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n late 2001, business leaders in Central Arkansas came to a sharp realization: small towns often weren't considered as viable locations for big businesses, and Little Rock and the surrounding communities were perceived as small towns. But marketing Central Arkansas as a single regional entity would open eyes and open doors to the vast potential represented by Little Rock and the surrounding communities.
        Leaders formed a new cooperative economic development partnership known as the Metro Little Rock Region (MLLR). This regional organization, comprising eleven counties of the central Arkansas region, aims to compete and win in the economic development arena. Officials representing these counties have come together and pledged $1.2 million dollars towards a multi-year campaign to market this region of nearly 1 million people.
        Area economic developers have often been told their individual community didn't meet certain site selection criteria for population or available work force due to size. A key component of the Metro Little Rock Region's mission is to directly combat the image of the region being too small. Effective marketing will be the key to success.
        The Metro Little Rock Region is chaired by Hugh McDonald, president & CEO of Entergy Arkansas, the state's largest electric utility. According to McDonald, "leverage is the operative word. We're taking scarce resources and combining them to produce a dramatic brand image for Central Arkansas that we fully expect will produce positive results." MLLR board members have set some ambitious objectives for numbers of jobs created and capital investment over a four-year timeframe.
        Sentiments of regional partners are exemplified by MLLR leaders like Bill Hegeman, president of the Conway Development Corporation, who said, "through MLLR, cities like Conway can stretch their marketing dollars and reach audiences that were impossible to reach when working alone. All of our communities are so interdependent that this concept was long overdue. We finally have a mechanism to show the rest of the world the diverse, dynamic economy that exists in central Arkansas."
        The Metro Little Rock Region does indeed aim to put central Arkansas on the maps, minds and location lists for many new businesses in the near future.
        For more information, see their Web site at www.metrolittlerockregion.com
or call 1-800-905-MLRR (6577).