For More Information:

Dr. Ron Swager CEcD, Director
or Rita Deloney, Event Coordinator
Economic Development Education Program
Institute for Economic Advancement
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock
2801 South University Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72204-1099
501-569-8519 (voice)/501-569-8538 (fax)
Email: Ron Swager rjswager@ualr.edu or Rita Deloney rkdeloney@ualr.edu

Arkansas Economic Development Foundation Scholarship Guidelines

The Mid-South Basic Economic Development Course at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, March 16-19, 2009.

The Arkansas Economic Development Foundation provides tuition scholarship assistance to qualified applicants attending the Mid-South Basic Economic Development Course (BEDC) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. At least two scholarships are earmarked for each of the five Opportunity Arkansas regions.

The Mid-South BEDC is accredited by the International Economic Development Council. It is a four-day course covering the fundamental principles and practices of local community economic development. It covers topics such as finance, strategic planning, business retention and expansion, marketing, community development, organization management, real estate development, and workforce development. For economic development professionals, this begins the process leading to certification by the International Economic Development Council as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and as an Arkansas Economic Developer. For more details contact Ron Swager at IEA at 501-569-8519.

The scholarship is for the Course registration fee only. The recipient is responsible for the per diem expense (see the Course web site for lodging and other details). In addition, recipients of the scholarship are required to pay a $75 application fee, which is applied to the total scholarship and refunded upon successful completion of the Course. The scholarship recipient will be invoiced for this application fee after the scholarship is awarded, and the fee must be paid at least two weeks prior to the Course (i.e, by February 27, 2009).

Anyone may apply for a scholarship. Selection is based on one or more of the following criteria:

• Someone who is an Arkansas resident.
• Someone who is committed to attending the full conference.
• Someone active in economic development efforts but who needs formal training.
• Someone who is a new economic development professional.
• Someone who has a record of service in the community.
• Someone who is a decision maker/influencer or could be.
• Someone who has participated in the ACE process or in the 2010 Community Planning Initiative.
• Consideration is given to applicants who work for a regional organization.

The likely candidates for an AEDF scholarship include:

• Chamber/Economic Development Corporation board members
• Mayors, city council members
• County judges, quorum court members
• LEADAR graduates
• Interested volunteers at the local level
• New entry level economic or community developers

Funds may not be sufficient to award scholarships to all who apply. Applications/ nominations are received and selections made throughout the year. Priority is given to those received four weeks prior to the beginning of the Course.

Interested candidates are asked to submit an application form, which may be downloaded from the following link:

• Scholarship Application Form (Adobe Acrobat Format)
• Scholarship Application Form (Microsoft Word Format)