Arkansas Inc. Podcast: 2024 Economic Development Roundtable

In this episode of the Arkansas Inc. Podcast, AEDC Executive Director Clint O'Neal interviews three Arkansas economic developers (Ellie Baker, Stephen Houserman, and Wilson Marseilles) for Economic Development Week.

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TRANSCRIPT

Ellie Baker:                         

This is Ellie Baker and I am the executive director of Magnolia Economic Development.

Steve Houserman:          

My name is Steve Houserman. I'm the Economic Development director for the City of Clarksville.

Wilson Marseilles:          

This is Wilson Marseilles, president and CEO of the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce, and you're listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Welcome to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. This is Clint O'Neal. I serve as executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Coming up the week of May 6th through 10th, we'll celebrate Economic Development Week. This is an initiative of the International Economic Development Council, celebrating the economic development profession and the programs that help communities grow and help companies succeed. For the past few years, I've hosted a special roundtable on the Arkansas Inc. Podcast featuring economic development professionals from around the state of Arkansas to celebrate Economic Development Week. Across our state we have a great team of economic developers, economic development organizations, and they're all doing great work to create economic opportunities so that our Kansans will have a better shot at having higher paying jobs and a higher quality of life. We have wonderful communities that have great business environments that encourage business success, and our passionate economic developers help lay the groundwork for winning projects every day.

Today I am honored to be joined by three friends and outstanding economic developers. Ellie Bakers, the executive director of Magnolia Economic Development. Steve Houserman is the Economic Development director for the City of Clarksville, and Wilson Marseilles is the president and CEO of the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce. Ellie, Steve, Wilson, welcome to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.

Steve Houserman:          

Hey, thanks for having us.

Ellie Baker:                         

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Hello.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. So we're going to dive into you as economic development professionals, your story, how you got started, your thoughts on the industry. Steve, let's start with you. Tell us about why you chose economic development as a career field.

Steve Houserman:          

Yes sir. So my first words as a little guy was economic development. Kidding. No. I grew up in a small rural communities in upstate New York, similar to the one I serve now in Clarksville. And it used to be an industrial magnet for leather manufacturing and gloves. And in my youth, a lot of those factories had shut down and had offshored and it left a lasting impression on me that local economies, they can struggle and I guess it planted a seed. Growing up through high school, I joined the military and wanted to serve. And when I moved to Arkansas to attend college, economic development provided me an opportunity to serve once more and I've been doing that ever since.

Clint O'Neal:                      

That's great. Thanks for sharing that. Wilson, what about you? Was economic development your original plan from childhood?

Wilson Marseilles:          

They weren't my first words, no. I didn't start thinking about economic development until at least a year of being employed by the Chamber of Commerce. I didn't really even know it was a career path. I did four years at the University of Central Arkansas and then worked for about a year and a half in Cabot doing benefits administration and found myself wanting to move back home to Harrison Arkansas. It's my hometown where my family is, still is, and my soon-to-be wife's family is there or soon-to-be wife at the time, my wife now. So it provided a way for me to get back involved in the community I grew up in. And after about a year of working at the Chamber, I went to Mid-South Basic Economic Development Course and learned a little bit more about the career path that was in front of me and the opportunity, the tools that we use as economic developers to help impact our communities and the larger regions that we serve and I fell in love.

Clint O'Neal:                      

All right. Great. Good stuff, Wilson. Ellie, what about you? Tell us your story of getting into economic development.

Ellie Baker:                         

Mine is somewhat the same but a little different. I lived in actually Benton, Arkansas there for a while after college and worked for law firms as a paralegal and decided that after having children and that we needed to come home. And home for us is Columbia County. And my roots are very deeply embedded into Columbia County. My father was the county judge at one time, mayor of Emerson, the big metropolis of 300 people. And in moving back I made a promise to myself that I was going to be involved. I was going to do something and I didn't know right then what that something was. Came back to work for another law firm. And then I ran for a public office because I thought, well, what better way to get involved than to run for public office? I did not win and I was deeply, deeply hurt because of course I took it personal and it was not personal at all. It just meant that I was not right for that position and I think God had bigger and better plans for me and it turned out that he did.

