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Friends,

Today we marked the completion of the newly renovated B. Finley Vinson Plaza downtown, an inviting public space for residents and visitors to gather, make connections and experience Downtown Little Rock.

The reimagined, redesigned, and reconstructed plaza is located on Markham Street near the Doubletree Hotel and Robinson Center, and just steps away from the Statehouse Convention Center and other major Little Rock attractions. This outdoor space is a great place to kick off an event, spend time with family and friends, or bring a lunch. It features a direct path to Riverfront Park, First Security Amphitheater, and the Arkansas River.

This project is a piece of both the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau 10-year master plan and our Downtown Master Plan. These blueprints for a re-energized urban core work in tandem, and residents and visitors will benefit from the work done to implement those plans.

Today’s ribbon cutting on B. Finley Vinson Plaza comes a few days after the LRCVB observed National Travel and Tourism Week. LRCVB spotlighted the City’s hospitality industry and its people who often give the first and best impression of our City to our guests. Tourism is a $2.19 billion industry in our City, supporting more than 12,000 jobs.

Projects like B. Finley Vinson Plaza enhance the visitor experience, while creating new opportunities for our residents to engage and connect Downtown. We hope to see you there soon!

I appreciate you!

Top of The Rock

Momentum Builds for UA-PTC Workforce Training Center

Little Rock is setting the pace for jobs growth in Arkansas and regionally, anchored by the state’s largest industrial park, the Port of Little Rock. And with the formal announcement of a state-of-the-art workforce training center at the Port, our economic momentum and jobs creation is just getting started.

Last week, we joined U.S. Sen. John Boozman, the University of Arkansas - Pulaski Technical College (UA-PTC), Little Rock Regional Chamber, the Port, and other stakeholders at the future site of UA-PTC’s planned workforce center.

Funding for the Center comes from a $20 million federal appropriation secured by Sen. Boozman. We are grateful to his leadership on this project, and we appreciate Sen. Boozman and the Arkansas congressional delegation for their support of economic development in Arkansas’s capital city.

UA-PTC will construct the center, located adjacent to the Port of Little Rock offices along the Arkansas River. The center will support training for new and existing companies at the Port and across Central Arkansas.

With low unemployment across our region, there is greater demand for skilled workers seeking advanced manufacturing, logistics, and industrial careers. UA-PTC has been an essential provider of workforce training for many years, so this new center will be a natural extension of its important work to support higher incomes and economic mobility for our residents.

The Port is the regional hub for innovation and opportunity. This center will be another asset as we maintain a competitive workforce in a global economy. We expect it to be the centerpiece of our industrial recruitment and retention efforts.

Plans for the site call for adaptable space that supports training in advanced manufacturing, robotics and automation, with the ability to host large-scale career fairs.

Construction will begin in coming weeks.

We are grateful to UA-PTC and Chancellor Dr. Summer DeProw for spearheading this work, and we look forward to seeing their vision implemented in this state-of-the-art space.

Updates in The Rock

Resident Survey Promotes Comprehensive Planning

The City of Little Rock’s Department of Housing and Neighborhood Programs supports affordable housing, community development, neighborhood stabilization and more through its ongoing work to benefit the City. The Department’s funding includes federal dollars through multiple grant programs. Our residents help determine how the City of Little Rock spends that grant money through multiple public engagement opportunities, such as the creation of the next five-year plan.

The Department is asking Little Rock residents to help shape priorities for housing, public services, and neighborhood programs by providing input about the five-year plan. A short survey for residents to complete is now available, and we encourage you to take the time to share your thoughts.

We would like to know what projects, improvements, and priorities you would like to see in the updated five-year plan. Your responses ensure that the plan reflects the real needs of the community.

Survey responses are due by Monday. May 18. Please take the survey and join us as we continue to build a stronger and more vibrant Little Rock.

Ahead in The Rock