Area cities, chamber agree to create development alliance

More than 40 Oklahoma and Arkansas business and political leaders gathered in the Fort Smith area on Tuesday (April 20) took the first formal steps to try for a third time to create a regional economic development alliance.

The officials with cities and chambers in LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma and Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas gathered at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce where they approved creating a governing structure to the alliance. The effort was initiated by Fort Smith Chamber President Paul Harvel who was instrumental in creating the successful and ongoing Metro Little Rock Alliance that connects several counties, cities and chambers in central Arkansas.

Rob Ratley, area manager for Oklahoma City-based OG&E, said in a recent memo to The City Wire that the goal of an alliance should be to “give each community a shared voice and equal representation of two votes regardless of population. The establishment of trust, communication, cooperation, and mutual respect is vital to our success. The final structure and name will be determined by a consensus of the group.”

Two previous attempts this decade have failed to produce a sustainable alliance.

“We realize this is our third attempt, but we’re looking at doing this right,” Ratley told the group, adding that staying focused on creating structure and governance will improve the chances of success.

Jay Chesshir, president and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, spoke to the group about the obstacles and opportunities he has experienced in working to help manage the 11-county Metro Little Rock Alliance. Chesshir said an alliance does not replace chambers, but instead should be organized to pull the limited resources of all cities and chambers into a structure that maximizes regional strengths and minimizes weaknesses.

Also, Chesshir noted, an effective alliance is the best way to connect to site location consultants who have the power to help or hurt a region’s job recruitment efforts.

“They are the folks who can put you in the game. It’s your job to help them do their job,” Chesshir explained.

Chesshir said the MLRA — formed in February 2005 — was a key reason Hewlett Packard will soon have more than 1,000 jobs to Conway. Also, the MLRA has resulted in the area landing 9,834 news jobs between 2005-2009, with 44% of those being jobs created outside of Pulaski County.

One of the most difficult things for an alliance to do is gather the vast amount of demographic data required by site location consultants, to place that info online for consultants to grab at their convenience, and to keep the data updated, Chesshir said. The other difficult task of an alliance is keeping all the partners happy. He said constant and open communication is the only way to effectively manage intra-regional conflicts.

“I don’t think you ever get past that (potential for conflict). I think what you have to do is overcome that with communications and policy up front so that everyone understands (the rules),” Chesshir explained.

Money is important for a successful alliance, Chesshir said, with the MLRA collecting $300,000 annually — on a per capita ratio — from participating cities and organizations. Harvel said the Fort Smith chamber has budgeted to hire a person to help facilitate creation of the alliance to help staff it once created.

After Chesshir’s presentation, Ratley asked the group if they wanted to vote on creating an alliance.

“We’re tied together and we’d be smart to work together,” Lundy Kiger, with AES Shady Point in LeFlore County, said. “I think we’d be foolish to not push forward.”

Kiger made a motion the alliance be created and modeled closely on the MLRA. Van Buren Chamber President Jackie Krutsch seconded and it was agreed to unanimously. Altus Mayor Veronica Post moved that the governing board have two persons from each participating entity. Judy Martens, executive director of the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce, seconded and it was approved unanimously.

The next step for the newly-formed alliance is to develop a strategic plan. The group agreed to meet monthly in Fort Smith to expedite formation of a governing body, policies and the strategic plan.

Ratley said after the meeting he wanted to keep the progress of the alliance in front of the media.

“I think maybe that’s what happened (with past alliance failures). … They weren’t keeping this out in front of the public,” he said.