Much to offer to state

I read the article about job and economy rankings in the northwest part of the state in the June 10 edition of the Democrat-Gazette and I was thrilled! Any good news about Arkansas is great news to me, and I’m especially delighted to see good news about Arkansas making national news.

However, as excited as I am by the good news coming out of Northwest Arkansas, as a Little Rocker by choice, having just moved here from south Florida last August, I have to say that I would also be excited by great news coming out of Central Arkansas, particularly the Little Rock metro area.

Little Rock has so much to offer, both in terms of quality of life and cost of living, not to mention the economic and high-tech possibilities coming out of UAMS and the cluster of medical centers and centers for medical research in Little Rock. UAMS is already a leading center for cancer research, and the possibilities offered by the convergence of biotech and nanotech, both of which are the subjects of research by the Arkansas Research Alliance headquartered in Conway, are immense. I can only imagine what it could be like to live in a state with not one but two nationally recognized centers for high-tech research and business development.

My only other desire is that, in the near future, through improvements in reading and verbal skills as well as STEM studies, the close to half of the Little Rock population that lives south of Interstate 630 might be more fully involved in the life of the city of Little Rock, the Central Arkansas region, and the state of Arkansas in general.

RON JACOBS Little Rock