El Dorado Works Board approves training center funding

Rock Island Greenway proposal tabled

The El Dorado Works Board has approved more than $145,000 funding request for the SouthArk training center.

The board met Tuesday to hear proposals from SouthArk President Dr. Barbara Jones and Alderman Billy Blann.

Jones, along with industry partners from Conifex, Canfor and El Dorado Chemical as well as her colleagues at the college, presented a funding request to the board for new equipment at their Advanced Manufacturing Training Center (AMTC), still under construction. The request was for a tentative $145,871.81 to purchase equipment to establish an E& I( electrical and industrial) and Mechanical non-credit program and enhance the current Industrial Technology credit program.

The proposal was modeled after a similar program in Morrilton, Arkansas. Green Bay Packaging (GBP), a Wisconsin-based pulp and paper company, started a technical training program in conjunction with Arkansas Technical University – Ozark Campus in 2009. The Arkansas Kraft Division (AKD) of GBP won the 2011 Most Innovative Training Award from the American Society for Training and Development for their training program and center.

Sherry Howard, SouthArk’s Dean of Workforce & Continuing Education, said they have worked closely with the GBP – AKD training center to develop their proposal and planned curriculum for the AMTC.

“They’re an open book,” she said.

Currently, SouthArk offers four non-credit certification courses in safety, maintenance, quality practices and measurement and manufacturing processes and production. They have 13 industrial tech and mechanical courses that offer college credit. With the equipment listed in the proposal, they would add two new programs in Electrical and Instrumentation and Mechanical studies. Those programs would include 14 new classes.

To encourage the board, the general managers of the three aforementioned plants explained the growing need for a trained workforce for technical jobs. Greg Withrow, of El Dorado Chemical, said that he has several employees that will retire soon that he will need to replace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor pool is aging due to the large population boom (the baby boom) between 1946 and 1964.

Also discussed were the technological advancements that have overtaken heavy indus-

try.

“It’s very difficult to train for today’s technology with yesterday’s equipment,” said Derek Ratchford, Canfor general manager.

The proposal was unanimously approved, understanding that the amount may change once the college begins getting bids. Jones said they hope to have the AMTC open by early June.

Blann presented a proposal to the board regarding the Rock Island Greenway, a proposed bike and running trail from El Dorado to Ruston, Louisiana, along the Rock Island Rail line.

The proposal was for $10,000 that would fund a feasibility study from Crafton Tull, the firm behind the 2017 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. The total cost of the study is $32,000, of which the city of Ruston agreed to pay half. Blann said some individuals have signaled a willingness to contribute up to $6,000, leaving only the $10,000 needed for the project.

The feasibility study would include identifying ownership of the existing right-of-way of the rail line, assessing the conditions along the proposed corridor and establishing an order of action items for the project moving forward.

Blann cited Fayetteville as an example of an area where bike trails and walking paths have increased the quality of life and stimulated the economy. Chen Ryan Associates found in a 2015 study that two trails in Northwest Arkansas had about 500,000 pedestrians annually. The area boasts at least 11 hiking, biking and walking trails totaling over 200 miles.

The Rock Island Greenway would be an approximately 50-mile linear park that would cross the Arkansas Louisiana state line. The feasibility study is Phase I of the plan, with Phase II actions to be determined after the completion of the study.

The board tabled the idea at Tuesday’s meeting because they couldn’t determine the legality of municipal funds paying for research that will mostly take place outside of city limits. El Dorado Mayor Frank Hash said his office would start looking into the privately owned sections of rail in and outside of the city.

Blann said that Union County Judge Mike Loftin has expressed interest in the plan, and that he has met three times with Ruston officials to discuss the idea.

At the meeting, Blann also announced that Madison Murphy had been named Tourism Person of the Year by Gov. Asa Hutchinson at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

For more information on the Rock Island Greenway, visit their Facebook page.