Episode Transcript
[00:00:17] Speaker A: Hi everybody and welcome to another edition of the Southern Fried Podcast, a production of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. I'm Rex Nelson, Democrat Gazette senior editor, and it is my pleasure to have old friend Randy Zook back.
Randy, you are busier than ever.
So I appreciate you coming back. Try to get you on at least once a year because man, we talk the Arkansas economy, we talk business in Arkansas.
It hasn't slowed down, in fact, it's sped up. It seems like we are in a very, very busy period economically for the state of Arkansas right now.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Well, just to, to back that up, for the third quarter in the row, in a row, the Arkansas economy, our GDP is growing at a rate that puts us in the top five states.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: For two quarters the last two quarters in 2024, we were the number one fastest growing economy in the country.
Now we're, we've slipped back to a tie for fourth with North Carolina at the end of the first quarter of this year. So it's, it's astounding.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it really is to watch. And I remember when we have talked before, you know, typically in economic development it's, we gotta find jobs, we gotta find jobs and get them here. That's what economic development's all about.
And you have explained to me in recent years, Arkansas is, we've got the jobs, we've now got to find people qualified to fill those jobs.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Qualified and willing to fill those jobs in the right places. Yeah, it's a big part of the problem is the distribution of the skills and the capabilities we've got.
You know, we're hard pressed everywhere, but especially in manufacturing and some of the construction trades, anything related to skills development.
We're hard pressed for folks to step up and be in a position to take those jobs.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: You gave birth and the state chamber did to a program here in Arkansas called Be Pro Be Proud. It is now expanded to numerous states. Who said we want to do this? This is a great program and you just had your national conference here in Little Rock. Talk a little bit about what that is and what it tries to accomplish.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Well, the heart of it is what we call a mobile workshop. These are custom designed full length 53 foot trailers with a workshop or classroom built into them, slides on the sides, creates about 1,000 square feet of space.
We'll have 15 to 17 or 18 experiences in those classrooms depending on the state and where you are.
But basically it gives kids a hands on experience with simulators and now virtual reality tools where you can simulate an environment.
And these are industrial grade in use with by companies training devices for things like heavy equipment operation excavators, graders, you know, dump trucks, that sort of thing.
Engineer on a locomotive or Union Pacific, for instance, we put you in a simulated cab and you operate a train. Likewise with large trucks. Truck trainers.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: But the most exciting and interesting and probably popular one is welding.
Electronic welding simulators from Miller and Lincoln Electric, the two primary manufacturers of that equipment. It gives you an experience just like you're sitting there making. Making a product, welding, you know, creating a bead and welding it. And you can evaluate the quality of. Of what you're doing. And it's just. It turns into a game quickly with a contest and kids competing with each other to see who can score highest. And it generates interest.
[00:04:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: And I guess what happened is that workforce development folks in other states saw what you were doing in Arkansas and said, we won't in on this. Is that basically that happened?
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Yeah. We now have. Let's see, it's. I think it's 11 trucks in seven states.
[00:04:47] Speaker A: That's impressive.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: 12Th truck already manufactured. But Texas, it'll be their first truck.
[00:04:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: But it's from North Carolina to New Mexico, basically.
[00:04:58] Speaker C: Wow. Wow.
[00:04:59] Speaker A: Well, let's, let's. Let's bring it back to Arkansas. Because of the need that you hit on. You have put such a focus, I know. In recent years on workforce development.
Are we making the steps, in your opinion, in Arkansas that we need to be making right now in that area?
[00:05:18] Speaker B: We are making the right steps. We just need to make more of them.
I was at a meeting at the Saline County Technical Center. You can see it on.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. I have written about it. Wonderful facility.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: It's fantastic. And we were just lost their director.