So the mayor took notice of me whenever I ran for office and offered me a job in his office and soon after that I became the Chamber director and moved on to economic development from there. So that's just a quick rundown of how that happened.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah, Ellie. Thanks for sharing. So you all three mentioned service, serving your communities as an economic development professional. There are so many areas that you get involved with in your community. I don't know about you, but since my time starting in economic development, I've certainly not struggled with boredom. There always work in front of us. But Ellie, why don't you keep the floor. Tell us your favorite part of your job as an economic development professional.

Ellie Baker:                         

My favorite part is seeing the changes that are made without anyone realizing how it got done, and being able to see the smiles on faces of things that I know that I had a direct part into helping come to fruition, but knowing that no one knows that I had any part in that. And I think that that really, really is something in economic development that you should always take pride in. And never for the self-satisfaction of getting the publicity out of it or anything. But I just really enjoy seeing smiling faces of projects that have really worked out and make people happy and know I had something to do with it.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. That's good, Ellie. I had a mentor once in economic development who said, "We do things in economic development that people think just happen on their own." And it kind of goes along.

Ellie Baker:                         

Always

Clint O'Neal:                      

You're right. The first part of our mission statement is, at ADC we know economic advancement doesn't happen by accident. So a lot of good work that goes on at the community level, at the state level. Steve, you're next. What about favorite part of being an economic development professional?

Steve Houserman:          

Yeah. So I would say in economic development, if you're doing it right, sometimes it can be a challenge celebrating your wins because you're always working on something else. But you get that fulfillment when you talk to the families that are locating to your community or are finding employment and they're able to live, work and play in a wonderful place. To me, that's the greatest compliment you can receive as a community. So I would say leaning into that is probably my number one priority and find folks that can pull it off for you.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Thanks, Steve. Wilson, how about yourself?

Wilson Marseilles:          

How about your shout-out to the mission statement right there. Because that's relatively new.

Clint O'Neal:                      

You got to plug that in. It is.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Neal had we visited that a few years ago.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Right. Last year.

Wilson Marseilles:          

It's given me the language to try to help explain what we do. Is it doesn't happen by accident. So helping people be intentional and thoughtful about the work that we do as economic developers. I think for me, Jeff Standridge gave me a book recommendation years ago called The Go-Giver. And the first value in there is all about, it's giving more value than you can ever receive in compensation. And I feel like that's part of our calling as economic developers is sometimes and oftentimes people don't know all of the work that goes behind the scenes into what we're trying to make happen. And it's fulfilling connecting the people who should know each other to the resources that they should know about and finding ourselves in the middle of everything. It's fun for me.

Clint O'Neal:                      

And that made its way to LinkedIn as a part of your title. Wilson Marseilles Go-Giver.

Wilson Marseilles:          

It sure did. Had quite the impact on me.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. So we talk about economic development in a lot of broad terms. We talk about community development, how to lay the groundwork for a higher quality of life and set the stage for a better business environment. We talk about job creation through entrepreneurship, through existing business work, retention and expansion, and talk about recruiting new companies. Let's start with community development. Steve, what are some community development initiatives in the City of Clarksville?

Steve Houserman:          

Sure. So years ago we did a strategic study and tried to identify some things we could do to improve community. And one of the items that came out of that certainly was outdoor recreation. And because we have a great team in Clarksville we were able to pass a bond to bring in some outdoor recreation amenities. One being an all-inclusive playground which was a first of its kind in the river valley. We've got 17 miles of mountain bike trails. And every community is different. They have different needs and wants, but for us, we've seen a lot of benefit from some of those projects.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Great. All right. Wilson, Ellie, both take a shot at community development and then we'll move on to some other questions. Ellie, what about you? Community development initiatives in Magnolia?

Ellie Baker:                         

Well, some of our most recent ones I would say also belong to the outdoor space in our Eastside Park. We just built a skate park that was completed last year as well as a splash pad, which is the largest one that's south of Little Rock, I would say. And we're very thankful for those initiatives with the city that helped obviously fund it without any grants. We were able to do that 100%. Working on a whole master plan for Eastside Park and have recently been able to come into some grants through the state and RDOT. I think that those projects will immediately return an investment for us as we've already seen with the skate park. We've had people from two hours away. Within two days of its opening, start using it and they keep coming back. So I think that it is just great for us to be able to have a space that people can utilize that isn't your same old thing that it would normally be here. So those are definitely some of the projects that I'm the most happy about anyways in being a part of.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Thanks, Ellie. Ellie I will say that I've never played disc golf in Magnolia. I'm not sure where the nearest course is. I have played in Harrison and in Clarksville.

