Jobs Growth

Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. promised to be Little Rock’s Chief Growth Officer, and the Scott Administration has announced nearly 8,000 jobs in three years, a more than 100% increase over jobs created in the year before he took office. They include

• Trader Joe’s
• Costco
• Amazon (two sites)
• Trex
• Revolution (expansion)
• Fiocchi
• Sca Pharma
• Alleviant Health Centers (expansion)
• Arcturus Aerospace
• Priority1
• Express Rx
• HMS Mfg. Co.
• AFTERGLOW Aircraft Solutions (expansion)
• Arkansas Federal Credit Union
• W&W AFCO Steel (expansion)
• The Hall

Accountable, Clear, and Transparent

• Intentional, consistent outreach to all neighborhoods and communities through Scott Strolls and City Hall Pop-Ups

• Created ROCK (Residents Obtaining Community Knowledge) Academy, an informative, interactive six-week program designed to give residents an up-close look at how their City government works

• Expansion of accessible information about incidences of crime through new Little Rock Police Department app

Equity

• Increased Minimum Pay to $15 for City staff.

• Created Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and hired City’s first Chief Equity Officer.

• Created Opportunity Little Rock: A Citywide Movement for Equity, a public-private partnership to bridge access and opportunity between business leaders and potential employees and support minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) to competitively engage as suppliers.

• Included Black Police Officers Association at the table for PD pay negotiations

• Latino Outreach

  • Coordinated extensive Little Rock Counts U.S. Census outreach in Latino communities.

  • Intentional recruitment to increase Latino representation within LRPD

  • Responded to COVID19 with emphasis on minority communities.

  • Created Spanish-language COVID19 resources micro website.

  • Supported and publicized drive-through testing sites and resources for families during school closure periods

  • Hosted Consulates from Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, and Peru, serving more than 500 people.

  • Provided Spanish-language access at City Procurement supplier drives and vaccine clinics.

Targeted Economic Development

• Waived more than $1 million in fees to spur on economic development in neighborhoods south of I-630 and east of I-30.

• Designated $1 million for targeted development in areas south of I-630 and east of I-30.

• Adopted a comprehensive policy requiring all city departments to examine contracting standards and develop specific Women and Minority-owned Business Enterprise (WMBE) inclusion plans.

• BUILD Academy — Businesses United In Leadership Development
  • 12-week business development initiative that walks local business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs through topics pertaining to business essentials.
  • BUILD empowers entrepreneurs to scale their business and reach their highest potential!
  • It connects potential with opportunity.

• Half-million dollars provided in forgivable loans through the Small Business COVID Relief Grant Program, many to minority businesses.

• Cut red tape to expedite permitting for developers.

• Convened Capitol Avenue Revitalization Committee to re-envision Little Rock’s cityscape.

• Hosted visit by Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh to increase resources directed to support Little Rock residents seeking employment.

Public Safety

• Crime reduction strategy is a citywide holistic approach and includes $1.5 Million for community violence intervention grants and $1 Million for community school social workers to help reduce crime.

• Violent Gun Crime Unit started by LRPD has made significant arrests.

• Hired first social worker for LRPD to address issues that don’t require a police officer response.

• Created LGBTQIA+ liaison program.

• Increased accountability and transparency:

  • $1.5 Million for community violence intervention grants and in December 2021 was awarded $1 Million U.S. Department of Justice grant for community school social workers and more in order to reduce crime.
  • Violent Gun Crime Unit started by LRPD and have made significant arrests. Each week LRPD is highlighting how many illegal guns it is taking off the streets.
  • Created first-ever Citizens Review Board.
  • Purchased LPRD body cameras.
  • Reduced the number of No-Knock warrants by using a pre-raid threat assessment.
  • Revised the use of force policy to protect Little Rock residents by banning chokeholds.
  • Created an officer Duty to Intervene policy.
  • Launched a comprehensive independent review of the entire police department; you can read the report at www.littlerock.gov/lrpdreview.

• Increased the budget of the Homeless Service Advocate’s Office from $400,000 to $600,000 to expand capacity to connect homeless residents to local organizations that can provide mental health supports.

• Connecting homeless residents with opportunity by expanding Bridge to Work jobs program.

• Appointed Holistic Outreach and Prevention in Every Neighborhood Council (HOPE) Council to develop timely solutions to increase opportunities and reduce crime.

• Created Office of Neighborhood Safety to streamline access to resources for grants, programs and vendor opportunities to reduce crime

Education

• Helped return Little Rock School District to local control

• Created Little Rock’s first Community Schools Model at four elementary schools—Chicot, Stephens, Washington and Watson—with expansion planned for the 2022/23 school year to Mabelvale Elementary and Middle Schools.

• Helped students get on track through the Frankly Reading Summer Series.

• Hired Little Rock’s first Chief Education Officer to implement the Community Schools Model and develop strategic partnerships to help skill Little Rock’s workforce.

Covid-19 Relief

• $1.5 Million designated for crime prevention.

• Half-million dollars provided in forgivable loans through the Small Business COVID Relief Grant Program, many to minority businesses.

• Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to help families in Little Rock get access to broadband.

• Launched citywide feeding for students and families during first year of the pandemic.

• Launch free WiFi in city parks.

• Partnered with Our House to create a financial resource hotline to support low-income, homeless, and near-homeless individuals and families that are impacted by the pandemic.

• Provided 10,000 free face masks to homeless shelters and through partnerships with Edwards Food Giant and Kroger.

• Developed emergency zoning changes to allow restaurants to pivot to various types of retail to continue to doing business.

Population Growth

• Under the Scott Administration, our population has officially exceeded 200,000+ residents due to intentional U.S. Census outreach efforts through the Little Rock Counts campaign.

Protecting Our Environment

In his State of the City Address in March 2022, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced a goal to have city operations use 100 percent clean energy by 2030. To achieve this goal, the City will work with selected vendor(s) to incorporate clean energy and reduce overall energy usage in city buildings. This ESPC with Solar is one major step towards achieving the City’s clean energy goal.**

Under the Scott Administration, recycling participation increased by 10 percent in 2022 and decreased contamination by 7.5 percent in 2022.**

Further Recycling goals include:

• Increased recycling in city operations by 10 percent by Q4 2023

• Increased recycling participation in city-owned buildings by 15 percent in 2022.

• Increased recycling in the City by 10 percent by Q4 2023