Craighead County Justices Hear About Workforce Development Efforts

Craighead County has an opportunity to build for the future by helping its present day residents get the training they need, an official with the East Arkansas Planning and Development District told justices Monday.

The county’s Public Services Committee heard from Sheila Walters about the county’s strategic plan as well as a project to help increase workforce training. The strategic plan, which will be unveiled Sept. 28, will look at a variety of issues, Walters said. A group spent several months looking at everything from economic development to housing.

According to Census Bureau and EAPDD numbers, Craighead County reached the 100,000 population mark in 2013 and had 102,518 people based on 2014 estimates.

Seven of the county’s 10 cities have grown in the past 15 years, with Jonesboro adding about 17,000 people. Brookland added about 1,800 people over the same period, while Bono added over 600 people.

Walters, who formerly served as mayor in Trumann, told justices that Jonesboro also serves as a regional hub for Northeast Arkansas.

Northeast Arkansas has had two major economic development announcements in the past two years. Peco Foods announced in 2014 that it would build facilities in Corning and Pocahontas with about 1,000 jobs, while Big River Steel is building a $1.4 billion steel mill that will employ 550 people.

Walters said the two projects will bring people to the region but issues like housing remain front and center.

“With Peco and Big River Steel, they need housing. Most of the small towns around here do not have housing,” Walters said. “I am from Trumann and I can tell you that there are no available houses there.”

Walters said the planning and development district’s website was recently upgraded to include a wealth of information. The database includes everything from a list of hospitals and medical centers to a list of hotels in the region.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Walters said that officials with the Delta Regional Authority asked EAPDD earlier this year to help make the region “workforce ready.” The plan calls for high school seniors, people transitioning from job to job, and people with a job to receive a career readiness certificate, Walters said.

The person will be able to take an ACT-style test to build workforce skills, with people being graded from 3 (the lowest score) to 7 (the highest score). The program is being used in only one state, South Carolina, Walters said, noting the state has been able to attract industry and jobs using the program.

The committee approved both requests, which will now be heard by the full court on Sept. 28 in Jonesboro.

JUVENILE RECORDS
The county’s Finance Committee also approved a request to appropriate money to hire a person to review nearly 15,000 juvenile records to determine if and when the records should be destroyed.

Circuit Clerk Candace Edwards, R-Jonesboro, said her office was able to determine the number after some review. Edwards said her office took over operations of the juvenile court system in 1987 from the county judge’s office. Since then, the records have gathered in the circuit clerk’s office.

Add to it another wrinkle.

Arkansas law requires that juvenile court records be sealed, confidential and not available under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. However, the circuit clerk’s office has to keep records under certain circumstances. A record can be destroyed once the juvenile turns 21 years old, or 10 years after the juvenile turns 21 if the juvenile is charged as an adult.

Craighead County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Grant DeProw said the destruction of the records will be a tedious process due to state law not providing a clear cut timeline for destruction.

The request will be heard by justices on Sept. 28.