Ellie Baker:                         

Our college, our university, Southern Arkansas University has a team of disc golf so they have a course out there. You should stop by and play.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. Count me in.

Ellie Baker:                         

I mean, I'll try. I do remember at one of the things that they had one year, it was just a community event. I was like, how hard can this be? And I remember one of the guys standing there was like, "I can't believe you just said that." So of course I tried and ultimately completely failed. I was like, well, I guess it's a little harder than I thought.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Well, I appreciate the invitation. Look forward to taking you up on that soon.

Steve Houserman:          

I was going to ask, so I come from a family of my wife's side of professional tennis players. Have you folks bought into pickleball yet? Is that something happening in your communities? It's the only way I can keep up with them. But it's a...

Ellie Baker:                         

We have a big community of pickleballers, we do. And have renovated part of the tennis courts in Eastside Park for that purpose.

Wilson Marseilles:          

This is horp subject for me. I still try to play a little bit of basketball. And men's league basketball got moved from Monday nights, which were great for me to Tuesday nights, which are not so great for me because of pickleball. Pickleball was so popular they moved us. So I mean it's great for the community. Fastest growing sport, probably still.

Steve Houserman:          

It's been fantastic. We've got a little league in town too that.

Wilson Marseilles:          

It's good stuff.

Clint O'Neal:                      

I have not picked up a paddle yet.

Wilson Marseilles:          

I've played, but I wouldn't say that I'm a pickleballer. I've never heard that term before.

Clint O'Neal:                      

It's a matter of time.

Ellie Baker:                         

I'm definitely not a pickleballer either.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. All right. Wilson, tell us about community development initiatives in the Harrison region.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Thank you for asking the question again, I would've had to ask. The one that comes to mind is really, I'm going to talk about outdoor recreation too. I think that's a big part of Arkansas and certainly a big part of some of our value proposition up in Harrison and thinking about things we're highlighting. But the mountain biking specifically, our proximity to Northwest, Arkansas and all of the mountain biking there, it's starting to leak its way towards the Harrison area. And we opened a bike park a few years ago that was all privately donated funds until the very end when our tourism board gave the final touches to make it happen. And the day it opened had such a big turnout that city council was finally like, maybe there are mountain bikers or people that ride bikes. We just never see them because they never had a place to go.

And since then, North Arkansas College has opened up a NICA trail, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association approved trail, and they've had some races there. But the one I'm most excited about is it spurred into the entrepreneurship side of, we opened our first bike shop. And a couple that owns a family and therapy center. They had been doing outdoor therapy on bikes for the last 10 years and finally felt like the community had enough momentum in that area to take the extra space next to them in the building downtown and make it a bike shop. And they're doing so well that I think half jokingly told me that the accountants were like, if you ever wanted to give up therapy now, the bike shop it's doing pretty well. So that was a nice full circle moment of private and public investment into a project that spawned jobs and entrepreneurship and opportunity and that's what it's all about.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. I have a daughter who's on a cycling team in Conway. She has ridden on the NICA trail at a race in Harrison earlier this year.

Steve Houserman:          

That's wonderful. That's a big thing in Arkansas right now.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. So you each represent communities, regions that are focused on economic growth. Let's dive into a conversation about economic growth through small business and entrepreneurship, through existing business and through recruiting new ones. Steve, why don't you start. Talk about small business growth in Clarksville.

Steve Houserman:          

So I love giving testimony about small business development in Clarksville because over the last few years we've seen an explosion of entrepreneurial spirit and downtown revitalization. It wasn't so many years ago we had a lot of vacant buildings in downtown and it needed some TLC. The city knew that one of our major hurdles was we existed in a 100-year flood zone downtown. And with some grant funds and money coming in from the city, we were able to rebuild that levy wall that served the downtown area. And almost overnight we started seeing capital investment just flood as opposed to water downtown Clarksville. So we've got an entertainment district now up and running that is now supporting two businesses in that area that serve drinks. That's something that hasn't happened before in downtown. We've got a bistro and a lot of these old buildings that sat vacant for years are now full and full of life.

So we're really proud of that. It took a long time, but we're finally enjoying the fruit of that labor. And it's all because we have innovators and a really good staff at the city and at our chamber that have been working with those small business owners to pull that off.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Thanks, Steve. Wilson, back to you. Economic advancement in Harrison, either through one of the three things I mentioned or workforce development. What are some things you're working on in Harrison?

