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ECOMONIC DEVELOPMENT LEADERS TALK REVITALIZATION TACTICS

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, May 30, 2009 12:22 AM CDT

There are several ways to continue revitalization efforts in Pine Bluff, local economic development and business leaders were told recently.

Properties with the possibility of hazardous substance contamination, like the old Greyhound station in Pine Bluff, can get assistance from a state Department of Environmental Quality program. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

To give entrepreneurs a nudge toward opening their own businesses, the Pine Bluff Entrepreneurship Collaborative has an investment fund through which business owners can apply for seed money.

The community also can benefit from government programs, such as tax credits provided by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Sustainable development projects through the Arkansas Brownfields Program are administered by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

These were the primary topics discussed at a Revitalization Partners meeting conducted earlier in the month at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Business Support Incubator. About 20 people were in attendance, including business owners, economic development officials and community leaders.

Lori Walker, economic development specialist for the city, said Pine Bluff received $400,000 this fiscal year to assess what properties would be compatible with the Brownfields Program.

ADEQ administers the Brownfields Program to redevelop properties with either real or perceived hazardous substance contamination. Individuals, companies or real estate developers who did not contribute to the contamination and who wish to purchase a property can partner with ADEQ for cleanup.

Walker said members of the Brownfields staff recently have completed an inventory of potential sites, which she hopes to post on the city’s Web site soon. The next step will be to talk with those property owners about the possibility of redevelopment.

“We’re in the outreach part of it now,” Walker said.

Hope for ‘ongoing program’

Charles Ray, vice president of government initiatives for PPM Consultants Inc., provides technical assistance to Brownfields communities. He discussed the types of funding available. During the May 18 City Council meeting, he told city officials that Pine Bluff is a good candidate for “an ongoing program.”

“At this point Pine Bluff only has assessment grants,” Ray told Revitalization Partners. “In the next competition round we want to apply for clean-up funding.”

He added that the old Greyhound bus station at Fourth Avenue and Chestnut Street could be a viable Brownfields project.

Walker said efforts such as Brownfields and historic preservation are essential to stop the exodus of businesses and residents from downtown. Other areas that the city has chosen to focus on include the University Park and Turtle Creek neighborhoods. But government can only do so much.

Private partners needed

“These investments and initiatives clear the path for private investment,” Walker said. “We need partners.”

One Pine Bluff property owner, former Pine Bluff resident and real estate developer Elvin W. Moon, has expressed an interest in revitalization efforts. Moon, who lives in California, was not present at Tuesday’s meeting, but was represented by Mike Scallion, who said he is renting one of Moon’s buildings, a former furniture store at 3rd Avenue and Chestnut Street.

Scallion said Moon owns the old Greyhound station, as well as the old Cleo’s Furniture store to its south.

“Would it be better for us to clear that, make a strip mall there, or try to preserve it?” Scallion asked, adding, “It would take several hundred thousand dollars I think to restore it.”

Tom Marr, rehabilitation tax credit coordinator with Historic Preservation, said a 20-percent tax credit is available to rehabilitate certified historic buildings for commercial, industrial and rental residential purposes. A 10-percent credit is available for rehabilitating nonresidential purposes of buildings built before 1936 that are not listed on the register.

Scallion said Moon also owns the old Schuster’s furniture store and the Hotel Pines. Walker indicated that Moon had enrolled in the Brownfields Program prior to his purchase of the hotel.

Local seed money

Ron Powell, chairman of the Pine Bluff Entrepreneur Investment Initiative, said the Entrepreneurship Collaborative was the first in the state to develop a community equity fund.

To qualify, entrepreneurs must take advantage of technical assistance offered to small businesses by organizations like the UAPB Economic Research & Development Center and Southern Good Faith Fund. Entrepreneurs can receive up to $25,000 in exchange for a 15-percent ownership stake in the business. Banks are more likely to provide the remaining funding in such an arrangement, Powell said.

“That combination has worked very well,” he said, adding, “Our whole goal is to create employment in Pine Bluff.”

Jeffery Pulliam, business development specialist for ERDC, said the center was finalizing plans to offer loans to small businesses. He added that the Business Incubator currently houses six businesses and has provided assistance to roughly 15 in the three years since it was conceptualized.

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