Yeah, yeah. But somebody will step up.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they will.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: At a ceremony out there, a meeting. I said the only thing wrong with the Saline County Technical center is that it's so unusual in Arkansas because we need about a dozen more of those. Maybe more. I don't know.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah, my, my favorite thing about that, when I went out there, I did a big column right when they first opened that. Randy. And it was the quotes from people who never graduated from college and went on to do great things in life that are all over that building.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: Well, the key thing in this conversation is to emphasize that we're not trying to talk people out of going to college. We're trying to.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: It's, you know, 30 to 40% of the kids are going to go and graduate. And that's. That's about the national average. And that's about the right market supply based on demand for college graduate kinds of preparation programs. What we're talking about is the 60 to 70% of the kids who never will darken the door of a two year or a four year institution without some enticement to look at a different or alternative pathway.
And that's what we're trying to do. And it's paying off in increased enrollment in CTE career and technical ed program. That's paying off and increased enrollments. And in the two year community colleges, non degreed programs where somebody can get, you know, six to eight months can get you ready for a really good paying job in lots of places in Arkansas.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Absolutely. And we have to get. I wrote a recent cover of our perspective section. As you know, I used to work in higher education instead of the association of all the private colleges and universities. But I get so put out at those who think it's an either or choice. It can't. But as you mentioned, it can't be either or. It's got to be both here in Arkansas.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: And look, it's not the last thing you're going to do. All of us, college graduates included, are going to spend a lifetime learning new.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: Skills, changing jobs and learning new skills, jobs.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: It's just, it's a dynamic economy. It's an economy just loaded with opportunity. And if you're prepared and if you're willing to put yourself in a position to take advantage of those opportunities, that's what we're trying to get kids. You can start with a basic skill set and work your way into opportunities that companies will pay for you to go back to college if they see talent and if they see the right kind of attitude toward the work, that sort of thing. Just numerous companies will underwrite a college education for you if that's what you want to do and if you want to stick with them or not.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: Absolutely. Go back. Since I haven't had you on this year, go back to this year's legislative session.
People I talked to in the economic development sector tended to think that it was a pretty good session for economic development. Do you agree with that? With the things we did?
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Absolutely. We passed a big package that was authored by the Department of Commerce.
It's called impact, I think was the acronym they gave it. It means something. I'm not sure what it is. But anyway, it was bills that opened up new creative approaches to incentives for the kinds of companies we really want.
And importantly, we passed a referral, one of the amendment referrals. It's called SJR15. And I think it's gonna be issue three on the fall 26, next year's election ballot.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: I was gonna ask you about that. It allows the setup of local tax districts and I, I write a lot, as you know, about downtown development too and historic rehabilitation. And my friends in that area think that this amendment really could open the door to some great new developments all around Arkansas.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: It's going to be the, it really is going to be the catalyst for just. It may save a lot of medium to smaller towns because it's going to give them the opportunity to attract the kind of investments that are necessary to create all kinds of job opportunities but also to support the economic needs of a region, for instance. And it'll allow multi county, multi city kind of approaches. Regionalism will finally have a chance in Arkansas.
This is, it mimics a lot of what Texas does, frankly, just to lay it on the table. Yeah, they run circles around us in lots of areas in this, this whole economic development arena. And this is going to make far more competitive.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: That's exciting and attractive and again that will be on the ballot November of.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: Next year, 26th general election ballot.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: And so you will be hearing a lot more about it.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: I know we're undertaking a campaign and trying to get some resources put together, some money.
[00:10:44] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:45] Speaker A: To underwrite a campaign always takes money, doesn't it?
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Everything.
Everything.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: You know, I look back to when I ran a governor's campaign once and you know, going in, silly thought I'd be doing all this important strategic work and you know, I'm going to put this over there and put that over there. It was being on the phone and raising dollars all day, every day, dialing for dollars.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Exactly what it is.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: So I understand completely.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: Any chance you'd help us out?
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
Let's take a trip real quickly around the state because there's so much going on.
I'll start here in central Arkansas and I know we talked about this, you know, ever since the pandemic when Amazon decided to make the Little Rock area kind of a regional hub and built huge facilities at the port of Little Rock and then over at the Galloway exit in north Little Rock, it seems like central Arkansas has just taken off. I drive down Highway 70 now and look at those warehouses that are now being built past there in north Little Rock, mile after mile that are being cleared.
