Moncrief, Watson plan tour stop in Hot Springs

Razorback great Sidney Moncrief and Little Rock businessman Ron Watson will kick off a tour in Hot Springs to help prepare disadvantaged youth and young adults for entry into the workforce.

Moncrief is the founder and president of Dallas-based Moncrief Game Changer Inc. Watson is the founder and president of the Little Rock-based HAD2 organization.

“We both have components that prepare our young people for entry into their careers, so they can play a significant role in building their communities and the Arkansas economy,” Moncrief said.

The tour will kick off in Hot Springs on Jan. 27 and will continue over the next three and a half months in Pine Bluff, Little Rock, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Conway, Helena-West Helena and the Blytheville-West Memphis area. Watson and Moncrief will hold career readiness seminars and educational forums to bring students together with area educators, businessmen, political leaders and other professionals.

Moncrief and Watson announced their youth development organizations are forming an alliance. They plan to highlight a career readiness initiative with a 10-city tour to provide at-risk students with skills to avoid becoming a statistic — part of the state’s disproportionately high dropout rate — and prepare them for the labor force.