Rogers Chamber Employee To Direct Science Center

By Caleb Fort

Posted: November 11, 2009 at 5:09 a.m.

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ROGERS — The future leader of the Ozark Natural Science Center wants to increase membership and promote new uses for the center.

Bethany Stephens, a senior vice president at the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, will take the reins of the center on Nov. 30.

Stephens will replace Jenny Harmon, who retired Nov. 1, as executive director of the science center. Harmon worked at the science center since 1999, she said.

The science center, located between Eureka Springs and Huntsville, offers programs for school children, adults and families.

Stephens said she wants to expand programs and try to get more people using the center. That will be key to making sure the center remains financially viable, she said.

“Fundraising is a huge challenge,” she said.

She said she would like to get more groups such as church groups and companies to use the center for gatherings and activities.

Fundraising for any nonprofit organization is a challenge, especially now, Harmon said.

But Harmon said she thinks Stephens’ experience and contacts developed during her time at the chamber will be beneficial to the center.

“I think she will be limited only by her imagination,” Harmon said.

David Thrasher, a member of the center’s board of directors, said he hopes the center will become more widely known under Stephens’ guidance.

Thrasher said the center is one of the area’s best-kept secrets.

“We’re going to turn this into a nonsecret,” he said.

The center includes lodges, housing, classrooms and trails, according to a news release from the center.

The purpose of the center is to provide nature experiences to children — and sometimes adults — who might not otherwise have had the opportunity, Stephens said.

Raymond Burns, executive director, said the chamber will search for someone with economic development and marketing skills, two of Stephens’ specialties.

Web Watch

Ozark Natural Science Center

www.onsc.us

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