State Awards $10M in Site Development Grants

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission on Wednesday announced the recipients of $10 million in grants under the state’s new Site Development Program.

The funds, awarded to a total of 13 organizations and municipalities across the state, will be used to enhance industrial sites across Arkansas, increasing their readiness for economic development projects.

The largest sums went to Jonesboro Unlimited, the private economic development organization for the city, and the Little Rock Port Authority. The organizations each received $2 million.

The other award amounts and recipients are:

• Economic Development Corporation of Clark County, Arkadelphia, $1.01 million
• Stuttgart Industrial Development Corporation, Stuttgart, $823,408
• City of Prescott, Prescott, $698,845
• Berryville Business Park, Berryville, $400,000
• Newport Economic Development Commission, Newport, $335,700
• Forward Searcy Inc., Searcy, $314,165
• Southeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Facility Authority, Monticello, $166,520
• Hot Spring County, Malvern, $133,250
• Conway County Economic Development Corporation, Morrilton, $109,800
• AR-TX Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI), Texarkana, $200,000
• Hempstead County Economic Development Commission, Hope, $4,602

Eligible recipient locations are industrial sites of at least 30 contiguous acres of land, listed on the Arkansas Site Selection Database, and owned or optioned by the applicant.

The funds can be used for a range of site development projects, including the extension and improvement of public infrastructure to the site; right of way acquisition; easement acquisition; soil borings and analysis; construction costs for site improvements, including drainage improvements, easement, dozer or dirt work, grading, site mitigation, and site rehabilitation; due diligence study costs; and other site development-related activities deemed necessary by AEDC to improve a site’s competitiveness.

The program was first proposed in January 2023. Lawmakers approved funding three months later.

Arkansas is not the first state to introduce a site development program. Several others, including border states Tennessee and Mississippi, have similar programs. Clint O’Neal, executive director of AEDC, told Arkansas Business last summer that officials studied several different models of how those programs were being run. He said Arkansas, unlike some states, is not looking to get into the business of owning sites or providing grant funding for acquisition of sites.

AEDC began accepting applications in June and receive a total of 28 proposals totaling $44.6 million in requested funding.

“The Arkansas Site Development Program is the first program of its kind in our state, and it is an important step that will help us continue to secure economic development projects in the years to come,” O’Neal said in a news release.