Question

What changes in state legislation could help promote prosperity in the Arkansas Delta region?

Answer 1

Ans)Established by Congress in 2000, the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) works to improve regional economic opportunity through strategic investments to create jobs, build communities and improve the lives of the 10 million people who reside in the 252 counties and parishes of the eight-state Delta region.

- The DRA supports job creation and economic development through innovative approaches to growing local and regional leadership, increasing access to quality healthcare and boosting opportunities for entrepreneurs to obtain affordable capital.

- Through the States’ Economic Development Assistance Program (SEDAP), DRA investments help to improve transportation and basic public infrastructure and to strengthen workforce development systems and local business environments by providing direct funding into community-based and regional projects that address the DRA’s congressionally-mandated funding priorities.

- Under Federal law, at least 75 percent of DRA funds must be invested in economically-distressed counties and parishes. Half of these
funds are targeted to transportation and basic infrastructure improvements.

- The remaining funds are directed to DRA’s other funding priorities of workforce development and business development with a
focus on entrepreneurship.

- A key component of Governor Hutchinson’s vision for Arkansas is the implementation of a common- sense economic development jobs plan17 that emphasizes economic growth through broad-based job creation, regulatory and tax reform and educational excellence. In developing this plan, Governor Hutchinson outlined a New Direction for Arkansas’s Future, proclaiming that:
“Arkansas can lead our region in job creation and economic growth. We can take the lead
nationally in technology education…Arkansas must compete with our surrounding states and
globally to create jobs for Arkansas’s future.

- The six priorities of this plan will benefit every part of the diverse economy of Arkansas including agriculture, tourism, retail, technology and manufacturing.”

The plan’s six priorities are as follows:
1. Tax Competitiveness
2. Develop an Effective and Efficient Workforce Education System
3. Health Care Reform
4. High Expectations and Choice in Education
5. Teach Computer Science in Every High School
6. Regulatory Reform
From these six priorities, Governor Hutchinson and Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) Executive Director Michael Preston have developed a new mission statement for AEDC and have
developed five economic principles to accentuate this new philosophy.

Governor Hutchinson’s Priorities for DRA Funding:

Economic Development Projects that:
Create or Retain Jobs
Generate Regional Impact
Leverage Collaborative Public-Private Investment
Provide Critical Needs Funding