DRA Announces New Online Database To Spur Economic Development, Job Growth Across Delta

The Delta Regional Authority on Wednesday announced a new interactive research tool that officials said will connect economic developers and local leaders to demographic and economic data to spur growth and attract business investment across the authority’s eight-state regional footprint.

The new online tool presents current county-by-county data across all eight DRA states on indicators of population, educational attainment, poverty, health, economics and housing, said DRA chairman Chris Masingill.

“This is something we have been working on for a while,” Masingill said during a 20-minute webinar announcing the new interactive economic development tool. “Addressing issues that face our communities in the Delta region takes renewed focus and better coordinated efforts on policy and investments – but particularly on the need for data.”

Masingill said the DRA has learned from its own research that the need for better research data for policymakers and economic developers across the 252 Delta counties and parishes that the authority serves is critical.

“There is plenty of information out there, and there’s lot of research, but trying to get it in one place and filter it through all the various levels and all the various data to understand how it affects the Delta as a whole is something that we haven’t be able to do,” the DRA chairman said. “We feel the DRA can be that central point that people can go to and get information as it relates to the Delta region without having to go a thousand places, hire expensive consultants or try to use resources they don’t have.”

According to the DRA, the new interactive tool allows community leaders and economic developers to access the research and data that help them be competitive in business acquisition, federal funding, and other opportunities that bring resources back to their community and region.

Jim Youngquist, executive director of the Institute for Economic Advancement (IEA) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business, said he and his staff have been working on the online project since 2012.

The IEA Director said the idea for the online tool came out of an assessment for “quality of life” issues that affected the 10 million constituents across parts or portions of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

“This really has been a labor of love for our institute to be involved in this,” Youngquist said during the webinar. “(This) is a very important economic development tool that the (DRA) and the Delta can use whether you are in local government, or at the regional or state level.”

Now in real-time, Today’s Delta users are able to create their own comparisons across indicators and geographies that can be printed for future use. The new tool also allows users to compare indicators by county, state, region, and national levels – creating new comparison, new insights, and, ideally, new solutions to strengthen the Delta regional economy, Youngquist said.

Created by Congress in 2000, the DRA is authorized to serve 252 counties and parishes in in one of the most historic, culturally rich parts of the country. The authority’s mission is to support job creation and improve quality of life through strategic economic development investments in the Delta region’s communities, families and businesses.

At the end of the webinar, Masingill said he believes the new online tool will enhance the DRA mission and help policymakers and economic developers across the Delta improve the quality of life across areas of the region that often get overlooked.

“We understand the importance … of data that paints the picture of the challenges, successes and quite frankly, the opportunities of our families, communities and our region,” Masingill said. “Sometimes we get painted with a broad stroke that is necessarily not true because people don’t have all the right facts.

“Things are happening in the region and things are getting better, and we are seeing activity, we are creating jobs and we are seeing the workforce get stronger,” the DRA chairman continued. “It is matter of providing all those pieces together, where it is easily accessible, and if it is necessary we can help them understand what they are looking at.”

Masingill closed the webinar by saying the online Today’s Delta tool also fits with the overall strategy of the recently created Delta Research Consortium. In early April, leaders from at least 35 universities and businesses across the Delta convened for a summit at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro to discuss partnership and collaborative efforts for future entrepreneurial projects.

That collaborative network now consists of four-year colleges and universities throughout the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions, along with stakeholders from public and private organizations.

Over the next several weeks, DRA officials said the authority’s staff will be holding additional webinars to educate stakeholders on how to use the new online tool.

Click here to view the the Today’s Delta interactive database.