It seems like there's a new announcement out at the port. Another Amazon expansion, another million square feet and another thousand plus jobs. I understand they don't like to talk about jobs, but I understand it's probably another thousand plus and then we've got the technology things that are going on out at the port. The manufacturing has come on board. It's really kind of an amazing time to watch central Arkansas become what seems to me to be a real distribution and manufacturing hub all of a sudden.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: No question about it. Look at the Trex plant that's just now kind of getting to opening up stage and starting to hire and train.
Enormous capital investment, but wonderful product line, great jobs and Amazon obviously. And now you've got a super site there at the port that's over 1000 acres. Just waiting for somebody to step up and do something really exciting. And that will happen.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: Oh, I think so. I agree with you.
It seems, you know, with our transportation advantages with air, water, rail and highway, it just seems inevitable to me. I'm with you that at a thousand plus acre site something big is going to happen.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: Something will happen out there and, and look, it all starts with energy.
We've got, we've got. That was one of the major things that happened in the session from an economic development standpoint, the construction work in progress bill that allows utilities to put construction projects on their, their books if you will, as it's being built rather than waiting till the, the project is complete. It's going to make it more cost effective and it gives them the Runway to get started in creating the capacity we need. We are, we're, we're, we're probably behind the curve right now in terms of electric supply.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: Right.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: As far as opportunities go.
Because if the phone rings for an economic developer, the first question is have you got the power? And the second one is what does it cost? And the third one is how quick can I get a permit?
I mean there's that much activity around these data centers and other high power demand industries.
If you want to reshore manufacturing to the US from around the world, it's going to take a whole lot of electricity.
[00:14:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: Speaking of data centers and as I continue to move around the state now this, there haven't been formal announcements made but it looks like Google moving toward a $10 billion.
But in West Memphis, Randy, the biggest private sector investment in the state was big river. Still two at 3 billion.
That's more than triple that. That number just boggles my mind.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Got to peel that onion a little bit.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: Okay, peel away for me.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: 10 billion is the ultimate.
It might be eight or nine different data centers, buildings ultimately. Okay, so the 10 billion that's not all at once no, that's not a front end deal. That's.
And there are a couple of others that are around that are.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: In the works.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: Little rocks got one in the works.
[00:15:27] Speaker B: Conway's got one. Clarksville keeps talking. I mean it's, it's all. And again it gets back to power.
[00:15:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Have you got the power? If you don't have it, how quickly can you get it?
So it's, it's a game right now and it's a high stakes game because these things are going in all over the country. I mean Virginia is, Northern Virginia is nearly covered up with them. Yeah, they're having to slow it down. They've got so many.
So anyway, it's, it's exciting and it's the future. It's what it's going to take to support artificial intelligence and the continued demands for just all basic electricity for housing. We're, we're 4 to 5 million housing units behind in the US right now. Yeah, I saw a thing just a few minutes ago. California needs 3 million housing units in their building.
They're building 100,000 a year.
So that's 30 years at the current rate. That just isn't sustainable.
But they don't have the power.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Let me stay mentioned West Memphis. I mentioned Big river up in Mississippi County.
Let me stay there.
BRS2 as they call it, coming online now. High Bar has come online which is making rebar in Osceola.
Dave Stickler, who was behind Big river originally that started a new company in High Bar has told me he could see three to five plants eventually and he might put them all in Arkansas.
That, that, that steel boom is not slowing down any in Mississippi County.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: Not at all. And with the, the tariffs that have been put in place on imported steel, the future is bright. You know, the market right now is a little slow.
Let me give you a couple of data points. Those five mill Nucor mills to now US Steel mills and High Bar can generate, can create, make, manufacture 14 million tons of steel a year.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: That's incredible.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: That's the number one steel producing county in the United States.
And I would predict at least three, maybe five more mills will be built there within the next three to five years.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: Three to five.
[00:17:45] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: So they're going to double that capacity.