Wilson Marseilles:          

Could I comment on our profession too-

Clint O'Neal:                      

Go for it. Please do.

Wilson Marseilles:          

I was just reminded, Stephen you're giving your comments of some of the conversations that we've had. And I just talk about economic development. In Arkansas I'm sure it's like this in other states too, but the fact that we can phone a friend and talk about what's going on in your community, how did you get some momentum in downtown? How are you tackling some of those challenges and what advice might we be able to pull out of that answer has been an extremely valuable resource and, I don't know, feeling a little thankful.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Wilson-

Steve Houserman:          

Absolutely.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Giving a little bit thankfulness.

Steve Houserman:          

If it's a closed net community, I mean a lot of us lean on each other.

Wilson Marseilles:          

So for our community, we've been partnering with Startup Junkie a little bit in the entrepreneurial space. They've been coming in to do some workshops. But I think locally we also find it our responsibility to try to be a place where creative collisions can occur for our entrepreneurs and for people who might be stuck with a problem and connecting them to the right people that can help get them unstuck. So Harrison specifically has a rich history of growing our own. We think about Arkansas Freightways and American Freightways that now is FedEx Freight. And Claridge was the first project from AEDC that got moved down here to Arkansas and they grew from a handful of employees to one of our top employers today. So I think that it's in the water for Arkansas for sure, but we're feeling some of that in Harrison. So we know it's important for us to have an emphasis there and continue creating those opportunities.

Clint O'Neal:                      

That's right. Good shout out to Chairman Winthrop Rockefeller, Chairman of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission and the first project with Claridge around 1955 ish. So appreciate that. Okay. Ellie to you, economic advancement in Magnolia. Tell us about some growing industries in your community and in your region.

Ellie Baker:                         

Well, we have just a couple. So as a lot of people are aware, Magnolia, Columbia County, I would go as far to say the whole Southwest region of the state. We are very rich in natural resources. And I mean push comes to shove. We wouldn't exist to be quite honest if we didn't have our natural resources. So thank God for those. Within those natural resources we are in something called the Smackover Formation. And with lithium being really an interesting type of resource that is becoming apparent how we need to start producing our own in the United States. And I say they researchers, people who dive into geology have recognized Southwest Arkansas as being very rich in lithium. So we are moving forward with many companies coming to the area that are looking to extract lithium from the Smackover Formation. And we have a few very well-known names that have started investing in our area. And we are very thankful for those.

And again, it just goes on top of what we already have, which are our bromine extraction plants that are here. We have our wood plants, anything to do with wood basically. We also have our oil and gas industry of which we were founded on. So again, just very thankful for all of those on top of the ones that were entrepreneurial, that don't have anything to do with natural resources such as Southern Aluminum who build all kinds of linenless tables and office supplies and that kind of thing. Marriott's around the world will have their tables, so they're very lightweight. We also have a lot of spinoff companies from the companies that are here and they were able to supply them with some of the things very easily. So I'm just very thankful for all of those. We're also an entrepreneurial state.

I'm currently looking for the person who tagged graffiti on the side of our building yesterday to give him something to actually do productive. We have so many projects that we could do with murals that we want to take his expertise in artistry and put him to good use. We look for the beauty in everything like that here. I think that is just one of the things that we really need to hone in on is the talents that are not necessarily seen on the surface and taking something that I think that a lot of people could deem as not good and utilizing that person's skills for good. So that's what we're going to try to do and start. And it's going to start with that, something as small as that we see the beauty in. So we're going to try to push forward in that direction.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Well, that was very generous of the graffiti artist to volunteer their time.

Ellie Baker:                         

Absolutely.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Are you keeping that as a mural or are you going to have to start all over?

Ellie Baker:                         

Well, considering what it means, the word means, that the graffiti artist use, we're probably going to have him cover that up first. But give him a new direction that will be productive and beautiful for us. So we don't want to make that person feel like what they've done is just so wrong. We want that person to realize how good they are and that they have a real skill and we want them to realize that they have something they can capitalize on. And to them it's just fun. And nobody maybe even has been taking that person seriously as an artist, and this was their outlet. And why not benefit from that? And we just want that person to see that they have something there and they can really, really use it to their benefit.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Ellie, that's a more diplomatic answer than I think any of us would've given. Good work there. Okay. So we talk about economic development as a team sport at the State of Arkansas. It's certainly a team sport for us. There's no one person, division team that's responsible for economic development. It is leadership from the office of Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It's the business-friendly legislation that we have from the Arkansas General Assembly. So many statewide leaders in the Department of Commerce led by Secretary Hugh McDonald, the team at AEDC, Arkansas workforce Connections and the work that Cody Waits is standing up on workforce development. Just all around, there's a lot of work that goes into setting the stage for economic development. We believe strongly in capitalism. We know that we need to make good decisions when it comes to public policy, workforce development, customer service, infrastructure decisions.

