Regional leaders from Siloam Springs, Gentry, Decatur, Gravette and Sulphur Springs have come together to form the Western Benton County Partnership (WBCP).
The WBCP was formed in the month of January and is working to obtain its 501(c)3, according to State Rep. Delia Haak (R-17), who serves as the executive director for the WBCP.
WBCP creates, promotes and fosters growth and economic prosperity for the communities located along the Western Benton County corridor in Northwest Arkansas, West Siloam Springs area of Oklahoma and Southern McDonald County in Missouri, according to the WBCP's mission statement.
"The Western Benton County Partnership is structured much like the Northwest Council which Mark Simmons helped form with Sam Walton, JB Hunt, and Don Tyson over 20 years ago," said Arthur Hulbert, the president and CEO of the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce. "The Northwest Council was key in the development of the XNA airport and I-49 corridor."
The cities in the Western Benton County Corridor include Siloam Springs, Gentry, Decatur, Gravette and Sulphur Springs, as well as parts of Bella Vista also, Haak said.
"Our goal is to partner with key stakeholders including municipalities, elected officials, school districts, chambers of commerce and the business community. We all face the same challenges here," Haak said. "The realization is that we can get farther together than we can independently."
There will be four areas the WBCP will focus on:
Broadband access and affordability
In recent years the federal government has offered regional grants to install broadband service, Haak said. The catch is the grants are not available for individual municipalities but for entire regions, Haak said.
"By combining it may be easier to get the grants," Haak said.
The city of Siloam Springs has been looking into the possibility of getting broadband service for the town and even formed a broadband advisory committee and commissioned a broadband survey in February of 2022.
Childcare access and affordability
Access to affordable childcare is an issue in Western Benton County, Haak said. The current general assembly has changed laws to allow for more in-home daycares, Haak said.
The general assembly has also passed laws to allow in-home daycares who care for more than 10 children to function without a commercial oven as well as not requiring people to have a degree in early childhood education in order to apply for a director's position in a childcare facility, Haak said.
Workforce
WBCP is taking a novel approach at Workforce, Haak said. All of the cities have technical centers as a part of their school systems, so the plan is to allow students to attend technical centers in other cities, Haak said.
So if a student lives in Siloam Springs but wants to take courses that are only offered in Gravette, the student will now be able to do so, Haak said.
Another part of the plan is to allow adults to attend the technical centers at night, Haak said. The WBCP is also looking at partnering with the Northwest Technical Institute (NTI) to allow people to obtain a skill, Haak said.
Gravette has an NTI satellite campus which would make it easier for residents of the Western Benton County corridor to receive training. One problem Haak said the centers face is finding qualified teachers to teach different courses, Haak said.
"That is where partnerships between superintendents and business leaders come in," Haak said.
Infrastructure
Haak said when most people think about infrastructure, they think of roads. However, WBCP is looking at not only roads but bridges, railroads and transportation in general, she said.
"There is a need for a four-lane between Siloam and the Missouri border," Haak said.
Another plan that the partnership is looking at is a connector between Gravette and Northwest Arkansas National Airport, Haak said.
With growth a surety, the partnership aims to answer the question is how do the communities of Western Benton County meet those demands as they come, Haak said.
"We need to plan for the future and the growth that is on our way," Haak said.
A combined effort
Presently, municipal leaders from all of the Western Benton County communities are taking part in the partnership, Haak said. The partnership is broken down into four co-chairs who represent each component: Business, chamber, city and school, Haak said.
Greg Sutherland, who works at McKee Foods, will represent the businesses involved; Hulbert will represent the chambers of commerce; Mayor Kevin Johnson of Gentry will represent the mayors of the cities involved and Gravette Superintendent Maribel Childress will represent the school districts, Haak said.
Local politicians have also agreed to participate in the WBCP, Haak said. Hope Duke (R-12) the state representative for District 12 which includes Bella Vista, Decatur, Gravette and Hiwasse and State Sen. Tyler Dees (R-35) will participate in the WBCP, Haak said.
"The Western Benton County Partnership is another example of some of the great things going on in our region," Hulbert said.