[00:17:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: I have written a lot about it because I'm so fascinated by it because I think to myself, who could have ever dreamed? I mean a Randy Zuck growing up in the McGee area, Rex Nelson in Arkadelphia, that's native Arkansans that Arkansas eventually would be the heart of American steel making.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: It's just, it is, it's astonishing.
[00:18:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: That's all you can say when a.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Couple of years ago I mentioned Dave Stickler when I, when I first was going up to interview him.
And I may have mentioned this when we did a taping last year, but of course you Google and do your research and this headline comes up, the Steve Jobs of American Steelmaking from Forbes magazine.
Who knew the Steve Jobs of American steel makings in Osceola, Arkansas, of all places.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: Exactly right. It really is wonderful.
[00:18:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: And there are things spinning out of that. I was, as you know, I'm an Arkansas history nut, Randy, and I was happy just in the last few weeks when I saw that a new full service Holiday Inn had opened at Osceola. And the reason is. Kimmins Wilson, the founder of Holiday Inn, was from Osceola.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: That's exactly right.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: It was kind of neat to see that development. There are things like that spinning out of the steel industry.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. You know, the trick is to stabilize their population. Mississippi county is continuing to lose population.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: Even with all that capital, capital investment people drive in for those jobs from four or five states around us.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: How do we get them to live.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: Here in our country? Well, they've got this work here, live here program which has resulted in 150 homes being built and now sold in Mississippi county in just the last year or so, maybe a little over a year.
And they're continuing that program. All the steel companies have kicked in more money to underwrite it. And it makes it possible for people to buy and own a home with nothing down, basically. If they will live and work in Mississippi county, mostly in the steel industry.
[00:19:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: So it's, it's, they're catching up. They're getting right now. If they can get their school situation fixed, that, you know, and that really.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: That is a key.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: Things really might take off for.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: Jobs are there.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Let's go from northeast all the way down to southwest. I've also been writing about lithium a lot and we finally got royalty set.
That was a real red light that had everybody waiting.
It seems like to me that's the green light and things will really begin to take off now.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it was the stump in the road.
They've got that settled and now you see Chevron coming in, buying out.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: So you've got Chevron and XR Mobile.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: The two biggies in the energy industry.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Standard lithium, along with Albemarle, who's the number one lithium producer, producer in the world right now.
There's going to be several billions of dollars of manufacturing plants built to exploit that resource and thousands of jobs created in south central Arkansas to operate those plants. They're souped up. Sophisticated chemical plants.
[00:21:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: Specialty chemical plants.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: Yeah, we, we need it. And we go back, it's a lot like the steel industry to me. What we were just saying in northeast Arkansas, Randy, we need those people. We being the state of Arkansas, though, living in Arkansas, not driving in from Texas and Louisiana for those jobs when they're created.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you gotta make sure that comes.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Back to housing, education, as you mentioned, all of that.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: The community development basics. Is it a place you would like to live?
[00:21:32] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: And again, yet another example. And I know you talk about this again, but it's something, something else that's going well in Arkansas.
The defense industry down at the Highland Industrial park is booming.
You know, we're three years plus into the war in Ukraine. All of our allies have been giving weapons to them. They've got to restock themselves.
Over 3,000 people working in that Highland Industrial Park. Hundreds of new jobs coming online, and yet we get back to that. You don't see Camden growing. They told me they had people now driving into highland from over 30 counties, Randy, to work. So again, we've got to make those things where people live in the area.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: You got to get the basics right, got to have jobs first, then you got to have housing, then you got to have retail, then you got to have streets, you got to have sewer, you got to have water, you got to have electricity, schools. You got to have all the stuff what it takes to build and sustain a community.
[00:22:36] Speaker A: Absolutely. Again, there's so much going on, I keep bouncing. But I mentioned defense, I mentioned Highland Industrial park in South Arkansas, how well things are going there. We've got the fighter mission, which is going to have a billion dollar economic impact a year on the Portsmouth area.
Plus, yeah, that's taking off now.
So defense and aerospace seem to be strong areas for Arkansas right now.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: That Fort Smith thing, I was there last week and I was sitting at a stoplight when one of those F35s came over the top. And I thought I was. Man, you talk about exciting, I got excited.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: You talk about a little kid with a toy.