So economic development is a team sport. When we are working a project in a community, we work in very close collaboration with community leaders. We consider economic development professionals at the local levels to be friends. Arkansas is a small state. We work well together. So just want to dive into what that looks like on a community level. Steve, you want to start? Who are some of the key players on your team locally?

Steve Houserman:          

Yeah. There are so many of them in Clarksville. We have a great mayor in city council. We bring imaginative ideas to them. Whether it's community development related or we're looking at solving a problem creatively for industry or small business. They're always on board. They're willing to listen. And that has made my life very easy because they're so open to change. Outside of city hall our Chamber of Commerce and Wilson will appreciate this, those folks are fantastic. They're young and bright and they get it. They're bringing a lot of new ideas to the table that our community haven't considered in the past. And because of that, we're reaping the benefit of that. We also have great leaders at the county level. So I am surrounded by folks that get it. They have a penchant for economic development, which sometimes I think it's hard to find in other communities. But I mean we're blessed, between that and the small businesses and industries that we have. Everybody seems to work together and it makes my job a lot easier.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Thanks Steve. Wilson, anything you want to say about the team in Harrison.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Stephen bringing it today with all the shout-outs, well done. I would second a lot of those. I'm feeling blessed to have the leadership that we have in place in a bunch of areas, but I'll spotlight one that has had a personal and professional impact on me, and that's our school superintendent at Harrison Public Schools. Dr. Pratt has been an extremely valuable resource serving on our board of directors at the chamber and helping bring a perspective about education and tying it together with workforce and helping us tell the story. Because whenever I tell the story, of course it's my job as the chamber workforce economic development person to carry the torch. But when you have other leaders on the team that are in other industries helping you echo that same message, it goes a lot further. So he's had a huge impact on us and our workforce and education initiatives.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Thanks, Wilson.

Steve Houserman:          

And I would add just one more to that. I know long laundry list of folks, but our state representative, Aaron Pilkington has been tremendously helpful. Helping us with legislation that benefits local industry in Clarksville and having communication and conversations at the state level have really given us a leg up.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Thanks, Steve. Ellie, how would you describe the team, the economic development team in Magnolia?

Ellie Baker:                         

Small.

Clint O'Neal:                      

All right. Next question.

Ellie Baker:                         

Well, I say small. Everybody plays a part in economic development. Literally everyone that owns a business, the industry leaders, everybody. But whenever it comes down to it and we're working on a project to a head, my first go-to is going to be our city inspector, which is, I think in a lot of towns it's called maybe a city planner person. He knows everything and anything about this city. He knows what streets, what's under the streets, how the streets were built. He knows where the water lines are, the sewer lines. He knows all of the zoning, all of the coves, everything. So before I even start diving into a project, I go to his office, I bounce it off of him to see that if it can even work as far as placement.

Of course, our Chamber Director, Rachel Jenkins, phenomenal job that she's doing. She's pretty new into her position. She was on the chamber board before she came along. But man, she brought some ideas with her and has gone full force. Of course, our mayor, he has been just incredible to work for. Always open to new ideas. But another person that I just absolutely cannot leave off of the list is going to be our streets/parks director. He is always willing to help and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate and how nice it is to work with someone in that capacity that is always willing to work with you. I'm sure that maybe some of you all can understand having some people in some positions that it's just hard to get your ideas through to and maybe there's a little resistance there sometimes. I know I've worked with people like that in the past that everything was a struggle to get done, but not with him. He is always willing and helpful. So helpful.And his guys, all of his guys are as well.

 But one thing that I'm very excited about is bringing on a community developer. And I will be doing so and within the next month to my office, because I am a one-man show here as is Rachel for the most part. She was just able to hire a part-time person as well. So I am super excited. So I can only imagine that that person is going to be at the top of my list as well.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Wilson, you look like you have an addition.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Yeah. Just talking about team sport and I was reminded of some of our conversations, Clint but I think... They say if you want to go fast, go alone. And if you want to go far, go together. And that's certainly the culture that we have in this profession of economic development is we're going to go together and we're going to go far.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. That's great. Well said.

