BUSINESS MATTERS: Project aims to brag on Arkansas as destination for companies

Job announcements tend to be among the more routine events covered by media outlets.

That's not to suggest the creation of employment opportunities is insignificant. As anybody who has read this space knows any job growth news can be big news, depending on factors such as community location and history.

It wasn't that long ago about 600 words of this column were devoted to explaining why the addition of 35 jobs in Manila, a Mississippi County town of about 3,200 in northeast Arkansas, was notable.

Still, the job announcement events themselves generally lack variety. Typically a representative of the company speaks. That speech is, almost always, followed by comments from some combination of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas Economic Development Commissioner Executive Director Mike Preston and a local civic leader.

Locations change.

On Aug. 17 the familiar scene played out in Paragould where Corbitt Manufacturing revealed plans to invest $3.5 million and add 67 jobs. A week earlier software development and engineering company Elyxor Inc. announced that it will add 45 positions at its North Little Rock office.

Company. Governor. Economic development commission. Mayor/County Judge/Chamber of Commerce rep.

Rinse. Repeat.

Still, Preston and others at the commission see enough variety in the announcements that they've set aside $60,000 to produce a series of approximately two-minute videos from each stop. They're aiming for up to 25 by the end of the fiscal year.

And the audience?

Sure, the general public can watch them. But Preston envisions sending out links to the videos to site selectors and company executives who might be interested in Arkansas. Or those who Preston believes need to be interested in Arkansas.

Preston often notes -- in public and private settings -- that the state has an abundance of resources, but needs to do a better job of bragging on itself. These videos, he said, are a way to do that.

"We're doing great things in economic development. We need to do a better job telling that story," Preston said. "We went to the Legislature this year and the governor requested additional funds in helping us tell that story. Putting together this collection of videos is part of that."

The economic development commission was granted an additional $500,000 as part of a marketing budget totaling $1.6 million. A contract for branding and multichannel marketing and another for public relations were granted to CJRW, the state's largest public relations and marketing firm. Digital marketing is being handled by Little Rock's Team SI.

CJRW, in conjunction with Waymack & Crew, is filming and producing the two-minute videos.

A budget of $60,000 has been set aside for the project, which will result in a collection of 20-25 videos by the end of the fiscal year. That's roughly $2,400 spent per video, which take about two or three days to film, edit and produce.

Dan Waymack, who purchased M-3 Productions from CJRW earlier this year, said the goal is to produce "documentary style" vignettes from each stop. A crew of two or three people is used to collect audio and video from the events with the goal of focusing on employees and employers. They want to know what jobs mean to the employees and why employers selected Arkansas.

As for keeping the final product different from stop to stop? Waymack, like Preston, sees plenty of possibilities.

"We've only done two, but so far we're making them look better than most things produced at press conferences," Waymack said. "There are interesting stories to tell. We're trying to make it not mundane. It's not going to be the same shot of the governor over and over again."

With more than 20 public job announcements and videos planned between now and June 30 -- AEDC has held six such events since July 1 -- there is certainly a risk that the stories told don't always vary a great deal. Preston is confident the videos are a unique tool to tell the state's story and draw attention to the job creation happening here.

"We have momentum, but it's easy to lose momentum," Preston said. "In order to keep it, let's showcase what we're doing. Let's get these videos to consultants or CEOs that maybe haven't considered Arkansas. We can use these to start the selling process. This, to me, helps us with that momentum. It's a different kind of information in front of consultants instead of the same, stale newsletter they get from 49 other states."

If you have a tip, call Chris Bahn at (501) 378-3518 or email him at [email protected]

SundayMonday Business on 08/28/2016

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