Business&Commerce

Vision 2017
Hobby Lobby store in works for El Dorado
Chicken Express, Dairy Queen coming to town
Business & Commerce
Terrance Armstard/ News-Times
Chicken Express: Chicken Express will be coming soon to El Dorado along Northwest Avenue. This is one of three businesses that have confirmed their arrival during 2017.
Terrance Armstard/ News-Times
Dairy Queen: Dairy Queen is beginning construction on North West Avenue.
EL DORADO — Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. officially announced on Feb. 3 a new store is coming to El Dorado and is expected to bring 30-50 jobs to the community in a 53,000 square-foot location, a company official said.
“This store is still a ways out, so I don’t have a lot of details,” said Bob Miller, Hobby Lobby communications coordinator. “We are always looking for new locations and we have no reason to believe we won’t be successful. We are excited to open our doors to the city of El Dorado.”
After nearly a year of nego- tiations, Hobby Lobby is expected to be at the corner of Griffith Street and N. West Avenue, where the Dollar Tree is located at Mellor Park Mall.
Elizabeth Eggleston, Mellor Park Mall manager, said mall management has no comment at this time on the Hobby Lobby store.
“Nothing is confirmed at this point, but we do know they are hiring,” said Mike Dumas, interim president and CEO of El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce.
As of February, Hobby Lobby is accepting applica- tions for a retail co-manager for a store located at 1865 N. West Ave., El Dorado, Ark. 71730.
An opening date has not been set, but the company is expecting to bring 30-50 jobs to El Dorado, paying $15.35 per hour for full-time and $10.23 per hour for part-time associates.
Hobby Lobby will have a hiring event 2-3 weeks before the store actually opens, at that point people can apply
for available job positions, Miller said.
The plan is for Hobby Lobby to replace the Dollar Tree, which will be relocated to a different part of the mall, potentially near Shoe Show; however nothing is official yet because “Dollar Tree has to move out before they can move in,” said Lynn Raynes, El Dorado Building Inspector.
Hobby Lobby has 12 stores in Arkansas—with the near- est location in Monroe, Louisiana—and each store offers more than 70,000 craft- ing and home décor prod- ucts including floral, fabric, needle art, custom framing, baskets, home accents, wear- able art, wedding supplies, arts and crafts, jewelry mak- ing, scrapbooking and paper crafting supplies.
Also, two fast food restau- rants — Chicken Express and a Dairy Queen: Grill & Chill — are confirmed to be com- ing to El Dorado next to the Mellor Park Mall.
The Chicken Express frame- work is built and the Dairy Queen’s lot is cleared for construction and both are expected to open by the end of May, Raynes said.
Diversified Construction & Design has recently worked on both Wendy’s locations at N. West Avenue and in Magnolia, and is overseeing the Grill & Chill construc- tion. After seeing blueprints of both the Grill & Chill and Chicken Express they “will be good looking buildings,” said Daniel Gilbert, operations manager at Diversified.
“They will have a very modern look,” he said. “Each with a nice rock façade in the front.”
County
File Photo
Chamber of Commerce: Mike Dumas is President and CEO of the El Dorado Union County Cham- ber of Commerce, located on Mainstreet in El Dorado.
2016 a successful year for Union
EL DORADO — 2016 was a very good year for busi- ness in El Dorado and a year of growth for businesses throughout the county, El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mike Dumas said.
“I believe it was a very good year for business in El Dorado and South Arkansas. Of course, it could always be better. We saw an increase in jobs at our local industries which in turn generate an increase in service personnel out in the community,” Dumas said. “Our economy continued to slowly recover from the recession, but some of our businesses did experience a slow down because the price of oil continues to be depressed. Overall, I believe we can call 2016 an eco- nomic success,”
Five business looked into expanding into El Dorado and out of those five only one decided to look into other communities.
“We continued to work with local industries in their efforts to expand and grow. The Chamber worked very closely with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission on several prospects looking at Union County for expansion projects,” Dumas said.
More businesses have shown interest in the El Dorado - Union County area during the 2016 year than in the last several years. That means business in
the El Dorado area is moving in the right direction, he said.
The Chamber saw an increase in participation in events in the last year. Attendence numbers for events were up as well as the number of ribbon cutting events.
“More people were involved in networking and meeting their neighbors than ever before,” Dumas said. “(They attended) ribbon cuttings, worked close- ly with the city’s Airport Commission on replacing Seaport Airlines as our commercial carrier (and) worked on developing a Veterans Medical Clinic in El Dorado. (There’s) a new hotel with more on the way in the city’s preparation for Festival and Events impact on the community.”
The Chamber also plans to develop more oppor- tunities for their members to network and become knowledgeable of the many business and services available in the community.
“We plan to work very closely with AEDC in bring- ing jobs to Union County and developing our commu- nity into a tourist destination,” Dumas said.
So far in 2017, the Chamber hosted a very successful Bridal Expo. The expo was filled with vendors that presented their services and merchandised to more than 75 brides and their entourage. The goal for the
event was 50 brides.
“We plan to work very closely with AEDC in bring-
ing jobs to Union County and developing our commu- nity into a tourist destination,” Dumas said.
There are also two new restaurants, a new hotel, a new airline, new industry prospects creating jobs and the completion of the community’s commitment on the development of the Champagnolle Business Park that the Chamber has been working closely with, he said.
“And jobs were announceed by Conifex for the reopening of the former GP sawmill,” Dumas said.
The Chamber plans to continue increasing member- ship of the group and to work with South Arkansas Community College and El Dorado Festivals and Events to encourage tourism to the area.
“We plan to continue to work closely with our busi- ness community to increase membership by offering opportunities to network and through educational programs,” Dumas said. “We also are committed to working with South Arkansas Community College on the development of tourism and a trained workforce.”
For more information about becoming a El Dorado- Union County Chamber of Commerce member, call 870-863-6113.