald stand with Sanders. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
Thirteen Arkansas communities will receive a share of $10 million in grant funding to develop greenfield industrial sites, which officials said Wednesday will increase the state’s competitiveness and be more attractive to inquiring companies.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, joined by Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald and Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), announced the funding Wednesday before a bustling room of business leaders, lawmakers and community members at the state Capitol. A few shouts of “Amen” escaped the crowd as attendees expressed their support.
“This money will fund work that, if not necessarily headline-grabbing, is still critically important for economic development projects, improving drainage and grading, laying water and electric lines and studying soil,” Sanders said. “The result will be 13 sites across the state that will be shovel-ready for the kind of big, long-lasting investments our state needs to compete in the 21st century.”
Having greenfield sites — land that has not previously had buildings on it or been used for industry — ready to go will increase the state’s competitiveness as companies travel across the country during location analyses, O’Neal said. Instead of company officials having to “imagine” what a site would look like after trees are cleared and utilities are developed, a greenfield site provides a blank slate ready for development, he said.
“With this program, we’re making sites more attractive,” O’Neal said.
The available funding stems from the Arkansas Site Development Program, which launched in June as the first industrial site development program in the state’s history. Act 561 of 2023, sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Little Rock, allocated $10 million for “funding economic stimulus activities throughout the state,” among several other fund transfers.
Applicants had a list of eligibility requirements to follow, including that the submitted site must be a minimum of 30 acres of contiguous land and listed on the state’s site selection database. According to AEDC, the only “purchase of property” eligible for the program would be one that is for the right of way or easements necessary for the site development project.
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The program opened in June and applications were due by Sept. 2. During that time, 28 applicants submitted funding requests that totaled nearly $45 million, McDonald said Wednesday.
“[The grants] are another example of breaking barriers in Arkansas, being customer-focused, doing things, doing new things and instilling some competition throughout our competitive grant process,” McDonald said. “Competition is good for all of us.”
Grant recipients include the following:
- AR-TX Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI) — Texarkana, $2,000,000
- Berryville Business Park — Berryville, $400,000
- City of Prescott — Prescott, $698,845
- Conway County Economic Development Corporation — Morrilton, $109,800
- Economic Development Corporation of Clark County — Arkadelphia, $1,013,710
- Forward Searcy Inc. — Searcy, $314,165
- Hempstead County Economic Development Commission — Hope, $4,602
- Hot Spring County — Malvern, $133,250
- Jonesboro Unlimited — Jonesboro, $2,000,000
- Little Rock Port Authority — Little Rock, $2,000,000
- Newport Economic Development Commission — Newport, $335,700
- Southeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Facility Authority — Monticello, $166,520
- Stuttgart Industrial Development Corporation — Stuttgart, $823,408
The recipients must provide a match that is at least 5% of the overall project cost estimate, according to the program’s rules.
Arkansas economic leaders announce $48 million in workforce development grants
Officials said Wednesday that the funding is part of the state’s focus on economic growth, which Sanders noted is powered from the “bottom up, not the top down.”
“Our state’s economy can’t thrive unless our administration works with our counties, cities and towns to do what’s best for each individual community,” she said.
Sanders also highlighted the three rounds of tax cuts that have occurred over her last 18 months of governorship as an economic growth strategy, as well as the state’s efforts on workforce development and training.
In November, the state’s economic leaders announced $48 million in grant funding to target workforce training programs, primarily at colleges and universities.
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