FORT SMITH, AR. (December 2, 2010) – The Fort Smith Regional Alliance, formed earlier this year, held its December Board Meeting in Poteau, OK yesterday, December 1st, 2010 at the Days Inn.
Over 40 members and guests from Alma, Booneville, Charleston, Clarksville, Fort Smith, Greenwood, Ozark, Paris, Poteau, Roland, Sallisaw and Van Buren attended the meeting. Representatives from Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Leflore County Development Coalition were also in attendance.
FORT SMITH, AR. (December 2, 2010) – The Fort Smith Regional Alliance, formed earlier this year, held its December Board Meeting in Poteau, OK yesterday, December 1st, 2010 at the Days Inn.
Over 40 members and guests from Alma, Booneville, Charleston, Clarksville, Fort Smith, Greenwood, Ozark, Paris, Poteau, Roland, Sallisaw and Van Buren attended the meeting. Representatives from Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Leflore County Development Coalition were also in attendance.
The program included a presentation from Poteau representatives: Poteau Mayor Jeff Shockley, Lundy Kiger, Vice President of AES at Shady Point and Karen Wages, President/CEO of the Poteau Chamber of Commerce as well as Sallisaw Mayor Shannon Vann. Mr. Kiger focused on Poteau’s commitment to the Alliance while Ms. Wages and Mayors Shockley and Vann reinforced the commitment, shared area tourist information as well as talked about recent area economic development efforts.
Lea Taylor, Executive Director of the Alliance, presented a report on the regional activity during the recent months, current efforts and what to expect through January 2011. Included were the logistics of the planning phase of the Strategic Regional Plan, currently under development by Boyette Strategic Advisors. The purpose of the plan is to guide economic development efforts for the next five years. Also addressed was the initiative to formalize a Budget Committee that will propose a 2011 budget and funding formula, which will be presented to the Board for a vote. Nominations for the committee are now being accepted.
The meeting in Poteau was the first board meeting to reside in a partner community outside of Fort Smith. Future board meetings will rotate through each partner community, which provides each partner the opportunity to showcase their town to the Alliance supporters. “It’s important that each community learns more about the other towns in the Alliance. Knowledge will enable each partner to cross-sell the benefits of another town as well as assist in the creation of a collective vision for the region,” said Lea Taylor, Regional Executive Director. “In addition, most of the partners are experiencing similar challenges. The more we learn, the more the Alliance partners can serve as a resource to one another. ”
***The Fort Smith Regional Alliance includes six counties in Arkansas – Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Sebastian and Scott – and two counties in Oklahoma – LeFlore and Sequoyah. It is currently comprised of 14 communities: Alma, Altus, Booneville, Charleston, Clarksville, Greenwood, Fort Smith, Ozark, Paris, Poteau, Roland, Sallisaw, Van Buren and Waldron.
