Hope-Hempstead County Economic Development director talks hospital, Hope Baking expansion, lithium, airport
Hope Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Anna Powell, as guest speaker at Monday’s Lions Club meeting, began her appearance by showing a video produced by SWARK.Today that introduces those looking for a place to locate their factory, business or agency to what the county has to offer.

After the video, she spoke about the role of HCEDC in both retaining and recruiting job-creating organizations as she showed a series of slides on the screen detailing its activities over the past year.  These included contributions to keeping Hope’s hospital open as it transitioned to ownership by Pafford Medical Systems and a name change to Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center.

About the experience of working to save Hope’s hospital, Powell said “If you would have told me that the focus of my job last year was going to be trying to save our hospital, I would have said, ‘Really?’ But beginning in February, we realized that there were some issues, and there are still things that we're working through as a community with our hospital.”

Of the state of Southwest Arkansas Regional now, Powell said, “The reality is, right now, we're still working towards state and federal funding sources to try to offset expenses.”

Hope’s Board of Directors and Hempstead County’s Quorum Court pledged $1 million each to help tide the hospital through the period between its prior owner Steward Healthcare, which filed for bankruptcy and agreed to sell its hospital in Hope to Pafford Medical Systems, which took over Hope’s hospital in October.  

Powell also provided an update on the expansion of Hope Baking Company.  A year ago, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, visiting Hope which had been named Capitol for a Day, was present for the announcement by company owner Dan Serra of a $37 million expansion plan. “There were about 120, maximum150 employees. Today, there are over 250 employees there. Almost 300, from the last number that we got. And so when you talk about job creation in a couple of years, that is impressive. Almost 200 jobs for our community,” Powell said.

Powell also explained that Hope and Hempstead County would likely be beneficiaries from the development of lithium mining in the Southern Arkansas region. She said one indicator of this is that Hope has the nearest Walmart to the location of the mining leases. Hope also has the closest interstate access among cities in the proposed lithium-mining region.

Powell said the next hearing in negotiations between land owners seeking higher royalty rates than have been initially offered and the companies seeking lower rates to purchase those mining rights is scheduled for this April.  “The royalty rates are something that they're still working out, but ultimately, we as a state need this to happen, and I've been lobbying, along with lots of our regional folks, support letters to AOGC (Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission) regarding the lithium rates and trying to make that happen,” Powell said.  

In November, after a hearing in El Dorado, the AOGC denied five companies’ bid to pay owners 1.82 percent. The lease owners have asked for 12.5 percent.

Powell took a few questions from the assembled Lions members.  When asked about the status of the former Husqvarna factory near Nashville, Powell said it is currently shuttered, with some workers still laid off and others at new jobs in the Hope Industrial Park but “not many.”  Howard County now has a paid full-time economic development specialist, Powell said, which was a good thing because of the county being vital to Hope and Hempstead County’s success.

To a question regarding area airports, Powell said she welcomed the work being done to improve Texarkana Regional Airport: “What they've done with their airport positions us regionally better … That’s very important to us. The reason why is executives want to fly in and fly out in the same day. They want to get to their site, do their assessments, and then leave and go back or do a two day deal, and that's very common. Not every company has a private claim they can fly into our airport.”

She said she is hopeful that land around the Hope Municipal Airport, which she said she has little hope will ever attract a commercial airline carrier, can be approved by the FAA to be sold. “There's no risk [to air traffic], from a height standpoint, in our industrial park to sell some of that land. And so we're working through some of those challenges,” she said. She also said the city building and leasing out private hangars will be useful for companies seeking site visits.

Asked whether she favored another attempt to pass a tax to fund economic development to fund financial and infrastructure help for companies considering locating here, Powell said she was a hater of taxes but that she knew of Hope losing out on potential job-creating prospects because it could not offer incentives other places could. 

“A tax would not be for salaries,” Powell said.  “It would be for infrastructure improvement, marketing and recruitment of businesses. …  I was just talking to [the Economic Development Director of ] Arkadelphia- [Clark County] the other day, Shelly Short. She provided me a list of things that that can be spent on. There are times that we have to have money and to pay to play and compete, and that's what that is used for. I would love to revisit that.”

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Above photo: On left, Brandi Tuttle, Hope-Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Office Manager and Coordinator. At right, Hope-Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Anna Powell.  

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