Eleven business leaders and interested others gathered at the Auditorium for the Oct. 12 meeting of the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development, where Chair Sandy Martin announced that Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry and Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney had made a presentation to the recent Arkansas Economic Development Commission meeting and opened the eyes of the state to the potential of Eureka Springs and Carroll County.
Martin said the AEDC announced it will be opening offices in England, Germany and Asia “getting word to the world about Arkansas” with the intent of establishing trade relations. “What does Eureka Springs have it can put in the export basket?” she asked.
She mentioned local art might find a market somewhere and pointed out Asia has manufacturers but it might need designers. “If they need fashion, we can do that,” she said.
Tammy Thurow, President of the Chamber of Commerce, announced the Chamber would be launching Export Eureka, an online opportunity for viewers to purchase Eureka Springs products and another way for locals to get exposure online.
Ideas for locally-produced items included coffee, wine, salsa, clothing, bath and herbal products. It was mentioned that if the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act passes, somebody would need to grow all that cannabis.
It also came to light that Kent Butler, director of marketing and public relations for the Great Passion Play and Chamber board member, makes slingshots and sells them online and at the Great Passion Play. “Handmade is the way of the past, but it might also be the way of the future,” Butler stated. He said he sells more on Amazon than at the GPP, and advised the group the optimum market opportunity is wholesale and overseas because you are selling to people who want to resell your product.
Other export ideas were canoes, furniture, jewelry, drums and music. “Uniquely Eurekan,” Jacqueline Wolven, director of the Downtown Network, called them.
Martin stated their next task would be to identify the individuals with the products and see what happens next.
Discussion of brew pubs also circulated around the room. Wolven asked, “Why aren’t we attracting that kind of investor? They [brew pubs] are all over.” Martin replied investors balk because of the small population.
Commissioner Damon Henke of the City Advertising and Promotion Commission observed Oktoberfest does well here, so he contended a microbrewery festival would succeed here also. CAPC Director Mike Maloney added that brew pubs are part of the experience of mountain bikers who are discovering local trails.
Maloney said a Bike Magazine crew would be in town later in the week to shoot video and photos at Lake Leatherwood City Park and other locations. Their visit here will be a feature in their magazine early next year, and it will go on their website with the riders commenting on their rides here. “It’s a big deal,” he stated.
And in November, Maloney added, the mountain biking world will gather in Bentonville for the International Mountain Biking Association world summit, and Eureka Springs, through the Parks Department, is making a big push to direct those visitors here.
He commented that in time there would be a connecting trail from the LLCP trails to those around Black Bass Lake, which would amount to 35 miles of fairly challenging rides. As for attracting visitors to town, he said, “It could be pretty spectacular.” In preparation for the visitors, Parks has invested in creating a bike camp at LLCP and it is rehabbing the cabins for use through the winter.
“We’re cutting edge for Arkansas,” Maloney remarked.
Thurow added a town in Vermont received a phenomenal boost from a similar article in Bike Magazine, and she expects the same for Eureka Springs.
“We need someone in town to make these bikes,” Martin said.
Next meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m., at the Auditorium.