Arkansas' Rural Miracle

Morrilton, Arkansas conquers adversity.

By Charles Dexter Ward

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee characterizes the string of business locations and expansions in rural Conway County's largest city over the past few years as the "Morrilton Miracle." He credits that miracle to local economic development leaders.

Barry McKuin, president of both the Conway County Economic Development Corp. (CCEDC), and the Morrilton Area Chamber of Commerce, appreciates that compliment. But respectfully, he redirects the credit to a population that is better understanding the impact that community development has on business development.

"I believe what's occurred here is a result of committed individuals working together in the last few years to create an environment in which the right things get done," he said.

Since 1997, the two economic development organizations McKuin heads have focused on community development, in addition to business recruitment.

"We recognize the importance of maintaining a strong business environment; how that affects the profitability of local companies," he explains, "so we work with and support our existing business by working to foster development of a better community. A key element in that process is ensuring the availability of exemplary education. We also know that only local people can solve local problems."

That philosophy was put to the test in 1999 when two major Morrilton employers-Arrow Automotive Industries, Inc. and Levi Strauss & Company-closed.

"Those closings were both announced in February 1999. So, we suddenly had 1,100 people out of work in a town of just over 6,500 and a county of 20,000," said McKuin. "We couldn't waste any time. We rolled up our sleeves and got busy trying to replace as many of those jobs as quickly as we could."

Close coordination with related organizations, particularly the Arkansas Department of Economic Development and Entergy Corporation's Community and Economic Development team, became vitally important.

A major resource proved to be the area's Vision 2020/Conway County, Inc. (initiated in 1995) and the Conway County 2020 Training Institute it had spawned to provide community development/leadership classes. After the two major plant closings, community leaders became more aware of opportunities for growth and community development.

"By August 1999, we had a new company-ICT Group, Inc. of Langhorne, Pennsylvania-announcing a call center operation for Morrilton," McKuin said.

"ICT was looking for a reliable work force. The company found it here. Jack Egan, vice president of ICT, told the community that ours was the first new ICT operation he had experienced where the prospective employees actually expressed an interest in what they needed to learn. The employees wanted to be highly effective for the company rather than only being concerned with pay and benefits."

Within 60 days, an existing company-SEMCO Incorporated, of Columbia, Missouri-also made an announcement. The company said it would build an additional 100,000 square-foot manufacturing facility on land purchased from the CCEDC.

At SEMCO's announcement, President & CEO William Thurman stated that the people of Conway County had played an important part in his company's decision to locate a second facility there.

Thurman also said that his company attributed the success of its existing Morrilton facility to "the skills and work ethic found" in its local employees. The support SEMCO had already received from the community, the Conway County Economic Development Corporation, and the State of Arkansas had been outstanding.

Another new company-Telex Communications, Inc. of Burnsville, Minnesota-arrived in Morrilton in April 2000.

"A critical concern for Telex in relocating its Electro-Voice speaker business was a reliable work force. And, the company also wanted an available building," explained McKuin.

He said that although Morrilton was not originally Telex's first choice, "our persistence and the partnerships we demonstrated at both the local and state levels caused Telex to reconsider us. And then the more they looked, the more comfortable they became with Morrilton and Conway County." Telex purchased the former Arrow Automotive building.

In fall 2002, SEMCO completed a 40,000 square-foot addition to the original 50,000 square-foot Morrilton facility. At that recent ribbon cutting, Thurman stated "I can tell you firsthand that vision, leadership, commitment and teamwork exist in Morrilton, Arkansas."

He attributed SEMCO's two expansion decisions in Morrilton to "a local work force that has established a track record with the company."

"The productivity they've demonstrated and the favorable transportation costs of being on I-40 were both strong factors that favored local expansion," McKuin said.

"This is an excellent place to live, play and raise a family and our people don't want to give that up," he added. "We've got the quality-of-life benefits that come with a small community, yet we're only minutes away from universities, an acclaimed private college and all the urban amenities of Little Rock."

To make room for more businesses McKuin said that the CCEDC is currently developing additional properties. These sites have roads and utilities already extended to the properties.

Another investment in the area's continued growth is a two-year old cooperative work force leadership training and education program-an initiative that resulted from more than a year's worth of research and examination of other successful programs.

"As a result, a partnership now exists between the CCEDC, the local University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton, and the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, 110 miles away," said McKuin.

In the end, just four years after facing major adversity, this Arkansas community is once again one of the South's best rural business locations. A wise man once said that out of difficulties grow miracles. Morrilton, Arkansas is living proof.