Little Rock metro area tops list of "hot markets" in cold economy
Wednesday October 29, 2008
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – Southern Business and Development magazine’s most recent issue names the metro Little Rock area atop a list of regions that are thriving in a tough economy. The magazine notes that since 2007, new and expanding economic development projects in central Arkansas (including Conway, Hot Springs, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff and others) have been announced at a fast pace.
Michael Randle, editor of Southern Business and Development, writes in the article of the metro Little Rock area that there is “no doubt in our minds which southern market we would place at the top of the list.” He added “Yes, if Little Rock were a stock, I’d buy shares in it.”
“If there was ever a right time to build positive momentum for economic development, this is it,” Governor Mike Beebe said. “This recognition is more evidence of Arkansas’s ability to buck the national economic downturn, and it will encourage additional companies to look at the Little Rock metro area and our State for future projects.”
The Little Rock metro area is marketed through an eleven-county economic development organization called the Metro Little Rock Alliance (MLRA) and the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce (LRRCC) economic development program. MLRA began five years ago with a vision for Central Arkansas to become the premier location for new and expanding businesses within the mid-south. “We compete more successfully for jobs and capital investment as a collective region than as individual communities,” said MLRA Executive Director and LRRCC Vice-President Joey Dean. “This recognition and our recent announcements illustrate that our regional economic development efforts are working.”
New and expanding companies mentioned by the magazine include Dassault Falcon Jet, Kimberly Clark, ITT Industries, Stanley Inc., Welspun, LM Glasfiber and Hewlett Packard.
A photo of Gov. Beebe at the Welspun announcement is featured on the magazine’s cover.
Southern Business and Development can be found online at www.sb-d.com