Gaylon Lawrence, who recently purchased Lee Wilson & Co., and effectively the town of Wilson, addressed the monthly meeting of the county's mayors Tuesday in Manila.
He told the mayors and other gathered officials he wants to revive the town and see it independent one day -- a draw for people to live who have come to the area to work in the steel and other industries.
"For a long time, the rest of the state was looking up to northeast Arkansas, and now the roles have been reversed," he said. "We need to look very closely at what happened. The mechanization of our culture did take a lot of jobs away, but really, when I look around, one of the biggest problems I see is everybody believes that they're just hanging on."
"It's all about consumption and seeing what we can get from somewhere else," he continued. "It's hard, but we need to get people to get up and want to create something, do something. The biggest thing I see missing in the Delta is optimism. We've got pessimism in the fact that everybody thinks this is where we were and we just don't have that anymore. You've got a lot of people who aren't managing their assets anymore. A lot of people in our towns just live day-to-day and encourage their children to leave here, send them away and they don't come back. We've got people who aren't willing to push or go forward, and we need to change those views or they need to go away."
Lawrence said the Delta's towns need to work hard on cleaning up their image and offering a better quality of life in order to attract new residents.
"The employees that are going to work at this new steel mill and other new industries, if we do nothing, they will live in West Memphis or Memphis or Jonesboro," he said. "If we don't clean up and dress up and put our best foot forward, and that starts with everyone."
Lawrence's company has started with cleaning up Wilson's streets, painting buildings, repairing abandoned structures, re-opening the town's cafe, and leasing a new building to the Arkansas Parks Department for its museum. It also plans to open up the Delta School, a private school which will begin next fall, offering classes in K-6 in the big Wilson house.
"We think there needs to be more school choice in the area," he said. "The Delta School is independent. There will be tuition, but we're working on a way to offer some subsidizing, some scholarships. Every parent will have to pay something, though, based on their income. I grew up in public school and I didn't believe private school was even a good thing for a long time. But we've had some changes, and the federal government is much more involved in our school system than it used to be. We depend so much on their money, and they're taking things away from the community."
"I believe there are a certain amount of parents who do not want their rights taken away," he continued. "They don't want to lose their ability to choose what their children are educated about. If we don't have an independent school, we will miss some of the possibilities we can have. It's important to see a population in our school similar to what the area looks like -- this is not about just trying to find the best and brightest, it's about taking the kids we have and doing the most with them that we can possibly do."
Lawrence added that he is invested all across Mississippi County and wants to see the whole area succeed.
"We have to figure out how each town can make northeast Arkansas a better place, and if we all work together, it will be so much better. I'm invested in this county and I want to see it do well," he said.
The mayors gathered also shared news of their individual cities' progress over the recent months:
-- Wayne Wagner, Manila: Wagner reported that his city's first season of operating the newly constructed water park has been completed, and the city broke even on the project so far.
-- Jasper Jackson, Luxora: The city recently received a $60,000 grant to purchase a firetruck, and has also received a school building as a donation from Rivercrest district
-- Bo McCullum, Etowah: The city is finishing up a sewer extension project and has recently received grant funding for a brush truck
-- Jerry LaRue, Keiser: The city's water system is undergoing renovations and work is being done on streets and roads
-- James Sanders, Blytheville: Sanders now holds an elected position with the Municipal League of Arkansas, and reported that the league has recently met with the Association of Arkansas Counties, with the intention of coming together to present legislation as a unified force. Blytheville has also recently received grant funding for a prayer garden and a new wastewater lab, and has recently completed a repaving project on Moultrie Street.
-- Shelia Spurlock, Leachville: The city is having work done on its waste treatment system and has recently received a grant for street re-paving
sharris@blythevillecourier.com