Northeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Facilities Authority hires new director

The Northeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Facilities Authority (NARIFA) has a new director, and he hopes to keep the organization afloat in the coming years. Derrick Harris, 28, a Piggott native told Talk Business & Politics he’s in the midst of a marketing study in Clay, Lawrence and Randolph counties, the areas served by NARIFA.

“One of the biggest challenges is to get these towns and counties to work together from a regional perspective,” he said. “We need everyone to buy into the regional concept.”

NARIFA was formed in 2009 to stimulate job creation and economic development in Northeast Arkansas. At one time, the organization included Corning, Hoxie, Pocahontas, Walnut Ridge and three counties — Clay, Lawrence and Randolph. Membership fees are $10,000 per year, per entity.

Hoxie and Clay counties have bowed out of the organization, and several Lawrence County officials have questioned their county’s inclusion in the organization. Rumors persist Lawrence County will leave NARIFA if a significant job creating project isn’t landed this year.

NARIFA was instrumental in landing the Peco Foods poultry processing plant and hatchery in Pocahontas that opened last year. The $165 million plant will employ up to 1,400 workers when it’s fully operational, company officials told Talk Business & Politics. A $35 million feed mill to support the company NEA poultry operations was opened in Corning. Since the project was announced in 2014, NARIFA has not had a major jobs project. Former director Wayne Gearhart resigned more than a year ago.

Harris has heard the banter and is prepared to take on that challenge, he said. The market survey is meant to create a data base that will include population demographics, median income levels, education opportunities, employment, and other census figures. The study will also focus on transportation modes, including airports, railroads and highways, he said. Tourism and recreational opportunities will also be pinpointed.

Officials are targeting a major truck stop along U.S. 67 as a first-step, he said. Attempts have been made in recent years to lure a truck stop to the region along the highway that passes through each town in NARIFA. Harris would also like to attract a national hotel chain and restaurant on or near the highway that connects Dallas with St. Louis and Chicago.

The unemployment rates in the three counties have hovered around 5% the last year, and the median income ranges are around $33,000 per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. All three counties have just fewer than 17,000 residents.

A second problem Harris will have to address is memberships. NARIFA has already lost two members, and he plans to meet with officials in Hoxie and Clay County, he said. Piggott, another city in Clay County will also be encouraged to join, and overtures will be sent to Sharp County, and its cities, he said.

In the coming months the organization plans to host several public meetings to get input from residents, he said.

Harris has a geography degree from Arkansas State University. He worked in retail sales for a pharmaceutical company, and worked as a transportation planner for the Jonesboro Metropolitan Planning Organization. He and his wife, Amanda are slated to adopt their first child next week.

“It’s going to be a challenge, navigating a multi-county, multi-city organization … we have to convince people that what happens across city lines and county lines still benefits all of us,” he said.