Former President Bill Clinton addresses the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 4 at its annual meeting at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock.
Former President Bill Clinton told the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce that the Clinton Presidential Center and its impact was a good model for economic growth in the state.
Clinton, who addressed the chamber’s annual meeting Wednesday afternoon at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock, said there was no other place his presidential library could have gone, even though he received pitches to build it elsewhere, including Washington, D.C.
“It had to be put in Arkansas,” he said. “I never would have been president without Arkansas.”
Addressing a critic who referred to the library as a “high-class trailer,” the former president said, “I thought that was all right.”
The Clinton Presidential Center celebrated its 10th anniversary last month with a week full of events. A study released by the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau claims the presidential library has been responsible for $3.3 billion worth of construction and more than $691 million in tourism-related expenditures since its opening.
Clinton said he hopes, and believes, that the library has been as impactful as the studies show.
Looking to the future, Clinton said the country is best aligned for success after the recession. He said that if he were chairman of the chamber, he would identify the good things that have happened in the area and why, as well as the challenges to obtaining shared prosperity, and work with a diverse group of people to find solutions.
The former president also lauded Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson‘s plan to implement computer science classes in the state’s high schools. Clinton said the gap between academics and vocational training is too big.
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