Best of Siloam Springs

Siloam Springs Herald-Leader Wednesday, March 27, 2019 Best of Siloam Springs • 29 gates.com Located in Siloam Springs, our rich heritage of innovation mirrors with the character and values in the heart of community where we serve up local career opportunities!!!! • We invest in people • Expanding mindset • Number one in reputation standards • Manufacturer of Application Specific Fluid Power & Power Transmission Solutions • We exceed expectations • We inspire solutions GATES IS THERE WITH THE RIGHT PRODUCT, IN THE RIGHT PLACE, AT THE RIGHT TIME. DRIVEN BY POSSIBILITY. FINALIST Thank you for voting Siloam Springs! Thank you Siloam Springs, and surrounding communities, for once again selecting David Kittle Construction for the Best of Siloam! We appreciate our loyal customers continuing to make David Kittle Construction a success! Workforce development and ensuring the community has everything em- ployers need is No. 1 on Nathan's list of initiatives for 2019. "We have our workforce development plan coming into place in 2019," he said. "We will have several different events for high school students and 8th grade students. We have partnered with North- west Technical Institute and they are bringing in some classes. We will have continuing education in Siloam Springs through the technical school and have our workforce plan at the high school and both will be implemented this year. at's the big one that I'm excited about." e process isn't a simple one and chambers of commerce are an integral piece of the state and regional economic development puzzle. "Chambers act as the middle man for economic development," Nathan explained of the oen complicated and confidential process. "ere are state agencies, county agencies and local agen- cies. en there are all of the companies. ey will contact a state economic devel- opment agency, who needs someone in each community they can send requests for information (RFI) to. All of this so a company can start figuring out if that community is the right fit for them. It's really helpful to have one point of con- tact for economic development in each community so a company isn't trying to reach out to 15 different agencies to get everything they need to answer those RFI requests. e Siloam Springs Cham- ber is that contact here and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) is the state contact." Workforce development and a solid line of communication between com- panies and state and local agencies is important. Equally important to many companies, Nathan added, is a commu- nity's quality of life. e question they ask: Will our em- ployees want to live there, stay there and raise a family there, further ensuring the company's longevity in the community? When it comes to Siloam Springs, Nathan said the answer is easy… "Yes!" "We have great quality," he bragged. "We have the kayak park and the bike trails. ere's so much to do in Siloam Springs. Even the people who live here don't always know about everything we have to offer. It's just a great community to live and work. It's a beautiful place."

• Cover