The Delta Regional Authority, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and their federal and local partners announced Monday nearly $26 million in new investments that will create or retain an estimated 650 jobs.
The DRA is providing grant money through its federally funded States' Economic Development Assistance Program to help the projects along. The rest comes from public and private sources.
Here’s the breakdown of how that $26 million is going to be spent:
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$8.4 million that includes $500,000 from the DRA to construct a new Bull Shoals wastewater treatment facility.
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$6.6 million that includes $150,000 from the DRA to construct an aquatics and multipurpose center in downtown Pine Bluff.
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$3.95 million that includes $200,000 from the DRA for the extension of Scogin Drive/State Highway 83 in Monticello to U.S. Highway 278 West and the Health & Education Complex.
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$1.76 million that includes $200,000 from the DRA to construct the South Arkansas Community College Advanced Manufacturing Training Center in El Dorado. Plans calls for a 9,000-SF facility. Eight companies have committed to creating approximately 150 jobs and retaining approximately 400 jobs.
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$1.06 million that includes $200,467 from the DRA to construct additional manufacturing space for Excel Boat Co., which plans to add 20 employees and retain 40 jobs in Stone County.
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$1.06 million that includes $119,000 from the DRA for Restore Hope Delta, which seeks to reduce the number of children in foster care and reverse the state’s growing rate of incarceration.
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$855,500 to rehabilitate the Marvell’s sewer pumps and the Federal Housing Administration project’s rural sewage system. The entire amount for this project came from the DRA.
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$375,000 that includes $158,000 from the DRA to launch three new Environmental And Spatial Technology (EAST) programs in the Delta.
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$302,500 that includes $200,000 from the DRA to establish the Consortium for Medical Education in the Delta, which hopes to train 30 health professionals a year, create three new medical education positions in each of the area’s five hospitals and produce 10 new primary care physicians for the region every year.
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$271,464 that includes $105,000 from the DRA to buy and install three pieces of mammography equipment at Chicot Memorial Medical Center.
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$200,000 to buy new radiological equipment for the McGhee Rural Health Clinic. The entire amount for this project came from the DRA.
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$194,853 to pave the Delta Heritage Trail Access Road in Arkansas City. The entire amount for this project came from the DRA.
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$100,000 to improve River Ridge Access Road and a parking lot in Cleveland County to accommodate the River Ridge Equipment Company. The entire amount for this project came from the DRA.
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$44,275 including $37,275 from the DRA to complete interior construction at the Cherry Valley Food Pantry and construct a parking lot for the facility.
- $25,200 to repair a portion of Clarendon’s sewer system that was damaged by a sinkhole. The entire amount for this project came from the DRA.