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CHEMIST CONSIDERS BIOPLEX; ALLIANCE CEO EYES TAX INCENTIVES

By Wes Clement/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Sunday, October 18, 2009 12:07 AM CDT

The Bioplex has drawn the attention of an Arkansas resident interested in starting a DNA testing facility.

“You never know if they’ll work out or not, but we’re working with a gentleman now, a chemist who has more degrees than I can remember, who wants to start a DNA testing facility in our Bioplex,” David Beck, Bioplex board chairman said. The facility, he said, would do paternity and crime testing.

The Bioplex is a proposed high-technology industrial park to be located in Jefferson near the National Center for Toxicological Research and Pine Bluff Arsenal.

Beck made the statement at a White Hall Leadership class last week at which Lou Ann Nisbett, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, was the speaker.

“It’s a tremendous business plan,” Beck said. “It’s a great idea, and there’s a shortage of those facilities across the country.”

“It would be our first one to go in,” Nisbett said, “so keep your fingers crossed and be praying this will go through because right now getting any type of financing for new ventures is a little creative. He’s a sharp young man, so we hope it will work out.”

Beck said more details would be released later.

Nisbett addressed the need for an economic development sales tax for Jefferson County. She said there would be further efforts to pass such a tax, though the time has not been decided.

“Just think about how many industries we have missed out on because we didn’t have incentives,” she said.

She referred to the success Conway and Blytheville have had resulting from an economic development tax.

“I want them to read about Pine Bluff, White Hall and Jefferson County and all of the good things happening here. I want your children to be able to stay here and to live here because there are good jobs here for them.”

“We all know in the next 13 months 1,170 (Washington Group) jobs will be gone,” she said, referring to the the destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons at the Pine Bluff Arsenal that’s nearly complete.

She estimated the economic impact of the lost jobs will be $100,000,000. She said she has been working for six months to get a federal economic adjustment grant for the county that would help with the transition. Part of the money would be used to train former Washington Group employees to do other jobs within the county.

“If we had that (economic development sales tax) revenue coming in, that would give us some incentive funds to bring in new industries.”

During 2008 Jefferson County residents voted against a proposed half-cent economic development sales tax that was to be used for workforce development and to provide incentives for industries interested in locating in Jefferson County.

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