Riff Raff: An attitude adjustment assessment

It’s a helluva thing to have a bunch of attitude thrown in your face and delivered with a hint of swagger and a pinch of pride. Not that puffy pride that goeth before a destruction, but the quiet, confident kind birthed by accomplishment. It was great. To process it has been cathartic.

The question asked of a few Fort Smith and Van Buren business and civic leaders was to provide some perspective on all the cool stuff in the region that’s been popping up organically. There are the murals in downtown Fort Smith, the Peacemaker Festival, Steel Horse Rally, a General Darby statue on the east end of Garrison soon to complement the Bass Reeves statue on the west end. And the ArcBest expansion, the Masonic Temple renovation, the Future School of Fort Smith, an improved home sales market, downtown Van Buren changes and plans, art and other new programs at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Mercy clinic expansions, the UAMS West/Sparks Health collaboration, the health sciences expansion at Arkansas Tech’s campus in Ozark, and local beer breweries, trail expansions and marathons. Am missing a few things, but surely you get the point.

We can’t miss the osteopathic college going up in Fort Smith next to Chaffee Crossing that will eventually be home to 600 medical students. The project and associated development will be such a big deal for this region that adequate analysis escapes me as to its impact.

But back to the question. Sometimes a journalist should set aside their perspective and seek it from those who may see it from different angles. The stars are all beautiful, but they appear in different places depending on your hemisphere. The question then is: Is this real? What am I missing? What do I not know about what I see?

And out came the attitude.

Kim Linam, the boss at Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp., had a social perspective. She mentioned we have an “incredible symphony” and great music programs at area schools. She likes the Windgate Art & Design building at UAFS, and said the murals festival (Unexpected event) brought the city national recognition.

“I think the cultural advances in Fort Smith change the whole landscape and the way Fort Smith should be viewed,” Linam said.

Fred Williams, a businessman who has investments in Fort Smith and Van Buren and has seen cycles come and go, is, like Linam, seeing a different view.

“A change in attitude is the most positive thing that I have seen in years,” he said.

Steve Clark, the head of Propak Logistics who fueled the murals festival and recently completed renovation of the historic Friedman-Mincer (OTASCO) building in downtown Fort Smith, weighed in.

“I would suggest the events (Peacemaker, Steel Horse, Unexpected, etc) are more effect than cause. … The cause? A shift in attitude, in what we expect of ourselves, of our community. We are rediscovering the sentiments of our forefathers – the marvel, the vision, the ‘what could be’ and ‘what should be’ for our people, our city,” Clark wrote.

Jay Carter, head of the Farmers Cooperative who daily deals with economic conditions in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith area, believes there is a “more progressive and positive feeling about Fort Smith.”

“We are seeing more young people looking this direction to work,” Carter said, adding that the Fort Smith region provides good access to Dallas, OKC, Tulsa, Springfield, Memphis, without having to “live in the crowded cities.”

“I have even thought this might not be a bad place to retire, (and) that is a change,” Carter added.

Maryl Koeth, head of the Van Buren Advertising and Promotion Commission, responded with her take on a “new focus.

“In Fort Smith and Van Buren I’m encouraged to see more progressive thinking about economic and community development. The new focus on trails and parks, entertainment, downtown revitalization and all the progress at Chaffee Crossing is evidence that the leadership in the River Valley understands that the old way of thinking about business recruitment and job creation must change to be competitive. The improvement in attitude from both private and public sectors is refreshing and speaks to a better quality of life for all,” Koeth said.

Clark and Koeth were just two of many who responded by e-mail or phone with similar assessments about a change in approach and attitude. Mostly attitude.

Jackie Krutsch, president of the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce and former director of the Leadership Fort Smith Program, spoke about “a refreshing attitude in the region that is starting to refuse the status quo.”

“Regional cooperation is helping to push economic development opportunities and Chambers of Commerce throughout the area are working together. There are several instances where growth in one community is resulting in a new contract for other products or services in another, often with the addition of new jobs. Business expansions are also being seen with several companies purchasing new equipment and adding 3, 5 and 10 new people. No announcements, no sexy press conferences, but it is happening. We need more of this but I do clearly see an uptick,” Krutsch said.

It soon became clear I have been wrong. Bad wrong. My view was Fort Smith needed a wholesale change in leadership and culture in city government to get the place moving forward at a more progressive and aggressive rate. Turns out, city reformation is secondary.

Attitude. That was the missing ingredient in Fort Smith. But it ain’t missing no more. This attitude thing in Fort Smith is the damnedest I’ve seen in more than 20 years of watching our regional socio-economic roller coaster ride.

As to city government, Fort Smith attorney Rex Terry addressed that. He said it is “obvious” that “business leaders are involved and very aggressive in having the vision to see our needs and the willingness to take the lead in making things happen.”

Continuing Terry noted: “Most of the positive things we see are not produced by the city government, but in spite of it. This is good, because the vision will have to come from our business leadership since our form of city government frankly does not lend itself to having a vision for the future.”

Without an organized push, what is the genesis for this attitude? Was there a catalyst?

“Why now?” Clark included in his response, beating me to the question. “Who knows and, maybe, who cares. Just so it continues. I’m in.”

The thing is, if Clark is in, continuance has healthy legs.

To continue in a follow up Riff Raff will be this reflection on attitude and change and what Fort Smith banker Sam Sicard says happens when citizens “can no longer accept the status quo.”

And we’ll talk about what happens when this attitude runs into momentum.