Breakthrough Solutions
21st Century Vision Initiative Completes Strategic Plan for Region, Targets High Potential Clusters
With six manufacturing plants closing in the last two years and a
negative impact of over $14 million, the North Central Arkansas
Regional Economic Development Corporation (NCARED)
commissioned the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension
Service Breakthrough Solutions Program to implement 21st Century
Vision, a strategic planning initiative to move the region forward.
Community leaders, citizens, and high school youth from throughout
the region were involved in the process, and the NCARED board set
priorities for the coming year:
- Education
- Entrepreneurship and business development
- Tourism and attracting retirees
- Manufacturing and industrial recruitment
- The creative economy
The board emphasized that they welcome initiatives and activities
in other issue areas but felt the need to focus on these top
priorities for the coming year.
The project includes:
The regional blueprint includes strategic action plans to tap
resources in and out of the region to further develop these economic
clusters with growth potential in the region: Amenity Based Clusters
(Tourism, Retiree Attraction, and Telecommuters), Natural Resource
Based Clusters (Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Gas),
Manufacturing Clusters (Plastics & Rubber, Transportation Equipment,
Primary and Fabricated Metal), and Service Sector Cluster (Health
Care Services).
News developments throughout the planning and development process
are available here.
PowerPoint presentations (in a PDF format) shown at 21st Century Vision workshops
are available here:
County Profiles (in PDF format) are available from the University of Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service for each of the counties:
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