State,local economic boosters woo site consultants at BigTen tourney

Economic developers from across the state gathered in Chicago this weekend.

Little Rock, Jonesboro, Helena-West Helena, Fort Smith, Paragould, Hot Springs, Conway and Arkadelphia were among the towns represented. Joining them were five staff members from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

What drew so many of the state’s business recruiters to Chicago? Were they closing a deal on some top-secret project? Persuading a major corporation to move its headquarters to Arkansas? Not quite. They were at the United Center to attend the Big Ten basketball championship semifinals.

The commission rented a suite for the Saturday afternoon session and was using the tournament as a way to interact with site location consultants.

As interim Executive Director Danny Games explained to the commission during its monthly meeting, Chicago is regarded as a hub for site selectors. Building relationships with folks in that line of work is important, and Games estimated 20 representatives from 12 firms were planning to attend.

This isn’t the first trip of this nature for the commission. Spokesman Scott Hardin said the organization has previously rented suites at the Southeastern Conference football championship in Atlanta and hosted consultants in suites to watch the Cubs in Chicago and the Yankees in New York.

In attendance over Saturday were the Arkadelphia Alliance, Conway Development Corp., Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, Entergy, Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, Great River Economic Development Foundation (Blytheville), Helena Harbor, Hot Springs Metro Partnership, Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce, Maumelle Chamber of Commerce, Metro Little Rock Alliance, Oklahoma Gas and Electric, and the Paragould Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Sometimes the commission elects for more artsy events like a reception for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art it hosted in New York with Alice Walton in 2008. Some years the commission will do up to two events like this, but Chicago will be the first since the 2013 SEC football championship game. Suite rates

became too expensive for the agency to justify further trips to Atlanta for the SEC championships. Is it worth it? Well, it’s safe to say those 500 jobs projected for the $1.3 billion Big River Steel project at Osceola didn’t happen as a result of a trip to the SEC football championship. But Hardin estimates about half of the commission’s projects come through site location consultants.

So that gives us some sense of why the agency and local development officials would pick up the tab on an arena suite for the afternoon.

The commission’s statefunded portion of the bill will amount to roughly $5,000 out of its marketing budget. It comes to about $965 worth of travel for each of the five representatives who made the trip.

Each organization that attended was responsible for coming up with what Hardin described as “a sponsorship.” Some costs also were likely covered by the AEDC Foundation.

Suites at the United Center vary in size and are set up to accommodate parties of 20, 40 or 80 people. Rental fees range between $5,200 and $20,000, depending on the box size.

Neither the commission nor the United Center would share which box, and at what cost, the agency rented on Saturday.

In addition to tickets for the game the rental fee covered parking, food, an open bar and suite attendants.

Tough work, but somebody’s got to do it.

The commission, by the way, will take part in a more traditional development opportunity when it hosts the trade minister of the Czech Republic on March 26. Agriculture exporting opportunities will be on the agenda.

cbahn@nwaonline.com