Economic development serious business in county
Identifying and developing opportunities for economic growth and improving quality of life in El Dorado and Union County is a non-stop job.
At the helm of those efforts is the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, whose staff virtually works around the clock to be prepared when opportunity comes knocking.
As economic development project manager, Brandon Barnette plays an integral part in local economic development projects.
Whether it’s filling a weekend request from a business/industry prospect or assisting an existing industry with plans for expansion, Barnette is often the common denominator among the many moving parts — including chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Luther; other chamber staff members Jaren Books, membership and events coordinator, and Kaitlyn Rigdon, marketing and finance coordinator; the chamber board of directors and executive committee; and a bevy of strategic partners on the local and state level — that are essential to economic growth in El Dorado and Union County.
The chamber serves as the economic development arm for the city and county, both of whom engage the chamber’s services with annual contracts.
Barnette’s office is arguably the nerve center for economic development matters in the area and he is often the point person for consultants and developers representing business and industry prospects who are considering communities to set up a new operation, relocate or expand.
Some of the responsibilities of the economic development project manager are to:
• Assist with final preparations for special economic development meetings and projects.
• Manage the day-to-day activities of the Union County Industrial Board and El Dorado Development
Corporation properties.
• Update and maintain the Grow El Dorado website, which was created five years ago to boost the area’s online presence and economic marketability.
• Update the Arkansas Site Selection website, which is hosted by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Entergy Arkansas.
Both websites list available commercial and industrial sites in El Dorado and Union County, with the Grow El Dorado website providing much more detailed information about the area, including maps, photos, infrastructure, transportation, demographics, workforce data, daily traffic estimates, local and state incentive packages, city codes, permits and ordinances and more.
The site, which complements the Go El Dorado website, went live in December of 2015. Go El Dorado focuses on the community, while Grow El Dorado targets a more specific market.
Barnette said Grow El Dorado provides key details that business prospects look for when researching potential sites.
“It’s changed a lot since then. We want to try to keep it up to date and try to have everything a couple of clicks away,” he said.
He stressed the importance of maintaining a strong online presence to improve the area’s chances to land economic development opportunities.
“You have to have it available where they can look at it quickly. If you don’t have an online presence, you’re putting yourself out of the game,” Barnette explained. “It’s all about having a good marketing package. If they don’t see the stuff they’re looking for right away, they’ll just exit your site and go on to the next town.”
The Arkansas Site Selection website appoints a site/property manager for each county in the state and Barnette holds down that role for Union County.
“We have a very good working relationship with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Entergy,” Barnette said.
And it doesn’t hurt that Luther, chamber president and CEO, is a former utility manager who retired from Entergy in 2018 after 39 years with the company.
A few economic development projects have come to El Dorado because of information that is readily available on the Grow El Dorado and Arkansas Site Center websites, Barnette said.
He said the chamber and the AEDC make sure to keep each other abreast with business and industry prospects and that prospects are aware of available incentives when they draft proposals.
“The more jobs they have, the better their chances,” Barnette said.
Other services
The chamber also works to ensure that existing businesses and industries have what they need to be successful.
For instance, he said the chamber worked with Union County Judge Mike Loftin on a road widening project for El Dorado Metals.
“They’re kind of on their own little road in the county. That road is narrow and the trucks were having problems turning,” he explained. “They had been trying to get that road expanded for a long time, so we worked with the county judge to get that road expanded a couple of years ago.”
Last month, Barnette approached the El Dorado City Council about an issue that was similar but had a bit of a different slant.
The chamber asked the council to assist with confusion that has been created by two streets called Cooper Drive in Union County.
One of the streets is within El Dorado city limits off West Hillsboro, east of Timberlane, and the other is off Industrial Road, just outside city limits.
Barnette and Robert Edmonds, director of public works for the city of El Dorado, told council members that truck drivers who attempt to make deliveries and pickups to industries on Industrial Road are often rerouted by their GPSes to the wrong Cooper Drive, which is a narrow, residential dead-end street.
Barnette said local industries provide hundreds of jobs and make major investments in the community with expansion and turnaround/maintenance projects that bring scores of contract workers to town for extended stays — all projects that pump money into the local economy.
The chamber is also working with local businesses and industries to fill workforce needs.
“One of the things we keep hearing from industries is that their workforce is getting older and there doesn’t seem to be any interest from younger people to fill those jobs,” Barnette said.
With its process technology and workforce development and training programs, SouthArk is leading the charge in helping to provide a trained workforce for area industries.
The chamber also worked with the city of El Dorado, SouthArk and area industries and schools to reach out to ninth-graders in Union County for a local Manufacturing Day event.
Launched in 2018, the event served to educate ninth-grade students about products that are manufactured locally and career opportunities that are available in the manufacturing field.
Barnette noted that the effort also intended to clear up misconceptions about manufacturing jobs.
“We wanted them to know these are not your parents and grandparents’ jobs. They’re safe environments and they use equipment that’s very in tune with what the younger generation is used to working with: computers,” Barnette said.
“A lot students go to college and get bachelor’s degrees and start out making $35,000 a year,” he continued. “What surprised a lot of those ninth-graders was that you can get industrial and technology degrees and certificates, go to school for two years and come out making $60,000 and $70,000.”
Economic Development 101
Upon joining the chamber in 2014, Barnette quickly learned one of the fundamental lessons that is taught in “Economic Development 101”: to not publicly speak about economic development projects until deals are signed on the dotted line.
One such project was Standard Lithium, a Canadian company that is working with LANXESS in Union County to produce lithium carbonate, a chemical that is used in the manufacture of lithium batteries.
The Standard Lithium test facility that was built at LANXESS’ south plant began its commissioning process in December.
“One of their (Standard Lithium’s) business developers came to town and said he worked for a company and he was not telling us the name of the company but that they were looking for office space and warehouse space,” Barnette said.
“You never know what a project can snowball into and you have to make sure you’re ready to go,” he said. “We started working with them in 2017. The goal is prove that it’s economically viable and, hopefully, go full-scale commercial.”
Barnette remained tight-lipped about the specifics on other projects that are under development, including plans for the shopping center that houses Everybody’s Antiques in the area of West Hillsboro and Bradley Avenue.
Everybody’s Antiques was formerly flanked on either side by Fred’s Discount store and El Dorado Lanes, both of which have gone out of business.
Barnette shared that the commercial property was sold to a developer who specializes in purchasing and reinvigorating commercial properties.
“He is working on recruiting national retail chains to fill that space,” Barnette said.
The chamber also works to recruit retail businesses and restaurants, many of which pass up El Dorado because of low population and daily traffic-count numbers, he said.
Identifying under-performing sectors of the community and actively recruiting prospects to fill those voids, including family entertainment venues, is another service the chamber is providing the city.
Barnette noted that over the past several years, the city has lost a skating rink, bowling alley and businesses that provided arcade games and laser tag.
“We’ve got MAD, parks and the Boys and Girls Club (of El Dorado) and we’re trying to attract other family entertainment venues,” he said.
“We’re going after bowling alleys, laser tag, trampoline parks and one of those projects is looking very promising,” Barnette added. “I think we may be close to signing a lease.”
Of the many economic development projects that Barnette and the chamber are juggling, he said his favorite is being able to serve the community with efforts that create jobs and improve the quality of life for local residents.
“When a project comes to fruition, that’s the most rewarding part of my job. It can change people’s lives in a very real way,” he said. “The downside is a lot of projects never make it but there are a lot of exciting things coming up.”