Editor’s Note: “The Economic Development Side” originally appears in the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce’s weekly member e-newsletter. It is written by Rhonda Dishner, the Economic Development Alliance’s executive assistant.
This is a test. It’s designed to measure your level of economic development awareness. But don’t worry. There’s only one question, and there’s no grade.
Ready, people? Here’s the question: Where is Jefferson Industrial Park located?
If your immediate answer was Pine Bluff, you are correct. You have been paying attention to the repeated references in this column to the existing and new industries located in “Pine Bluff’s” Jefferson Industrial Park. If you said White Hall, think again.
This question came up at last week’s board meeting of the Jefferson County Industrial Foundation, an affiliate organization of the Economic Development Alliance since 1995. The Industrial Foundation developed Jefferson Industrial Park beginning in the mid-1960s. Even though available sites in the park are now owned and offered for sale by the Alliance, members of the foundation still have responsibility for oversight of land sales and reviewing expansion plans by industries there.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Long-time foundation directors know that the entire industrial park is located within the city limits of Pine Bluff. But they get asked frequently about its actual location, and one director just wanted confirmation that he was correct in his response. It was then mentioned that many local residents are unaware of this fact, and some folks even maintain that the industrial park is located at White Hall.
Maps of Pine Bluff show the industrial park within the Pine Bluff city limits. Added verification is provided in the text of Sec. 29-117.1-4 Industrial of Pine Bluff’s code of zoning ordinances, which reads, in part: “This section applies to the 1-4 industrial district. This industrial district is intended to provide for industrial, manufacturing, warehousing or distribution purposes in Jefferson Industrial Park and the Harbor Industrial District.”
Some of the confusion may result from the fact that several industries physically located within (Pine Bluff’s) Jefferson Industrial Park receive their mail — for the sake of convenience — through a box at the White Hall Post Office just a few blocks away on Dollarway Road (AR 365). This means they have one address at Pine Bluff and another at White Hall.
It was later pointed out that what’s ultimately most important about Jefferson Industrial Park’s location is that it’s in Jefferson County, and residents of the whole county benefit from the thousands of jobs that have been created there.