The Ouachita Partnership is the lead economic development organization in the area. Its 14-member Board of Directors has representation from private business, the City of Camden, Ouachita County, the Camden Area Chamber of Commerce, the Camden Area Industrial Development Corporation, the Camden Fairview Public Schools, and the Southern Arkansas University Tech. Primary funding comes from the City of Camden. The Partnership's offices are located at 625 Adams Avenue in Camden, Arkansas.

Officers:

President: Searcy Harrell

Vice President: Alan Dean

Treasurer: Mike Cash

Secretary: Glory Hardy

Directors: Chris Claybaker, Mike Hesterly, Renwick Keaton, Mike Murphree, John Dawson, Valerie Wilson, Tim Womack; Ex Officio: Dr. Corbet Lamkin, Dr. Jerry Guess, Beth Osteen

Staff:

The Camden Arkansas Area has strong development opportunities in two industry clusters targeted by the State of Arkansas:

• Aerospace Manufacturing
• Renewable Energy

A leading industry in Southwest Arkansas, timber resources are now on track to increasingly become a sustainable and renewable energy source.

Arkansas Timber Industry

Statewide, there are 18,778,660 acres of forest land representing approximately 56% of the total land base. Of this, 27% is pine, 17% is mixed hardwood and pine, 39% is upland oak-hickory forests, and the remaining 16% are bottomland species including some oak, cypress, cottonwood, and elm.

SAU Grant to Provide Technology to Test Lignite as Alternative Energy Source

Ross, Lincoln, Pryor Announce Million Dollar Grant for SAU

Washington – Representative Mike Ross (AR-04) along with U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor announced today that the Lignite Research Center at Southern Arkansas University (SAU) in Magnolia will receive $1 million from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.  The funds will be used to support construction and purchase of equipment to test lignite - a soft coal - to determine the benefits of mining it for use as an alternative source of energy.