SPRINGDALE — The Northwest Arkansas Council has commissioned an Atlanta consulting firm to develop a strategic economic plan for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Market Street Services, which specializes in urban and regional planning, will interview residents and compile economic and demographic data in an effort to help guide planners as Northwest Arkansas moves into the next decade. Results are expected by late summer or early fall.
The council, a nonprofit group of businessmen that promotes the region’s economic interests, commissioned a similar report that was released in 2002.
Mike Malone, the council’s executive director, said a new study is needed because at some point, major investments will start pouring back into the region.
“This is an acknowledgment that we need to be correctly aligned so that when the economy comes back, we’re ready to break out,” he said.
The study will measure Northwest Arkansas’ competitiveness with communities like Lexington, Ky; Gainesville, Fla; Huntsville, Ala.; and Austin, Texas. It will identify the region’s most promising sectors of economicactivity, assess marketing efforts, determine what regional leaders should be doing in terms of economic development, and recommend a plan of action.
J. Mac Holladay, CEO of Market Street, said in a statement that it is “too early to comment on any assessment of the region.”
State and local governments, nonprofit organizations and area businesses will have a hand in implementing the plan. Malone said it’s likely that four or five key priorities will emerge and become the focal points.
The previous regional analysis by Hillwood Strategic Services of Fort Worth showed the area needed more amenities, along with major infrastructure investments. The Hillwood findings definitely contributed to the success of the past decade, Malone said, and he expects similar results fromMarket Street’s work.
The Hillwood study, titled the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development Analysis, predicted the population would continue to grow, and infrastructure and amenities would have to keep pace so anchor businesses like Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. could continue to attract talented employees.
Overall, the report was positive. But the region scored low in regard to its work force, which had a lower percentage of workers with high school diplomas and college degrees than comparison areas.
Patsy Christie, planning and community development director for Springdale, said the study helped galvanize support for minor league baseball, which came to town in 2008 at Arvest Ballpark, home of the Class AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Recommendations from the Northwest Arkansas Council are important as the region continues to improve, Christie said.
The staff at Market Street includes trained planners and analysts who have worked in dozens of cities, particularly in the southeast United States. The council conducted a search before hiring Market Street, Malone said.
Because of amenities that weren’t around a decade ago, the region should rate favorably with comparison areas, said Raymond Burns, president and CEO of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
Arvest Ballpark is about to enter its third season. The Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks bloomed in Fayetteville, and Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers provides upscale shopping. TheCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, though still under construction, is expected to anchor the arts culture.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give that a 12,” Burns said, referring to the fact that each of the region’s four cities has a major attraction.
As the area is popular with retirees, corporate executives, students, immigrants and construction workers, the focus looking forward isto highlight the entire region, not necessarily its individual parts, Burns said.
“An outcome I hope to see is that we need to do more regionally - that we market ourselves regionally,” Burns said.
That type of thinking, Burns said, already is happening.
Recent examples include last year’s trip to Washington, D.C., by representatives of Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs to discuss wastewater concerns in the Illinois River Watershed, Burns said.
A united political front also was displayed when area congressmen and senators, with the backing of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, supported a request for stimulus funding for the Bella Vista bypass - which resulted in $10 million federal grant for the joint project with Missouri. Collectively, Northwest Arkansas has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on road construction in the past decade, Burns said.
Estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate the metropolitan statistical area, which includes Madison County in Arkansas and McDonald County in Missouri, will have a population of about 433,000 when results are released after April’s count, up from about 350,000 in 2000.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is expanding its campus in Fayetteville and hopes to enroll as many as 300 students within 10 years, up from just six at present, said Peter Kohler, vice chancellor for UAMS Northwest.
A burgeoning medical presence can only help Northwest Arkansas, Malone said.
“The quality of life here is so strong, and we know it’s going to grow,” he said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/20/2010