Ben France
The Little Rock Regional Chamber annouced this week that Ben France has been named vice president of economic development.
He will lead all economic development work for the chamber, including new business recruitment as well as existing business expansion and retention.
France suceeds Paul Latture, has held that position for the past two years. He came out of retirement in 2016 to help the chamber navigate challenging times and will now serve in a consulting role.
For the past year, France has served as the chamber’s director of business attraction and expansion. Before that, he spent five years as a senior project manager in business development for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
This move comes less than a month after the chamber released its long-term economic development strategy, MetRock 2020. Chamber President and CEO Jay Chesshir said in a news release, “Ben’s economic development experience at the state and regional levels makes him the perfect person to implement the chamber’s new MetRock 2020 economic development strategy.”
France said in the release, “My goal is to ensure that Little Rock consistently competes on a global scale, and I look forward to helping the region reach its full potential.”
He graduated from the University of Memphis and received his master’s in business administration from the University of Tampa. In 2014, France completed Oklahoma University’s Economic Development Institute.
In addition, the chamber will be looking to add two people to its economic development team over the summer, including one position focused on small business and diversity and another focused on business retention and expansion outreach.
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