Arkansas Awarded $9 Million From Commerce Department

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding nearly $9 million to upgrade critical infrastructure in Arkansas.

Some of the grant money will be spent in areas impacted by tornadoes, flooding, and severe storms in recent years. EDA said it estimates more than 1,100 jobs will be created, 20 existing jobs preserved, and it expects its $9 million to lead to more than $2 million in private investment.

The investments announced today include nine different grantees:

– A $1.2 million grant to the city of Fort Smith to help construct infrastructure improvements for the new Arkansas Osteopathic Medical School in Fort Smith, Arkansas to increase physician accessibility. The investment will help the city improve roads and sidewalks leading to the school as well as construct parking lots for patients, students, and staff.

– A nearly $1.1 million investment to the city of Stuttgart to help construct a commercial airport hangar with interior office space, and road and parking lot improvements at the municipal airport.

– A $1.2 million investment to the city of Pine Bluff to help upgrade roughly 40 miles of rail line to increase economic resiliency and diversity by providing alternate transportation in times of natural disasters to area businesses and manufacturers. Also, the proposed continued upgrading of the rail line is a vital component of broader efforts to restore and improve critical rail infrastructure that will service Southeast Arkansas and Northeast Louisiana.

– A $300,000 grant to support disaster recovery efforts in Central Arkansas by enabling the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District to hire a Disaster Coordinator and two additional staff members for a three-year period for the purpose of pre- and post-disaster recovery planning for Faulkner County.

– A $1.2 million grant in Corning to support rail improvements to an industrial site, enabling Peco Foods, Inc. to build poultry processing and hatchery facilities and associated infrastructure on a 120-acre site in Clay County.

– A $1.1 million grant to the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton (UACCM) to support the creation of a workforce training center. The EDA investment will increase the UACCM’s capacity for training a highly qualified workforce for job openings at area businesses.

– A $597,116 grant to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees to help fund the continuation of the University of Arkansas Fayetteville’s export-focused program, which involves international trade missions, market research, marketing and outreach activities, assessments and consultations with business owners, group training, and collaboration with governmental and private partners.

– A $1.2 million grant to the City of Hope to support the construction of an access road and drainage improvements to enable development along a 52-acre property adjacent to Interstate 30. The first phase of the project is the development of a cold storage transportation terminal, to be followed by the construction of a trucking outfitting and sales facility, and a “trucking plaza” which will offer overnight services to the trucking industry.

– A $1.1 million grant in Mayflower to support the construction of water and sewer improvements, which would enable Mayflower to expand its services to better help Arkansas businesses become more disaster resilient.

“The Obama administration and the Commerce Department are committed to helping communities affected by natural disasters rebuild so they can rebound economically,” said Pritzker. “The EDA investments announced today support a diverse group of projects – from infrastructure improvements and transportation upgrades to workforce training and disaster recovery efforts – that will enable communities across Arkansas to be more economically resilient in the wake of future natural disasters and other challenges.”