Delta Bridge Project

Centennial Baptist Church Receives $300,000 for Restoration

December 18th, 2006

The E. C. Morris Foundation announced that the National Parks Service awarded them $300,000 to help restore Centennial Baptist Church in downtown Helena-West Helena. The award is one of 42 national awards through the Save America’s Treasures program, a public-private partnership established in 1996 to preserve and protect buildings and collections that have significance to American history.

Centennial Baptist Church is nationally significant for its association with Dr. Elias Camp Morris

Southern Financial Partners Presents Delta Bridge Project at National Anti-Poverty Conference

December 14th, 2006
Source: Mid South Delta Initiative

Southern Financial Partners presented the Delta Bridge Project at the Northwest Area Foundation’s Grassroots and Groundwork 2006 Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota, this past September. It was one of nineteen projects presented at the national conference that highlighted what communities are doing to get out and stay out of poverty.

A Note of Thanks to Our Friends at Southern

December 13th, 2006

“A Note of Thanks to our Friends at Southern Development Bancorporation and Delta Southern Bank,

Our kindest thanks go out to you from this community for your efforts in helping us revitalize our city. A lot has happened in the town of Drew because of these efforts.”

Southern Bancorp: Phillips County, Arkansas’ poorest, rebuiding

December 5th, 2006
By Peggy Harris // Associated Press

Situated in the impoverished Mississippi River Delta, the county has the highest poverty rate, 33 percent; one of the highest unemployment rates, 8.7 percent this fall, and the lowest homeownership rate, 56 percent.

“Phillips County ranks lowest when the goal is highest and highest when the goal is lowest,” a new report from Southern Bancorp Inc. says.

Delta Bridge Project Announces $240,000 in Grant Funding For Boys & Girls Club

November 30th, 2006

Dr. Steven Murray, Chairman of the Delta Bridge Project Steering Committee, today announced that the Boys & Girls Club of Phillips County will receive up to $240,000 in grant funds over the next three years. The funding will be used to bring a nationally proven model for youth development to Phillips County.

Delta Bridge Funding to Start New Public Transportation System in Phillips County

October 30th, 2006

Dr. Steven Murray, Chairman of the Delta Bridge Project Steering Committee, today announced $116,000 in grant funding to the Mid-Delta Community Services to establish a public transportation system in Helena-West Helena. This grant will be accompanied by a $15,000 grant from the Helena Health Foundation.

Sweet potatoes gaining ground Efforts give crop golden outlook

October 22nd, 2006
By Nancy Cole // Arkansas Democrat Gazette

It’s sweet potato harvest time and the beginning of what many hope will become a new industry for the Arkansas Delta.

“We have probably the only strategic plan in the country that envisions the sweet potato as an agent of social change,” said Steven Murray, chancellor of Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas.

Murray also is chairman of Delta Bridge, a community-based effort to revitalize Phillips County.

Delta Bridge Project Funds Biodiesel Feasibility

October 13th, 2006

Southern Financial Partners awarded a $30,000 grant to the Phillips County Chamber of Commerce to commission a site-specific biodiesel feasibility study to capitalize on the rapidly growing biodiesel industry. The feasibility study is expected to determine the feasibility of the opening of an integrated soybean processing and biodiesel manufacturing facility, capable of producing at least 10 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

Central Arkansas RC&D Announces a $2 million Sweet Potato Storage and Distribution Facility for Phillips County, Arkansas, a Delta Bridge-Funded Project

October 13th, 2006

Judge Tom Catlett, Chairman for the Central Arkansas RC&D Council, today announced that financing has been secured to construct a $2 million sweet potato storage and distribution facility in Phillips County, Arkansas. Catlett further stated “this project is the hopeful beginning of an industry for Phillips County”. Sweet potatoes from the facility will, in part, supply Gerber’s in Fort Smith, Arkansas, substituting out of state.

E-Fuels pursuing a factory in Helena

June 27th, 2006
By David Smith // Arkansas Democrat Gazette

BY DAVID SMITH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A Nevada ethanol production company signed a letter of intent with the Helena-West Helena-Phillips County Port Authority on Thursday night to build a $185 million plant that would produce 108 million gallons of ethanol annually.

No final decision on the plant has been made and research still needs to be done on the company, E-Fuels Inc., Tom Turner, executive director of the Phillips County Chamber of Commerce, said Friday. But Phillips County officials are hoping the project works out, Turner said.

“It could change the region, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Turner said.

Used as a gasoline additive, ethanol produces cleaner-burning fuel with higher octane and improved engine performance. Ethanol-blended fuel is less expensive than gasoline.

Fritz Voelker, chairman of the board of Las Vegas-based E-Fuels, said there are still some questions his firm needs answered - particularly incentives for the project - but he is “cautiously optimistic” it will happen.

E-Fuels is evaluating several locations along the Mississippi River in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, Voelker said. But the Helena Port meets more of the 20 characteristics the company needs than any other place on the river, Voelker said.

“The biggest criteria was the still-water harbor,” Voelker said. Helena-West Helena has one of the best still-water harbors developed in the past 20 years along the Mississippi River, Voelker said.

Voelker estimated the plant would need $7 million to $8 million in economic incentives to make it feasible to be built in Helena-West Helena. Discussions about incentives have not been conducted.

E-Fuels’ plant would employ 65 workers, Voelker said.

Voelker estimated it would take three to four months to get the environmental permits the company needs for the plant. If everything works out, the plant could open in 2008, he said.

Farmers in the area also will have the opportunity to invest in the venture, said Martin Chaffin, executive director of the port.

“We will be able to give our local farmers a market for their grain,” Chaffin said. “I’m hoping this will bring a lot more corn acreage to this area. There will be no way that we will be able to satisfy this operation, but it will certainly be a shot in the arm to our farmers.” Voelker said it would take about 40 million bushels of corn annually to produce 108 million gallons of ethanol.

E-Fuels will rely on farmers from the region and will ship much of it by barge along the Arkansas River to Helena-West Helena, Voelker said.

Arkansas produced about 30 million bushels of corn last year.

Phillips County is one of the poorest counties in the state. Its unemployment rate is 8.8 percent and its population, about 24,100 in 2004, has steadily declined for the past 40 years.

If the plant is built, it could have a trickle-down effect for the Phillips County economy, said Joe Black, senior vice president for Southern Financial Partners.

“Farmers would be looking at more stable prices for their crops,” Black said. “With increasing fuel prices, farmers are raising crops at a break-even level now. If they could get a 30-cent spike in prices, it could make a difference in profit or loss for them.” E-Fuels is a new company, incorporating in Nevada last month, Voelker said. It is in a joint venture with Benchmark Engineering of Clearwater, Fla., Voelker said.

Archive: June 2006 | Section: Delta Bridge Project, Phillips County, Southern Bancorp

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