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for more information: Christine
Perry, (870) 910-8034, toll free (877) 731-3020, email cperry@astate.edu Arkansas State University - Delta Studies Center The Delta Regional Authority: University Roles in African-American and Multicultural Tourism Economic Development Forum Arkansas State University, Delta Studies Center, is convening a forum and brown bag luncheon to hear from one of the leading policy advocates in the development of the Delta Regional Authority, Les Range. The forum will be Friday, Nov. 30, at the Arkansas State University Convocation Center, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Range is a planning, policy, and development consultant who holds a bachelors degree in English/journalism from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., as well as a master’s in business administration from Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. He has more than 25 years of experience as a manager with state government agencies, regional and local economic and community development organizations, and as a business owner. Range is a contributing columnist to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger and has served as a city planner/economic development director for Mound Bayou, Miss. With concentration on the DRA’s involvement in tourism and other economic development opportunities in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region, Range will present some of the models that have been created where higher education institutions are successfully engaged in their communities. The session will be interactive and will also provide time for faculty, staff, students, and community representatives to examine these models with comments and ideas that will give life to such partnerships. This event is funded by the Ford Foundation grant to ASU-Delta Studies Center’s "Project to Build the Delta Tourism Industry." This is one of three training/planning forums to build tourism development capacity, particularly in multicultural settings throughout the Lower Mississippi Delta Region. The remaining two will address the DRA project funding criteria and the DRA’s transportation funding set aside. The Delta Regional Authority is a new resource for planning and funding economic development in the Arkansas Delta and Lower Mississippi Delta Regions. It is a newly created federal-state partnership serving a 236-county area in an eight-state region. Led by a federal co-chairman and the governors of each participating state, the DRA is designed to remedy severe and chronic economic distress by stimulating economic development. The DRA will help economically distressed communities to leverage other federal and state programs which are focused on basic infrastructure development and transportation improvements, business development, and job training services. # # # |
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