City sets press conference today
The city of Pine Bluff will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. today at the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library, 600 S. Main St., to announce a major new investment in Pine Bluff.
Mayor Shirley M. Washington will be joined by Terry Cosby, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in making the announcement, according to a news release.
School Garden contest seeks entries
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Entries are being accepted for the ninth annual Arkansas Grown School Garden of the Year Contest through June 5. Winners will be announced in the fall of 2022 and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and the Farm Credit Associations of Arkansas are sponsors.
Applicants may be any school, early childhood education facility, or alternative learning environment with a school garden during the 2021-2022 school year or is planning to start one in the 2022-2023 school year, according to a news release.
Applications are available at cognitoforms.com/ArkansasAgriculture1/ArkansasGrownSchoolGardenOfTheYearContest2022.
Details: agriculture.arkansas.gov/arkansas-department-of-agriculture-programs/farm-to-school/school-gardens/arkansas-grown-school-garden-of-the-year-contest/ or by contacting Erica Benoit, Farm to School and Early Childhood Education Program Coordinator, at erica.benoit@agriculture.arkansas.gov.
Simmons hires agri lending VP
Simmons Bank hired Cole Plafcan as senior vice president, director of agricultural lending, a newly created division within Simmons Bank’s Community Banking group. Plafcan is charged with expanding Simmons’ agricultural business across its six-state area, according to a news release.
Plafcan is an alumnus of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a ’94 Letterman for the Razorbacks football team. With more than 25 years of agricultural lending experience, Plafcan previously served as senior vice president, chief lending and marketing officer at AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, according to the release.
Simmons is ranked as one of the Top 35 Farming Lenders by volume in the U.S., according to FDIC data as of Sept. 30, 2021.