Ellie Baker:                         

Been very inspirational, Wilson.

Wilson Marseilles:          

That's your profile moment.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah, that's right.

Ellie Baker:                         

Yeah. I'm going to write a book with all of those inspirational quotes. It'll be my coffee table book.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Certainly not my quote.

Clint O'Neal:                      

You don't want that on a mug?

Wilson Marseilles:          

Someone will drop that in the chat to tell us who you use the attribution.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Well, that's a good segue to the next area of discussion. That's the next generation of economic development professionals. Economic development is a team sport. There are economic developers, whether they know they're economic developers or not. I would make the case that all of those that pitch in to making communities a better place, championing your community, being ambassadors for the great things going on in your communities, they're all on the team. When it comes to the profession, just like any other profession we want to highlight economic development as a great career choice for students. So Wilson, we'll start with you. What advice would you have for students who are considering career options or what advice would you have for professionals who are considering switching careers is now a good time to get into economic development?

Wilson Marseilles:          

Two questions there, and I like it. Let's say my advice for students lately has been not necessarily what do you want to do for the rest of your life, because that's a really big question and feels maybe overwhelming to try to answer. But what do you want to do first? And how is that going to help mold you or grow you into the next thing that you want to be? And I feel like there are a handful of jobs that everybody should try or should experience at some point in their life. Whether it's somewhere in hospitality or being a waiter or a waitress in a restaurant and waiting on tables or being in economic development. And I think that the lessons that you learn from those type of jobs just really create a more well-rounded viewpoint of your community and what it looks like to work together on a team or to think long-term about the future of your community, how we're setting it up for success for the next generation.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. Good deal. Okay, Steve and Ellie, I want to give you both an opportunity to answer this question and then we're going to go into our lightning round. But Ellie, you're next. Economic development as a profession, any advice that you have for people seeking a transition or a new career?

Ellie Baker:                         

Definitely volunteerism throughout the community is number one. So as a student, I think it is super important that you seek out opportunities to volunteer in any capacity within your community to get to know everyone that you can possibly get to know. You can never know too many people. So learn from them, learn their stories, listen, don't try to think about your next points before you take it all in. Some people are literally just listening, just so they can talk next. Really, really embrace everything that is around you. And as long as you have a love and a passion, if you can feel that building in you as you are volunteering, you've got it. There are only certain people that have it.

And I think to our detriment sometimes we just care too much. And those are the people that you really want to seek out. And I think that you can see it in some of the students whenever you're talking to them, if they have that passion for their community. And those are the ones that you really want to seek out and trying to figure out if they're going to be the next shoe and just really encourage that volunteerism throughout the community. I think that's the best thing they can possibly do.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Thanks, Ellie. Steve, you're up. Your advice for economic development.

Steve Houserman:          

Absolutely. I have to second Ellie on saying caring and commitment to your community is a big part of it. And it's such a rewarding field for folks and you can see it every day in the community that you serve. Whether it's the small business that stood up on the corner or it's the amenities you bring to your community and see kids playing on our inclusive playground or folks coming in from Florida or California to ride our bike trails. There is a huge benefit to the community in the economic development field and it's rewarding to the individual that gets to do that. And I would say for the State of Arkansas, surprisingly, we have really, really good institutions. The AEDC being one of them, but we have CDI over in Conway, Mid-South Basic Course. The barrier to entry is very low for folks that are interested in this field and it sets you up for a career, a successful career certainly.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Thanks, Steve. Well guys, we've come to the lightning round. The ground rules for the lightning round are that you keep your answer short. Everybody gets the same question. Some of these you have beforehand, some I may just throw in. We're going to start with a similar question, but again, make it brief. First thing that comes to your mind. Steve, we'll start back with you. Best career advice that you've been given.

Steve Houserman:          

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Clint O'Neal:                      

All right, Wilson.

Wilson Marseilles:          

That was-

Clint O'Neal:                      

It's lightning round.

Wilson Marseilles:          

That was definitely short. How about all things being equal. People like to do business with their friends, so make everything else equal and then make a lot of friends.

Clint O'Neal:                      

That's good. That's going in the book.

