Leaders huddle on infrastructure
Ex-Cabinet secretary cheers on central Arkansas officials
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. filled a room with central Arkansas leaders Monday morning in an effort to encourage a collaborative mindset in the region’s approach to infrastructure issues.
The meeting marked the end of Infrastructure Week, an annual chain of events in Washington, D.C., and across the U.S. that highlight the state of the nation’s infrastructure, which encompasses roads, bridges, public transportation, ports, the energy grid, water and sewer systems and more.
Those present Monday included the mayors of most cities in Pulaski County; the chief executive officers of Central Arkansas Water, Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority and Rock Region Metro; Arkansas Highway Commission Chairman Tom Schueck of Little Rock; Pulaski County’s County Judge Barry Hyde; a representative for Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman; and heads of engineering and consulting firms working on local projects.
Scott asked each person at the table to share projects they were working on and suggestions for how other partners could help.
“If we do the right things together, our entire county and the central Arkansas region will be primed for greatness,” he said.
Guest speaker Rodney Slater, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, praised collaboration at the local and national level, referring to a meeting between President Donald Trump and the congressional Democratic leaders that resulted in an agreement on a $2 trillion infrastructure spending
plan.
“In that meeting, you actually had a president that said, ‘What’s this figure that I’ve been hearing, $2 trillion? That sounds pretty good to me.’ Then we had a speaker that said, ‘If we’re going to do it, we have to do it together,’” Slater said.
The Arkansas native also cheered the arrival of 5G in Little Rock — the technology has the potential to affect every aspect of industry, including retail and careers, he said. The city is one of 20 where Verizon will offer access to 5G this year; AT&T said last year that it will offer varying levels of 5G technology in 24 states, including Arkansas.
“We are actually at a pivotal point in our economy as we move towards what many are calling the ‘fourth Industrial Revolution,’ a period of time where the digital economy is actually impacting all aspects of our economy,” he said.
Some attendees said central Arkansas could learn from Northwest Arkansas’ regional thinking, but that the middle of the state had improved its regional focus in recent years.
“We realized that we’re central Arkansas, we’re not just Little Rock and North Little Rock,” North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith said.
Scott said he thought it might be the first time the group of regional leaders had met that way. He said he hoped that they could continue to convene biannually, meeting again at the beginning of 2020.
“If the central Arkansas region is successful, the entire state is successful. When we’re all at the table together, then we’ll be successful,” Scott said. “That helps everyone.”