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Friends,
Over the past four years, we’ve made significant strides toward increasing opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses to take part in the City of Little Rock procurement process. We are intentional about bringing diverse businesses to the table because we understand we’re not just investing in companies, but in the diverse neighborhoods and families within our city.
Economic equity is a pillar of my administration, and as such we have worked to increase the number of minority and women-owned business enterprises, or MWBEs, that provide goods and services to the City. In the last three years, our diverse spending has increased from 13 percent to 23 percent. I’m confident we will reach our goal of 25 percent by next year.
As we do our part to focus on economic equity, we’ve asked other entities throughout Little Rock to do the same. We established OpportUNITY Little Rock in October 2021. This program is a public-private partnership that includes the City, the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, and UA Little Rock. With OpportUNITY Little Rock, we seek to take a systemic approach to supporting and growing diverse businesses not only by outreach to MWBEs, but also by assisting large corporation and anchor institutions in understanding the benefits of diversifying their supplier base. Seven of the city’s anchor institutions, five corporations and 70 small businesses have been involved thus far, participating in 22 hours of technical assistance that includes business development classes and supplier and contractor training.
Through OpportUNITY Little Rock, corporations and businesses learn how supplier diversity can help the community and their business’s bottom line. The City offers support through its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion that involves assistance in developing plans to meet their goals and fostering collaboration among both corporations and MWBEs.
Establishing a connection between larger businesses and potential vendors is an essential step toward increasing diversity spend. Through OpportUNITY Little Rock, we are gathering information to share with the City’s entrepreneurial support ecosystem, those organizations and initiatives that offer small business development programming.
To bridge what our OpportUNITY Little Rock partners have identified as a critical information gap, we have launched a Minority Business Enterprise survey that aims to identify where our MBEs are located and what their capacity is. Our goal is to find the best way large corporations can identify and connect with MBEs for the purpose of filling contracts.
Through research and experience, we know that women and minority business owners face challenges in growing their businesses. Through programs like OpportUNITY Little Rock and by being more intentional about how we spend our money and with whom we do business, we can enhance the quality of life throughout or city.
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To learn more about OpportUNITY Little Rock, watch the press conference from its original launch, Oct. 6, 2021.
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Fiocchi expands
Last week, I joined Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde and other community leaders to welcome an expansion announcement by ammunition maker Fiocchi. The Italy-based company will add a second production facility in Little Rock, bringing a $42 million investment and more than 120 new jobs.
Fiocchi first came to Little Rock in 2020. Its new facility will be located in the Port of Little Rock, which is one of the best locations for industry in the United States. It will produce ammunition primer. The primer facility will be only the sixth in the United States and the first to produce lead-free primer. Construction is expected to begin next year.
As more and more companies like Fiocchi recognize the advantages of locating at the Port, we are pursuing expansion of the Port’s footprint. I again want to thank Little Rock voters for their decision in August to authorize bond proceeds to fund Port expansion.
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Food Drive reminder
As we approach Thanksgiving on Thursday, we give thanks for our abundance while understanding others in our community may not have enough to eat. It’s estimated that approximately one in every five Arkansans is food insecure. One way we can help our neighbors is through donating to local food banks or participating in food drives, such as one currently underway that’s sponsored by the City’s Department of Community Programs.
From now until Nov. 30, city employees and others can donate nonperishable food items at the following locations:
City Hall, 500 W. Markham St.
Central Fire Station, 824 Chester St.
Fire Station 6, 1105 E. Roosevelt Road
Fire Station 7, 4101 W. Markham St.
Fire Station 11, 5300 S. University St.
Fire Station 14, 8121 Colonel Glenn Road
Fire Station 15, 8915 Kanis Road
Donated items from the food drive will go to benefit Immerse Arkansas.
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The Week Ahead
- Today (Monday, Nov. 21), we'll join the Downtown Little Rock Partnership in kicking off the holiday season with "Bright the Night." We will turn on our holiday lights and have a festive time with Santa and other special guests including the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Ballet Arkansas. The festivities are located at the intersection of Capital and Main Street in downtown Little Rock. The event is free.
- There will not be a Little Rock Board of Directors meeting this week. The Board's next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 4 p.m.
- GloWild, which features dozens of animal-themed lantern exhibits, continues this week at the Little Rock Zoo. This popular attraction, in its second year, drew thousands of visitors to the Zoo in 2021. GloWild is from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on select nights until Jan. 7. For more information and for tickets, click here.
- City offices will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 24, in observance of Thanksgiving Day. Because of the holiday, all solid waste collection scheduled for Thursdays will be moved to Friday and Saturday.
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As always, stay up to date with what's happening in the City on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram via @citylittlerock. You can also email me at mayorscott@littlerock.gov or call my office at 501.371.4744.
I appreciate you!
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