Competitive Strengths of Clark County
Locally Available Materials
Clark County is one of the leading counties in Arkansas in terms of number of acres of forest land.
Clark County is already home to Georgia Pacific and other companies that produce products associated with the building products industry.
Transportation
Clark County is within a day's drive of major population centers along the East coast and in the Midwest, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Houston.
Clark County is located off of Interstate 30, about halfway between Little Rock, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas.
United States Highway 67 and Arkansas State Highway 7 also cross the county.
The Union-Pacific Railroad, which runs from St. Louis, Missouri to the Texas-Mexico border, provides mainline rail service for Clark County.
Available and Affordable Sites
The 313-acre Clark County Industrial Park is located on U.S. Highway 67, five miles south of Arkadelphia. The site is also located within two miles of Interstate 30 and has approximately 160 acres remaining for development.
Gurdon also has a 186-acre rail spur site and there is at least one other marketable site in Gurdon.
Skilled and Available Workforce
Clark County has a total labor force of more than 10,000 people and there is a labor force of more than 91,000 within a 50-mile radius of Arkadelphia.
The leading industry based on employment in Clark County is manufacturing, which employs more than 20 percent of the workforce. Workers possessing skills used in traditional manufacturing facilities could be easily retrained to perform jobs at green or sustainable building product facilities.
Approximately 57 percent of residents in Arkadelphia and 45 percent of residents in Clark County hold an Associate, Bachelor or Graduate degree or have attended some college classes.
Henderson State University (HSU) in Arkadelphia has an enrollment of more than 3,700 students and grants Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's degrees. HSU has more than 50 program areas.
Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) in Arkadelphia is a four-year liberal arts college which has an enrollment of approximately 1,500 students. OBU offers Bachelor's degrees in more than 60 program areas of study.
The Henderson State University Community Education Center in Arkadelphia is a workforce training consortium that provides credit and non-credit courses as well as training programs as requested by industry in order to create a well trained workforce for the surrounding area.
Competitive State Incentives
The state of Arkansas offers a competitive array of incentives that include income tax credits, sales and use tax credits and refunds, payroll rebates and cash grants for new and expanding companies.
Low Cost of Doing Business
CNBC's 2013 "Top States for Doing Business" Report ranked Arkansas as the state with the 4th lowest cost of doing business.
Featured Content
Industrial Park
The Clark County Industrial Park, located on U.S. Highway 67, approximately five miles south of Arkadelphia, covers 313 acres and is developed for industry with sites from 4.5 acres to 26.5 acres.
Community Leadership
Leadership Clark County was established by the Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance & Area Chamber of Commerce pursuant to one of the goals of the Clark County Strategic Plan.
Business Retention and Expansion
The Business Retention & Expansion program of the Alliance focuses on facilitating job growth of existing business and industry and retaining jobs due to possible downsizing or relocation.
