ASU-Beebe Staffers complete community development course

BEEBE — Arkansas State University-Beebe is proud to announce that two of its Searcy staff members recently completed parts of the three-year program of the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Leonard Mesa, ASU-Beebe’s director of Workforce and Community Development, has recently completed the Year 2 class, and LaShanda Owens, campus operations manager for the Searcy Campus, completed the Year 1 class of the 33rd annual Community Development Institute.

CDI trains community leaders and economic development professionals on how to strengthen their local economies and build communities. This is achieved by developing the ability of participants to identify community assets, set goals, encourage collaboration and partnerships with stakeholders, and bring communities, organizations and businesses together to respond to a broad range of economic and quality-of-life issues.

The complete institute experience is a three-year program, with one week of training per year. Participants move through the program curriculum in cohorts and are exposed to a comprehensive, applied approach to the field of community and economic development. In addition to learning from successful practitioners, CDI also offers valuable networking and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. Each CDI site offers core curriculum courses, in addition to other course offerings based on site needs and demographics.

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