Citizen survey will be focus of meeting

Little River County, Ark., will unveil the results of an economic survey discussing economic development needs at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Barbara Horn Civic Center.

“Little River residents were invited to participate in a survey about a variety of topics, ranking public safety, availability of public facilities, economic development and some open-ended questions to provide their opinions of what they like and what needs improvement in the county,” said Vickie Williamson, Economic Development director.

“The survey was developed by Arkansas Economic Development Institute, and they are now compiling and analyzing the answers, as well as comparing it to other like communities, to develop a comprehensive report,” Williamson said.

The meeting will focus on survey results and residents’ comments and suggestions. The session will in the civic center on the Ashdown campus of Cossatot College.

People will be allowed time for discussion, then begin developing priorities and goals.

“I believe we’ll set up some committees of volunteers to devise strategies to accomplish the goals and report back to the group. In the end, we will develop a fiveyear community development plan for Little River County based on our residents’ desires,” Williamson said.

“Little River County Economic Development knows that economic growth must be regional, and we look forward to working with all the economic development agencies in our region. We believe our four states region is rich in untapped opportunities and will do our part to promote it. We continue to develop the intermodal facility, which will be an important regional asset.

“Our engineers are working on the final design as we complete the required environmental and wetland studies,” she said.

The meeting is open to the public.

For additional information, contact Williamson at 870-584-1488, or by email at vwilliamson@cccua. edu.