EL Dorado City Council discusses industry growth

EL DORADO — EL Dorado Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mike Dumas presented an over view of what the Chamber has been doing in the last year at the El Dorado City Council meeting on Thursday.

There have been several properties that have been purchased and new business will soon be breaking ground.

Some of these new businesses include Ferguson Enterprise, one of the nations largest plumbing and lighting supplies, that has recently purchased land in the city’s industrial park. It is planning to open with 15 employees and hoping to expand in the future.

Several training centers will soon happen.

A pipe-fitter and wielding training center on East Main Street and an electrical training center on Industrial Road will both open within the next few months.

Individuals can be trained in these specialty areas so they can be hired on to work in the industries surrounding El Dorado.

The chamber has been working closely with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) to find larger industry type businesses who would fit well with the El Dorado area.

“It’s important that we work closely with the AEDC so they remember the town when a business comes to them wanting to move here,” Dumas said.

In the last year, there had been six major prospects for new businesses that would like to move a factory to El Dorado. Five of these offers are still on the table.

“These companies are slow movers though. We could find out something tomorrow or it may be months before we know anything,” Dumas said.

The council also discussed what could be hindering the town when it comes to drawing in new businesses.

A declining population is cause for concern for potential prospects.

According to the last two censuses that have been held in El Dorado, there has been a decline in population.

Mayor Frank Hash said that he felt that the last census wasn’t an accurate representation of the number of residents the town has. He said people are leery of people with a name tag which identifies themselves as government officials and they may not answer the doors or even lie about how many people reside in their home.

Dumas and Ward 3 Alderman Willie McGhee suggested that the city look into training a few local people that citizens would recognize to either walk with these officials or be trained to perform the census themselves.

When asked what El Dorado was lacking by Ward 1 Alderman Billy Blann, Dumas didn’t hesitate to answer with the one area the city is needing, housing.

“El Dorado lacks nice and affordable housing,” Dumas said. “We have one set of nice apartments and these people looking to move here don’t want to be that close to their neighbors. They want to live in houses where they have a little space.”

Dumas continued, “Jobs are not a problem. As long as you can pass a drug test, you can get a job in this town. There is not enough good areas for people to live.”

Haley Smith can be reached via email at [email protected]. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter at @hsmithEDNT.com.

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