Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) executive director Clint O’Neal may soon add a new title to his resume: globetrotter.
The AEDC leader is fresh off a successful trade trip to Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is planning a fall mission trip to Asia.
“These trips have proven to be very successful in the Sanders’ administration,” said O’Neal in an interview on Talk Business & Politics and Capitol View. “We’ll start with an October event where Rafael [Advanced Defense Systems] will come over to do a grand opening of their joint venture project with Raytheon R2S in Camden.”
The two defense companies broke ground in early 2024 on a new manufacturing facility in Camden, Arkansas that will produce the Tamir missile for the Iron Dome Weapon System and its variant, the SkyHunter missile, to be used by American defense forces and U.S. allies.
O’Neal said he and Arkansas Department of Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald will take part in an upcoming trade trip to Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
“A lot of companies are here from Japan, and so we will get to visit with a lot of the companies that are already doing business in Arkansas. There are a lot of relationships that we’re forming in Korea. We made two trips there last year and then make our first trip to Taiwan,” he said.
He said the industries that Arkansas is targeting with Asian prospects include steel, timber and forestry, ag tech, semiconductors, defense, and food and beverage.
“We have active projects from Japan and Korea, companies that are taking a strong look and some that I think will even announce projects before the end of the calendar year,” said O’Neal.
It has been a banner year for Arkansas job announcements. In the past two months, the state has announced at least seven new projects or expansions. O’Neal said his agency and the Sanders’ administration have been executing a game plan set in motion earlier.
“I think companies are recognizing a lot of things about Arkansas: strong leadership from the top, public policy decisions around education and workforce development, a focus on economic development where we want to care of company’s needs, real estate, workforce development, business costs, incentives, knowing that Arkansans can go to work and get the job done,” he said. “One of the things I’m most proud of about the projects that you announced is look at the communities that they represent from Nashville to West Memphis, Osceola, Mountain Pine, Springdale, I mean, projects all over the state. That’s something that we’re very proud of.”
Last week, AEDC launched the application period for the latest round of the Arkansas Site Development Program, a $50 million tranche of funding to get industrial sites prepared for job prospects. O’Neal said the application process closes later this fall and money will be awarded in the spring of 2026. The funding can be used for a variety of project prep.
“Sometimes it’s demolition and clearing. Sometimes it’s actual infrastructure. So if a site is full of trees and water and sewer lines are a mile away and we’re telling prospects to have an imagination, we’re going from that to having prospect visits where you’ve got a nice flat industrial site infrastructure’s onsite,” he said. “It takes away risk. There’s no need for an imagination. It’s all here.”
In his wide-ranging interview, O’Neal discussed the pros and cons of data centers, the growing need for more energy for projects, and a new partnership with the NWA Council. Watch O’Neal’s full interview in the video below.