You know, I went out there, got the security clearances and our friend Tim Allen from the chamber there took me out there. I wrote about it. But I got to touch a brand new F35 and I was to supposed exciting. They weren't going to Let my fat self up into one. But just touching it was exciting to me. That's a $90 million aircraft and there.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: Are only two there now. Ultimately going to have about 40 of them. Yeah, it will, it will be incredible.
[00:23:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:23:40] Speaker A: I talked to the two guys that flew it basically off the factory line in Fort Smith, in Fort Worth to Fort Smith and I said how long did it take you? And they said about 30 minutes. But we took it easy.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: No hurry. 30 minutes.
[00:23:57] Speaker A: Yeah. But we've already got the polish in there. Singapore is adding a full time mission and again it looks like it's going to be long term.
And I'm told by economic development people out there that that has put them Randy on the map with other defense related industries that are now contacting them. Lockheed Martin, which makes the F35 already has 100 people working in Fort Smith.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: The big numbers are the maintenance people. For every pilot there are four to five maintenance people that are there for training.
[00:24:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: By Lockheed.
[00:24:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: That's the hundred folks with them.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: All right. Before I run out of time, things are going so well. The, the northwest Arkansas boom. No, no, no slowing in s challenge again is. Is housing and affordable housing and infrastructure. Yeah.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: Sewer lines and in Bentonville.
[00:24:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: Water system had to double their rates because they discovered that 50% of the water that they were processing was hitting the meters.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: 50% was leaking out into the percent because they just cobbled it together.
[00:25:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: It's growing so fast. Yeah.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: So big, big opportunities. Big construction projects.
Big opportunities for construction companies and developers.
It's just unlimited.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: One of the stories that I don't think has gotten the media attention it should have gotten in recent years and I think it's because we've gotten so used to good economic news coming from northwest Arkansas.
But it was when both Walmart and Tyson told their white collar employees and other offices and working from home all over the country, get the, you got to move to Arkansas.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: Get the to Bentonville.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: We want you, we want you home.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Springdale.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: And that was huge, wasn't it? That brought hundreds of new families to the state.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: No question. Or jobs or jobs to the state.
[00:26:04] Speaker A: If they would move.
[00:26:05] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:26:06] Speaker B: And so again, don't forget south central, southeast Monticello.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Well, there it is and I marked it out yet. New warehouse or plan and I want to get to your quiet quadrant of the state. And as you know, I'm a south Arkansas boy, I'm a forestry guy. To really exciting news. Warehouse are opening up that plant between.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: Monticello and Warren yeah, it's, it's, it's going to, it's a game changer for that whole part of the state. There may people from three or four counties working in there.
[00:26:37] Speaker A: And plus, plus the fact that we've been growing pines at about twice the rate as they need to be harvested right now and we need to start getting out of there. You have insect problems, you have all kinds of problems.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: Forestry people tell me we've got a real precarious kind of a situation because you could have an infestation of some kind of critter that starts eating up pine trees instead of oak trees or whatever. And it's just a real need to consume that. That fiber.
[00:27:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: One of them told me, Randy, they could use three to four plants that size of the new warehouse or plant just in the Arkansas Pine belt.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: For what, what we need.
[00:27:20] Speaker B: Yep. That's. And that. That could happen.
[00:27:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: So we've hit southeast, we've hit southwest with lithium and defense, we've hit northeast with steel, we've hit northwest, we've hit central. When. What am I leaving out?
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Well, the River Valley. Start, start in Conway and go to Fort Smith. We talked about that. The western end of it, but the eastern end, Conway's hitting on all eight. Growing dynamic. The county continues to be one of the four or five fastest growing counties in the state. Conway county is now going to have a billion dollar investment by Green Bay Packaging. They're basically going to rebuild their mill and tire from the ground up.
Not going to add many jobs, but it will sustain that company for another 50 to 75 years.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: I was going to say that you've got to look past just job numbers and see if they're making that kind of investment.
