Momentum Jonesboro, the economic development fundraising plan targeting job growth in northeast Arkansas, is on pace to reach its $3.7 million goal in May, as officials hoped.
But the city isn't waiting on the final tally to begin work.
Designed to create 2,500 jobs that pay $42,000 or more a year — with the related economic benefits that entails — Momentum Jonesboro is a five-year plan that has already secured $2.2 million in private capital from 31 different companies.
"The business sector that is participating in Momentum Jonesboro I think is excited about the plan," said Mark Young, president and CEO of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce. "It is taking our existing efforts to a new level and we're excited about what the future holds."
The fundraising initiative, devised by the private partnership development organization Jonesboro Unlimited, is focusing on three primary areas: marketing and staff to court selected industries, workforce development and improving Jonesboro's quality of life standards.
Young said efforts are already underway on all fronts, including workforce development, which is targeting five industries based on existing talent, resources, economic factors and past relationships.
Those industries, Young said, are agriculture business, advanced manufacturing (which includes food processing, equipment manufacturing and pharmaceuticals), logistics, health care and professional services.
"We've started the implementation process of the strategic plan," Young said. "And so … as part of that, we have just recently launched a new web site that was part of that strategic plan. In addition to that we have task forces that are working in each of those areas I've mentioned before."
Workforce development, Young said, will focus primarily on education and the strategy ranges from pre-K schools up to Arkansas State University plus local trade and technical schools like ASU-Newport, which has a campus in Jonesboro. The Momentum Jonesboro task force, for example, is delving into a plan that would chart a student's advancement in the field of information technology from eighth grade through college graduation.
"Part of it is looking at the skills we need in those targeted industries, part of it is ensuring we have the talented workforce to succeed today, three years from now, five years from now and 10 years from now," Young said.
Young noted that northeast Arkansas has always been a strong region for agriculture in the state, while the city's utility price structure has traditionally lent itself to manufacturing and food processing. The designation of Interstate 555 and improvements to local roads and highways set the table for success with logistics and distribution firms, Young said, while professional services like information technology, engineering and accounting are ripe targets in today's economy.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is less established in the northeast Arkansas region, but health care plays a large role. St. Bernards Healthcare — of which Momentum Jonesboro General Chair Chris Barber is CEO — is the city's largest employer with more than 2,800 workers.
Additionally, Young said, Arkansas State has partnered with the New York Institute of Technology to implement a doctoral program in osteopathic medicine, giving ASU its first medical school.
"If you look at the assets our community already enjoys, we serve as a health care hub for the region," Young said.
While Jonesboro's unemployment rate of 2.8 percent (U.S. Bureau of Labor) is well below the national average of 4.7 percent, 2015 U.S. Census Bureau data shows the median household income was $41,688, 25 percent below the national average (and also below the state average). More than 23.7 percent of Jonesboro residents were at or below the federal poverty line.
Such performance figures helped provide the impetus and goals for momentum Jonesboro, Young said.
"If you look at the average wage in Craighead County it's roughly, approximately that, so everything we want to focus our attention on is above that," Young said.
"If you look at the targeted industries that we have, each of those areas that we are targeting and being very intentional about pay above that particular threshold."