Delta Bridge Project making strides

After only a year in the county, Southern Bancorp's Community Partners division is making great strides in propelling Mississippi County forward by working with local elected officials and community members on projects such as the Delta Bridge Project, according to company officials.

Steve Jones, Community Partners senior vice president of programs, said during the county mayor's meeting Tuesday that the positive things currently happening in Mississippi County are proof that despite its small size and numerous setbacks, the county will flourish.

"You guys are proving that you don't have to be a big city, you don't have to be Memphis or Little Rock to do great things," Jones said. "If there's a will, there's an avenue to make those things happen."

One of the big undertakings since SBCP moved into the county has been the dilapidated structure removal program, which, according to community development officer Lauren Isbell, has been a huge undertaking since it began. As of yet, the program has helped Blytheville in tearing down 11 old structures, Gosnell with the demolition of one structure, and Osceola and Luxora with three each. Isbell said additional funding should be coming in through June of this year, allowing the project to continue to help bring down dangerous and unsightly structures.

"We're also still taking applications from other municipalities to make sure that program is represented well throughout the county," she said.

Isbell said she, and a number of others across the county, have also been working with the East Arkansas Planning and Development District on its smart growth initiative, which will bring in a survey group from Washington, D.C., to do a housing analysis for entire county, giving the project the tolls information needed to make an informed decision on how to approach certain housing objectives throughout the coming years.

SBCP and the Delta Bridge Project have also begun working in local economic development, health care and quality of life, education and leadership, and should have a strategic plan approved in the comings weeks for implementation in the near future.

"When minds come together and people come together things get done, and you guys are getting things done," Jones said.

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com