They're going to be there a long time.
[00:28:16] Speaker B: Exactly right.
[00:28:17] Speaker A: Well, you talk about a legacy industry that goes back to when Winthrop Rockefeller was living up on top of Petit Jean Mountain and decided he wanted to help Arkansas.
And a plant from Green Bay, Wisconsin was one of the first ones he played a role in.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
And others in the. Russell. Russell is one of my favorite mid sized towns these days because there's so much going on there.
[00:28:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:43] Speaker B: Tech is booming, enrollment's good, creative companies.
It's a really nice situation for Oak County.
[00:28:52] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: So, so all of this going on and I know our friends over at Arkansas Economic Development Commission would say, well this was our mast plan, but nobody really could have planned steel, lithium, defense, all happening at the same time. But it's happened for us.
What are, what are we lacking what are we. Not just. What are we not doing?
[00:29:15] Speaker B: We just got to make sure we don't miss the opportunity, don't screw it up. Yeah, you know, it's that simple. Because look, we're in the middle of the most dynamic economy and country in the world.
We've got all these different sectors. We're not a one horse town or state. We've got several different unique sectors. Don't forget agriculture, still the largest sector.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Of the Arkansas economy.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: That and food processing are two largest employee employment sectors. So farmers are having a tough, tough time.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: Oh, crop prices are terrible right now.
[00:29:53] Speaker B: Yeah, we're going to miss some significant acreage that just isn't going to get planted this year. Yeah, we've had a number of farmers have to throw in the towel. They just, just can't sustain it. So we've got some repair work to do in the ag sector. And I think John Bozeman with a good farm bill is going to help.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: It does help having the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee from your state.
There is no question about that. And so glad that Senator Bozeman is in that role right now. And as I talk to urban groups, I always point that out because I do write a lot about rural Arkansas. Don't forget ever that agriculture still remains the largest part of our economy.
And again, not an area you focus on. There are other groups for that a lot. But tourism is a big part of our economy and with our outdoor recreational opportunities.
Randy, it's not only about bringing people here to visit, but it's an attribute. We were talking about. How do we get these people to live in Arkansas? Yeah, it's an attribute to get them to live here. So the further development of those outdoor recreational opportunities is big for the future of the state.
[00:31:07] Speaker B: And quality of life is, you know, this generation, these younger generations, they don't. They don't. They're not married to the job.
[00:31:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:16] Speaker B: They're married to a place and they're married to a style of life that. And if you attract them with that, then they find a way to go to make a little living. They'll move to an area literally without a job. Yeah, my generation, we went to work for a company and if they said, you're going to, to come carrying New Mexico tomorrow, that we were packing our bag.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: It works.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: No, no, you go to where you want to live and then you either start a business or find a job.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: That's why I keep telling the University of Arkansas engineering people, you need to teach how to marry a Texan so we can kind of hang on to.
[00:31:56] Speaker A: I've got to tell you, she'll kill me for ending the show this way, but I married a Texan.
And I asked her 36 years ago when we got married, Randy, what do you bring to this marriage? And she said college student loans that you get to pay off.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: Now.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: I didn't marry a rich Texan, but I married a good one.
And she's very much an Arkansas now. So much going on. Any anything we need to touch on.
[00:32:22] Speaker B: Again for, you know, again, we've got a great, we've got a very constructive government situation. The legislature is, is, is being positive. I think on balance it's great. We had a good session.
The governor's and my viewer is doing a wonderful job on keeping us between the ditches.
I think we're going to see numbers today literally come out about the results for the fiscal year that are going to be very positive and will open up some opportunities for some continued good policy choices. And that at the end of the day, that's my sermon these days, is good policy choices drive economic growth.
[00:33:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: Well, Randy, thank you again for joining me. Thanks for all you do. Thanks for all that everyone at the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas does for our state. Good times right now.
[00:33:18] Speaker B: Thank you. Sure is fun times.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: Randy Zook, our guest, thank you for joining us for another edition of the Southern Fried Podcast, a production of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
[00:33:38] Speaker C: Sam.
