Industrial Parks Put Small Towns in Development Game.

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Industrial Parks Put Small Towns in Development Game.

IF YOUR ARKANSAS TOWN HAS at least a couple thousand residents, chances are you have an industrial park.

They range from Camden's Highland Industrial Park - which, with some 17,000 acres; is the state's largest - down to parks that aren't much more than large lots.

But in the words of Mike Juniker, who heads the Magnolia Economic Development Commission, "If you don't have a park, you're not in the game."

Highland Park, the bulk of which is actually in Calhoun County across the Ouachita River from Camden, began life during World War II as the Shumaker Naval Ordnance Depot.

The park, a wholly owned subsidiary of Highland Resources Inc., is a logical home for defense industry companies, such as Lockheed Martin, Atlantic Research Corp., Hi Tech Inc., Raytheon Missile Systems and others. The park not only has a railroad that runs through it, but it also has one of the longest runways in the state to accommodate the jets flown in by defense companies.

The Monticello Economic Development Commission is putting the finishing touches on a heavy-duty access road into the newest park in the state. The 100-acre park, located east of town on Highway 35, stands to benefit from future construction planned for the southeast Arkansas community, said Adam Harris, executive director of the Monticello Economic Development Commission.

One of those projects is Interstate...

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