- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/economic-development/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 28 Jun 2022 19:29:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Chancellor Drale Takes Part in Brookings Panel Discussing Leveraging Public Universities to Promote Economic Development /news-archive/2022/06/28/drale-brookings-talk/ Tue, 28 Jun 2022 19:29:11 +0000 /news/?p=81785 ... Chancellor Drale Takes Part in Brookings Panel Discussing Leveraging Public Universities to Promote Economic Development]]> In 2021, Brookings, an American research group founded in 1916, published the report, 鈥,鈥 which proposed federal grants of up to $50 million to regional public universities situated in low-income and economically distressed areas, with the aim of aiding those institutions鈥 community and economic development missions. Brookings identified at least 140 institutions that could be eligible for these grants, spread across 34 different states and Puerto Rico. The event, 鈥淟everaging Regional Public Universities to Promote Place-based Economic Development,鈥 took place June 28 at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. The event brought together congressional staff, higher education practitioners, and nonprofit policy experts who discussed how Congressional policy can support the mission of regional public universities to build economic development in low-income areas. The panel included Dr. Drale, Al Delia, vice president of regional development and engagement at Frostburg State University, Dr. Debasish Dutta, chancellor of University of Flint-Michigan, and Dr. Andrew Koricich, executive director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges and associate professor at Appalachian State University. Mark Muro, senior fellow at Brookings Metro, gave the opening remarks, and Robert Maxim, senior research associate at Brookings Metro, moderated the panel discussion. Dr. Drale discussed how 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock supports the Little Rock and the Central Arkansas area as well as how funding challenges over the last decade has affected how 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock carries out its mission. She also talked about how a federal investment of $50 million could help bolster the community and economic development in Arkansas. Following the panel, university representatives, congressional staff, nonprofit policy experts, and other stakeholders took part in an open discussion. Joni Lee, vice chancellor for university affairs, participated in the discussion.]]> City of Little Rock, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock announce revitalization plans for Asher Avenue Corridor /news-archive/2020/09/04/asher-avenue-revitalization/ Fri, 04 Sep 2020 14:40:47 +0000 /news/?p=77480 ... City of Little Rock, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock announce revitalization plans for Asher Avenue Corridor]]> Chancellor Christina Drale joined Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. at a Sept. 2 press conference at the Robinson Center to announce revitalization plans for the Asher Avenue corridor and the University Plaza shopping center.听 The plans are part of an effort to increase quality of life, bring in businesses and residences, and spur economic growth in an underserved area of Little Rock. 鈥溾ver the past 20 months, we have been very intentional,鈥 said. 鈥淲e have been able to move from platitudes to policy to proactive action. One of those actionable efforts has been the revitalization of Asher Avenue. To help revitalize an area, you must first focus on how do you enhance an area.鈥 Along the Asher Avenue corridor, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock owns the University Plaza shopping center, University Village apartments, and the Coleman Sports and Recreation Complex, which is home to the women鈥檚 soccer team and men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 track teams. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock has long been an anchor in this important crossroads entrance to our city,鈥 Chancellor Drale said. 鈥淥ur campus, in recent years, has expanded to the south side of Asher Avenue. We envision development that would create a safe and attractive entrance into these facilities off of Asher Avenue.鈥 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 most significant revitalization plans revolve around the redevelopment of the University Plaza shopping center, which the university purchased in 2004. The center is home to Big Lots, , Sequoyah National Research Center, Department of Public Safety, and additional campus units. 鈥淲e have owned the property for a number of years and used it to house various departments that had space needs,鈥 Chancellor Drale said. 鈥淗owever, our plans have always been to rebuild this center with a focus not just on our campus needs, but also how those might intersect with the interests of business and the concerns of the community in which we live.鈥听 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is in the planning phase for redeveloping the center, and is in talks with partners, including the City of Little Rock, about the design of a public-private partnership for the project. 鈥淎 redeveloped center on the south end of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock campus will provide an important face to the Asher Avenue corridor,鈥 Chancellor Drale said. 鈥淚t will add to the positive development the mayor sees for this part of Little Rock, and we are proud to be a part of these changes. We will work with neighborhoods and other stakeholders to create a center that serves the campus and the community.鈥
糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale (right), Mayor Frank Scott Jr. (left), and business owner Tracy Johnson (center) review plans for revitalization efforts along Asher Avenue during a Sept. 2 press conference at Robinson Hall. Photo by Ben Krain.

糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale (right), Mayor Frank Scott Jr. (left), and business owner Tracy Johnson (center) review plans for revitalization efforts along Asher Avenue during a Sept. 2 press conference at Robinson Center. Photo by Ben Krain.