Ellie Baker:                         

Definitely going in the book. I would say not everything is what you think it is on the surface, so dive deeper.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Yeah. All right. Next question. Favorite place to eat in Arkansas, Ellie?

Ellie Baker:                         

Favorite. Cheers, Little Rock.

Clint O'Neal:                      

All right.

Ellie Baker:                         

Got it. Hands down.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Nice. Wilson.

Wilson Marseilles:          

I love Slim Chickens. Maybe it doesn't go with the small mom and pop thing, but I love me some Slim Chickens.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. Steve.

Steve Houserman:          

Yeah. I would say home cooked meal by my wife. I've got to put that in there. But my second choice would be Weinkeller in Altus at the Wiederkehr Winery.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay.

Steve Houserman:          

Really great place.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Nice shop.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay, next question. Ellie, economic developer around the State of Arkansas with the best hair.

Ellie Baker:                         

Julie Murray.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay.

Ellie Baker:                         

For sure. I love her red kinky hair.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Nice. You had a quick answer, Steve.

Ellie Baker:                         

Yes.

Steve Houserman:          

I haven't spent enough time thinking about that question. I have no idea.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Well, you have a few options here.

Steve Houserman:          

Clint, for sure.

Wilson Marseilles:          

There you go.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. I don't know that I've ever received nominations for that, but appreciate it. Wilson.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Does Gary Troutman get enough love for his hair?

Clint O'Neal:                      

Sure.

Ellie Baker:                         

Yeah. Very.

Wilson Marseilles:          

I mean, underrated hair maybe. Clint, are you going to answer this one? Are you going to participate in the best hair?

Clint O'Neal:                      

I've asked this question on previous Economic Development Week episodes. I remember Brad Lacey's gotten a shout-out before. Tim Allen's awfully proud of his hair. He's gotten a shout-out before. But Wilson, you've got really nice hair, so I'm going to throw you in the mix.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Wow.

Clint O'Neal:                      

All right.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Thank you.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Favorite sports team in Arkansas? This can be high school, college. This could be your kid's soccer team. Any sports team that's your favorite in Arkansas. Steve.

Steve Houserman:          

I have to go with the Razorbacks. Love the Razorbacks. Love Sam Pittman. Love Derek Musselman. Falling in love with Calipari. Razorbacks.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. All right. Wilson.

Wilson Marseilles:          

It's Razorbacks in basketball for me. It's my favorite sport to watch. And yeah, it's fun.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay, Ellie.

Ellie Baker:                         

I'm going to have to second it. Razorbacks basketball all the way. Very, very, very close. It's right there at the... Next percentage would be my son's football flag team of whatever team he's on that year.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. Yeah. That's a nice shout-out to the Razorbacks. I was expecting some local answers, so Ellie provided one there at the end. Okay. Last one. Favorite thing to do in Arkansas or favorite place to visit other than your own community? Wilson.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Buffalo River, paddling, hiking, all of the things.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Okay. Steve.

Steve Houserman:          

I hate that you stole my answer. I was going to say the Buffalo Mulberry. Every spring and early summer I spend my weekends at the Buffalo and Mulberry with my sons.

Clint O'Neal:                      

Ellie.

Ellie Baker:                         

Threads 479 and Rogers. It is fabulous shopping adventure that I love to go to whenever we are up that way. And they have a really good cause of why they are open. All of their proceeds go to Feed 479. So they have some really, really good things that you can find in there for your house. They also have some good clothing options that are new. It's just a really, really, really cute store.

Clint O'Neal:                      

All right. Well guys, this has been fun. Thanks for joining the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. Really appreciate it.

Steve Houserman:          

Thank you, Clint.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Thank you everybody.

Ellie Baker:                         

Thank you for having me.

Clint O'Neal:                      

I've been talking today with Ellie Baker, executive director of Magnolia Economic Development, Steve Houserman, Economic Development director for the City of Clarksville, and Wilson Marseilles, president and CEO of the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce. Ellie, Steve, Wilson, this has been a lot of fun. Thanks for joining the podcast.

Steve Houserman:          

Thank you.

Wilson Marseilles:          

Thank you, Clint.

Ellie Baker:                         

We appreciate it. Thanks. It has been fun.

Clint O'Neal:                      

You've been listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. This is Clint O'Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. You can subscribe to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify and other podcast apps. For information about AEDC and to sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit arkansasedc.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Thanks for listening.