Wise Up or Dry Up (Editorial)

Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley are overdue for getting on the same economic development page. What’s good for Sebastian and Crawford counties is good for Benton and Washington counties, and vice versa.

Our business communities are increasingly intertwined and Interstate 540 is not the only ribbon that ties us together.

Regional airports in both areas, the Arkansas River, the presence of publicly traded bellwethers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Arkansas Best Corp., the University of Arkansas, a diverse industrial and agricultural base and a growing number of knowledge-based jobs are all synergies the entire region can leverage.

Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley offer the state two of its three best bets for quality long-term growth. The prospect of an international I-79 corridor — something Northwest Arkansas’ leaders should be hustling down to Fort Smith to support just as its leaders rallied for I-540 — is incredible.

The Third Congressional District Caucus should have learned its lesson during 2001’s redistricting fight. The Arkansas Delta, central and south Arkansas are certainly on the same page. Why aren’t we?

Mention the word “highways” and exhaustion weighs down the faces of Chamber of Commerce and economic development leaders in both areas. Apparently, our combined business community hasn’t done enough to get the attention of state and political leaders and to help get rid of the ones who won’t work together.

That said, if you represent the northwest corridor in the Arkansas General Assembly and are a national-issue, one-plank candidate with little regard for regional issues that you can actually do something about — consider yourself on the hot seat.

If you are a public official from Barling to Bella Vista and every other phrase out of your mouth isn’t “U.S. Highway 412 bypass” and/or “I-79,” then your name is circled.

If you are Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.; or a candidate hoping to replace them, we need to hear what you’re actively doing about infrastructure needs today — not after the fall election.

If your name is Winthrop Rockefeller or Mike Beebe and you want this region’s support in a bid for governor, taking the lead on infrastructure is the path to northwest support.

How much back slapping will we be able to do about this region’s economy and quality of life when it’s ground to a halt?