The University District Development Corporation will be a vital part of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 revitalization efforts in the neighborhoods surrounding the university. University District is an initiative with 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and its partners to increase home ownership, job growth, public safety, and neighborhood amenities in the areas around the university.听 鈥淭he University District area is full of potential for growing new businesses, attracting new residents, and for becoming a new region of exciting opportunity in Little Rock,鈥 Chancellor Drale said. 鈥淭he University District office, along with the Arkansas Small Business Technology Development Center and the Arkansas Economic Development Institute, both at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, are excited and primed to be collaborators with the City of Little Rock in this significant endeavor.鈥 The City of Little Rock鈥檚 revitalization plan will include a multi-pronged approach. One part of that vitalization effort included partnering with the Arkansas Department of Transportation to repave and resurface Asher Avenue and South University Avenue. Little Rock Planning and Development Director Jamie Collins said city officials have been meeting with the owners of buildings that have fallen into disrepair to discuss if the owners plan to renovate, demolish and rebuild, or sell the properties. Three such buildings are located at 5518 W. 33rd St., 4500 Asher Ave. and 3004 Lewis St. Collins said he expects to see significant progress on the properties within three months. The City of Little Rock, Central Arkansas Water, and Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority also announced economic incentives to encourage redevelopment of areas south of I-630 and east of I-30. The City of Little Rock will waive building permit fees, while Central Arkansas Water and Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority will forgo developer payments, including fees for water and sanitation infrastructure. The incentive package is the first of its kind in Little Rock, and city officials hope it will bring more businesses and generate more revenue for Little Rock. 鈥This is an exciting day as we revitalize Asher Avenue,鈥 Mayor Scott said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an exciting day as we work in partnership with an anchor institution of the likes of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to also revitalize Asher Avenue, focusing on retail development along that corridor area. It鈥檚 an exciting day to work with our property owners in that area as well. We are all focused on one thing. How do we develop, how do we redevelop, and how do we increase vibrancy south of I-630 and east of I-30 for this day and forever more?鈥]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor headed to Sri Lanka to investigate justice and economic development /news-archive/2017/12/19/eric-wiebelhaus-brahm-sri-lanka/ Tue, 19 Dec 2017 15:00:36 +0000 /news/?p=68907 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor headed to Sri Lanka to investigate justice and economic development]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor is part of an 18-person international research network visiting Sri Lanka in January to investigate how peace can be achieved in a post-conflict region.听 Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, assistant professor in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock School of Public Affairs, will head to Sri Lanka Jan. 5-14 as part of the. The network鈥檚 goal is to understand how peace can be achieved in countries affected by conflict through the study of justice initiatives and economic development in four countries: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Uganda. The upcoming trip to Sri Lanka is the third of four planned visits. The network visited Colombia in April and Uganda in July. 鈥淲e are looking at societies deeply affected by civil war,鈥 Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淭his project is trying to understand what have been the effects of conflict and what are the justice and economic development needs of these societies that, with the exception of Syria, are emerging from conflict.鈥 In Sri Lanka, network members will meet in the capital, Colombo, and then visit places deeply affected by the conflict. Sri Lanka was engulfed in a civil war between the government, dominated by the Sinhalese majority, and the Tamil minority in the country鈥檚 north and northeast from 1983 to 2009. Government forces seized the last area controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009. The country has been trying to rebuild and heal from the conflict for the past eight years. 鈥淥ne of the challenges has been that the government鈥檚 military victory has led it to largely ignore the economic and political marginalization that led some Tamils to take up arms in the first place. Moreover, the civil war itself created new justice and development needs that are as yet unmet. Yet, these groups share a country and need to find a way to coexist,鈥 Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淚n the northern part of the country, there are tremendous issues that still need to be worked out. During our visit, we will try to understand the continuing consequences of the war in an economic, social, and political sense. 鈥淲e want to better understand what has been done to deal with the effects of the conflict. The government, in recent years, has pledged they will prosecute people in the military who engaged in war crimes that targeted civilians. There has been very little progress, however. There are people who lost their livelihoods. How are they rebuilding?鈥 Another issue facing the people of Sri Lanka is deciding how displaced people can return to their homes. 鈥淚n societies that have experienced civil war, we often see issues about land ownership. People may have owned land, and they had to flee or abandon the property, possibly forced to sell it on the cheap,鈥 Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淟and ownership often becomes highly concentrated. With the war over, people want to go back to their communities and their land, but someone else is on the land now. It鈥檚 often difficult for the poorer families to reacquire land ownership. The wealthy owners have often turned it into commercial agricultural operations, often leaving not enough land to grow food.鈥 The project is headed by Kirsten Ainley, director of the at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Additional members of the coalition include professors from around the world, government officials, and members of nonprofit and activist organizations. The project is funded by the, which awarded the network a grant in 2016 worth approximately 拢150,000 British pounds, largely to fund travel for members of the network to research the four countries. The network recently submitted a larger grant to continue their research in additional countries. ]]>