June 24, 2021, Hope, Arkansas,

Thrive Hempstead County linking arms with the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation, Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce, and Hope Tourism Commission is launching an all-inclusive website that will greatly benefit Hope and Hempstead County. 

In 2019, community members came together to work in various task force committees as Hempstead County’s 5-Year Strategic Plans were taking shape.  Each committee (Education, Tourism, Public Priorities, Quality of Life and Economic Development) addressed the need for an all-inclusive website.   

A committee formed by key people from each task force as well as Thrive Hempstead County Co-Chairs was put in place to research web development companies that had experience in building all-inclusive sites for various cities.   After visiting with numerous companies, the committee selected Vision Amp. The Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors along with the Hope Tourism Commission provided funding for the development of the site. 

VisionAmp Web Design is an award-winning branding, web design and marketing agency headquartered in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Since beginning in 2007, VisionAmp Marketing has helped hundreds of businesses grow and acquire more customers by gathering intelligence from data, then leveraging that data to create more effective websites and marketing campaigns.

Steve Harris, Director of the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation commented, “The upgraded Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation website will be able to show directly all our available buildings and sites. We were able to highlight some of our success stories for our community as well as provide additional information to prospective companies and site consultants. We look forward to working with the Chamber, Tourism, and UAHT/Hempstead Hall in keeping this website current.”

Josh Williams, Curator at Historic Washington State Park and Tourism Task Force Committee Member stated, “Hempstead County has so many amazing places to visit. I feel we sometimes take for granted some of the precious jewels we have throughout our county. One of the goals of the tourism committee was to find ways to advertise our county and its communities to attract more visitors to our area. When you sit back and look, there is so much we offer throughout the year and we are perfectly situated with Interstate 30 going directly through the county. I think this website, particularly with the community calendar, is a good first step.”

One central piece of the website is the Community Calendar. Amanda Lance, Director of Hempstead Hall is taking the lead on this important aspect of the site. From this point forward, anyone planning a community event, activity or program will be able to submit information via the calendar tab on the website. Once the information has been accepted and posted, the calendar will showcase the information.  

Amanda Lance remarked, “There is so much happening in Hempstead County, so it’s important to see all of that in one place. I hope this calendar will further strengthen existing community partnerships and promote new partnerships so that all of our events get the support they deserve.”

“The Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce greatly appreciates the Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation and the Hope Tourism Commission for providing the funding to make this site possible.  The chamber now has endless possibilities to promote and support our members with our new website. The site now offers online membership enrollment, as well as the ability to apply to be a part of our ambassador program and our upcoming Leadership Hope-Hempstead County Class. The chamber site will not only be useful to our member businesses, but it will also benefit tourists as well as those who are relocating to our community thanks to the ability to view the Relocation & Tourism Guide as produced and published by SWARK.Today,” commented Beckie Moore, Hope-Hempstead County Chamber Director.

Thrive Hempstead County community partners encourage everyone to enjoy viewing & using each link on the new website.  As with any website, the links will be ever-changing to allow for updates and community-wide progress to be publicized and celebrated. 

The website is “live” today, Thursday, June 24, 2021.  

Landing Page - hopeusa.com

EDC - edc.hopeusa.com

Chamber - chamber.hopeusa.com

Tourism - tourism.hopeusa.com