Chamber Banquet a success

Danny Ford and mayor Ron Kemp present Richard Davies with a reproduction of the Rector mural during last week's Rector Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet. [Click to enlarge]

Community and business leaders from northeast Arkansas were in town Tuesday evening, April 8, to take part in the annual Rector Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet at the Rector Community Center.

This year's event featured special guest Richard Davies, executive director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Through entertaining tales of his encounters and an overall zest for his work and life in general, Davies entertained, enlightened and encouraged a love for what Arkansas has to offer.

"You all live in a great state," Davies told the crowd of about 200. "Take care of it and enjoy what it has to offer."

Davies noted Arkansas' "natural scenic beauty" as one of the state's main attractions. He noted the only open-to-the-public diamond mine in North America, located in Murfreesboro, numerous lakes and parks, as well as duck hunting locales, which he cited as being the "best in the world."

Davies said Arkansas tourism has had an eight to nine percent growth in the last few years. New additions such as the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock have been contributing factors to this increase, he said. Also considered a boost to increased tourism is the current economic state. Davies said a trend his office has noticed is that as gas prices go up, so too does tourism in Arkansas.

"There are 40 million people within 400 miles of Arkansas," Davies said. "That's a relatively close trip for many families looking for somewhere to visit that's not all the way across the country. Because we have our state parks, we're able to attract these visitors to our state while they're looking for a fun place to visit for vacation."

Tourism has been an economic lift for Arkansas under Davies' direction. Last year, the state brought in $5.3 billion from tourism. Davies said 60 million jobs were directly created through tourism with another 100 million created indirectly. He said Clay County brought in $13.4 million in visitor spending last year, an amount which showed an increase of more than 20 percent.

Making the most of tourism in the area has been a goal of the Economic Coalition of Northeast Arkansas, a group of leaders from the region which has been meeting for more than a year with the goal of improving the economic status of the towns in the area. Rector mayor Ron Kemp acknowledged the efforts of the coalition and thanked the members in attendance, including Piggott mayor Gerald Morris, Paragould mayor Mike Gaskill and Corning mayor Dewayne Phelen. Also in attendance were State Senator Robert Thompson and State Representative Mike Patterson.

Kemp also noted the achievements of the Rector Area Chamber of Commerce over the last year. At last year's banquet, Kemp stressed the importance of the chamber hiring an employee who would take an active role in both promoting the city and finding ways to ensure current businesses and landmarks are maintained and hopefully strengthened. This goal was achieved with the hiring of returning native Cyndi Corkran as community development director. In the months since her hire, Corkran has been heavily involved with the city's attempts at having the downtown area listed as an historic area. Corkran also is working toward receiving grants for various projects, including a veterans memorial for the Rector Downtown Park.

"We're happy to have Cyndi back in Rector," Kemp said. "She's already been hard at work and I think we can look for her to do even more in the future."

Another step in the right direction is the current construction plan underway for new restroom facilities at Memorial Park. With the annual Labor Day Picnic one of the city's largest attractions, the new facilities will be a great addition to the city's highly popular and well-established tradition of celebration.

Rector's progress also was shown through the delicious barbecue meal catered by Bowden Family Restaurant. Long seen as an area of needed growth for the city, the new restaurant offers residents of Rector and visitors to the area another dining choice.

Chamber member Danny Ford served as master of ceremonies for the event. Through his years as a local business owner and his 14 years on the state Parks and Tourism Commission, Ford was ideal in his role, offering a bridge of familiarity between nearly all groups and individuals in attendance.

Entertainment was provided in the form of a brief video presentation featuring Davies. The video highlighted many of the parks in Arkansas and also offered information on the history of the Department of Parks and Tourism.

Rector Elementary student Lindsey Ford took the stage, performing a musical number and placing the spotlight on the talented youth for which the city has become well known under the direction of drama and music teachers Gail Burns and Judy Hargrave.

Ultimately, the event was a success, as the completion of projects and celebration of achievement meshed perfectly with the hopes for towmorrow.