Governor attends Ashdown event

Reception honored new logistics center director

Former Arkansas Rep. Prissy Hickerson, left, and her husband, Randy, middle, speak to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday, July 13, 2018, in Ashdown, Ark. The officials attended a reception for Vickie Williamson, the new intermodal and developmental director for Little River County.
Former Arkansas Rep. Prissy Hickerson, left, and her husband, Randy, middle, speak to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday, July 13, 2018, in Ashdown, Ark. The officials attended a reception for Vickie Williamson, the new intermodal and developmental director for Little River County.

ASHDOWN, Ark.-Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson addressed community and state leaders Friday during a reception for Vickie Williamson, the new intermodal and developmental director for Little River County.

She will be in charge of Little River Intermodal, a truck-rail logistics center on U.S. Highway 71 that will provide freight options to industries in the Four States Area.

Hutchinson said the facility is part of a plan to grow economic development statewide.

"With the climate and growth in Arkansas, we have a very low unemployment rate and lots of jobs, but we are trying to make sure we invigorate at the local level, just like we are doing in Southwest Arkansas," Hutchinson said. "This will help Little River County and the entire area to develop their economic base."

The project is in the planning stage, with studies being conducted on the site, which lies between Domtar paper mill and the state Highway 32 bypass. Williamson, who previously worked at the Ark-Tex Council of Governments as an economic development specialist and regional development manager, said she was excited to work in Little River County and help secure a successful future for the area's workforce.

"The ultimate goal with this position is to make sure we have new jobs that suit what our kids want to do and our grandkids want to do and keep our families intact if they want to be here," she said, adding that the area has steadily been losing people since 2000 and that the average income is also less than it was then.

Williamson went on to detail what the facility would do and how it would impact the economy.

"It is a facility that has a way of moving freight in multiple different modes of transportation," she said. "The least expensive way for a manufacturer or shipper to ship a container is to fill it at their location and it never be opened again until it gets to its destination. The reason we want to them save money is that it gives them money to expand and grow, create new jobs and open up new markets-all things we want for our community."

Plans include building a 500,000-square-foot warehouse for use by manufacturers and building more in the future as the facility expands.

In 2017, it was one of seven sites to receive funding from the state highway department for the preliminary engineering, the environmental study and to add a regional economic development director.

Williamson said they optimistically hope to break ground in the fall.

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