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Friends,
When Little Rock voters gave me the privilege and honor to serve as Mayor, I took on the mantle of Chief Growth Officer for our City. That role requires me and my team to commit ourselves to job creation and workforce investment, and we must solidify strong partnerships with our colleagues in economic development and other state and local officials.
Fortunately, we have created a spirit of excellence and collaboration here in Little Rock that has led to exceptional jobs growth over the last few years. During my time as Mayor, we've created close to 11,000 new jobs -- with 800 of them announced just last week by our friends at Dassault Falcon Jet.
Dassault reaffirmed its commitment to our City by extending its lease of property at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport and announcing plans to expand its Little Rock operation with a $100 million, 800-job investment. Dassault is a long-time corporate partner that has been in Little Rock since 1975. It currently employs 1,400 people at its 1.2 million-square-foot facility, its largest in the world by size and number of employees.
At Dassault's Little Rock Completion Center, Dassault's team installs optional avionics and custom interiors and it paints exteriors of the company's aircraft. Dassault also operates a Service Center in Little Rock, which handles aircraft repairs and maintenance.
We were fortunate to be able to spend time with company leaders at this year's Paris Air Show to emphasize Little Rock's strong case for the company's expansion. Ultimately, our highly-skilled workforce, support from all levels of government and the community and the presence of Dassault's existing facilities led to Dassault's expansion decision.
As Little Rock's Chief Growth Officer for the past five years, I know that economic development is a total team effort. To secure the Dassault expansion, it took the outstanding team at the Little Rock Regional Chamber, led by Jay Chesshir and Jack Thomas, the leadership of Gov. Sanders and Secretary of Commerce Hugh McDonald and the support of our Board of Directors and the Little Rock Airport Commission. In addition, the 1,400-strong existing team at Dassault and our competitive job market made the difference.
Just this month, both Dassault and Elopak have confirmed plans to bring almost 1,000 new jobs to Little Rock. As we continue to focus on workforce initiatives and invest in key infrastructure and logistical advantages like the Port of Little Rock, our job creation efforts will pay off.
I appreciate our residents, our state and local partners, business leaders and everyone who has a hand in helping make my job as Chief Growth Officer a great one.
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Sign up for Free Estate Planning Tools
We talk a lot about the importance of building generational wealth. It is a long-term process that starts with financial literacy and advances toward economic mobility and the ability to pass down financial independence to our children and grandchildren.
A core component of maintaining generational wealth requires us to use wealth-management tools to protect our legacies. Fortunately, Little Rock residents have an opportunity through the end of this month to sign up for free online tools to assist with legacy matters such as wills, trusts, and estates.
Enroll now at MyLegacyItems.com for access to resources that will help you with estate planning. The platform guides users through the process of creating and updating wills and revocable trusts, establishing powers of attorney, crafting living wills, appointing executors and much more. There are helpful, informational tools as well that offer insights and learning resources on a number of subjects related to estate planning, building a financial legacy and securing generational wealth.
Little Rock residents will receive a free, year-long subscription to the online platform if they sign up by Dec. 31. The free service is funded by a grant from the African American Mayors Association's Economic Mobility Leadership Institute.
To be eligible for a free year of access, Little Rock residents must use the promo code "LITAR" when they register at MyLegacyItems.com Remember, this promotional offer is for a year of free use on the site, and it is only available until the end of the month.
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ICYMI
Earlier this month, hundreds of Little Rock residents showed up for the opportunity to improve their financial game at our first-ever "CapitalCon." At this innovative and impactful event, we heard from experts in banking, estate planning, insurance, entrepreneurship and more as we all learned the best ways to level up our financial literacy and build generational wealth.
Our appreciation goes to our panelists, vendors, pitch competition participants, volunteers and so many more who helped make CapitalCon an unquestioned success.
CapitalCon was also funded by a grant from the Economic Mobility Leadership Institute of the African American Mayors Association.
If you missed the enlightening and dynamic discussions, here are the recordings from our panels:
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Don't Jeopardize My Future: Building Generational Wealth
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Family (Don't) Feud: Home Ownership, Insurance and Estate Planning
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Art & Assets: Navigating Wealth in the Creative Realm
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LRWRA Meeting
Especially in light of this month's significant economic development announcements, it's extremely important that we do not forget the work of our local utilities to meet the demand of our residents, businesses and industries.
I took that message and my appreciation directly to employees of the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority last Thursday, thanking them for their unsung efforts to maintain our City sewer infrastructure. LRWRA services nearly 68,000 homes and businesses and a network of more than 1,400 miles of sewer lines. LRWRA ensures our wastewater moves safely out of our homes and is safely treated.
While other municipalities have struggled with issues related to aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance, LRWRA has quietly managed to maintain a legacy of service and excellence in our City. When business and industry looks toward a community for relocation or expansion, the quality of utilities like LRWRA make a real difference.
I appreciate the team at LRWRA under the leadership of the LRWRA commissioners and new CEO Jean Block.
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Looking Ahead
- This is the last Mayor's Monday Memo until Jan. 8, since both Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on Mondays. You will hear much more in coming weeks about our gratitude for our residents and our team of dedicated City employees, as well as our accomplishments in 2023, as we look ahead to the challenges and aspirations of 2024. Happy Holidays! And, stay tuned!
- The Little Rock Board of Directors' next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, at 4 p.m. That meeting will be at The Centre at University Park, 6401 W. 12th St. There are no Board meetings planned for the remainder of the year.
- GloWild!, the Little Rock Zoo's annual light festival, is a great family experience for the holidays. This year, the Zoo gleams even brighter with all-new lanterns and experiences. GloWild runs nightly through Dec. 23 and again from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31 and Jan. 4 to Jan. 7. Check the website for the full schedule and ticket details.
- City offices will be closed Monday, Dec. 25, and Monday, Jan. 1, in observance of Christmas Day and New Year's Day, respectively. Normal sanitation and recycling routes will be delayed by one day those weeks because of the holidays.
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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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