Contact Us:

4110 Lindbergh Drive
Jonesboro, AR 72401
deltaced.astate.edu

Directory:

Alan McVey

A native of Des Arc, he served as Deputy Director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development.  Prior to joining the Department, he served as a policy advisor to Governor Mike Huckabee for agricultural, environmental and economic development issues. Prior to this, McVey was a commercial and agricultural loan officer for the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Stuttgart.

McVey holds a BA degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is also a graduate of the Arkansas Bankers Association Lending School and General Banking Program.

McVey served on the Des Arc City Council for nine years and has served as Arkansas’ representative to the Southern International Trade Council.  He currently serves as a member of Accelerate Arkansas and the Arkansas World Trade Center Advisory Board.  Alan is a member of the Jonesboro University Rotary Club and serves on their board of directors and also chairs a District Rotary Committee.

Jerry Smith

Jerry is Director of the Center for Regional & Community Development at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.  His programs serve as part of the "University Center,” which is a project of the U.S. Economic Development Admin­istra­tion.  The Center is a program of ASU’s Delta Center for Economic Development, which is head­quar­tered off campus at facilities at the Jonesboro Airport.  Jerry has been with ASU for 19 years.

            The University Center serves to link communities with resources available through the university.  His work includes coordination of a variety of technical assistance services that help local groups develop their community from within.  His Center also administers a nationally recognized rural community leadership training program called the Regional Leaders Program.   In addition, he serves as the Arkansas Coordinator for the Mid-South Delta Leaders program, a 3-state leadership training program operated in partnership with Delta State University and Grambling State University, and as a consultant for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Delta Project in leadership development.

            He has held several board positions, including serving as president of the Network of Arkansas Leadership Opportuni­ties, executive secretary of the Industrial Developers of Arkansas, executive secretary of the Northeast Arkansas Development Council, and president of the Jonesboro University Rotary Club.  Currently, he is District Trainer for 39 Rotary clubs in and serves on the boards of the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence and the Crossroads Coalition as chair of the Coalition’s Leadership Pillar Group.

            Before coming to ASU, he was a Community Development Specialist with the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission where he was responsible for eighteen counties in north and east Arkansas.  Other past positions include Head Planner for the Arkansas Department of Correction, and Head Planner for an anti-poverty organization, the Central Arkansas Develop­ment Council.

            Jerry holds a B.A. in political science from Ouachita Baptist University.  He attended graduate school at Indiana University and at Sydney University in Australia as a Rotary International Graduate Fellow.

Frankie Gilliam CEcD

Frankie is a Community Economic Development Specialist for the Delta Center for Economic Development.  She began her career as Program Director for the Paragould-Greene County Chamber of Commerce from 1989 until 1998, and was named Executive Director in 2001.  A career highlight while at the chamber included the organization’s lead in the passage of a temporary city and county sales tax to fund capital improvement projects, and a permanent sales tax to fund operation and maintenance of parks and protective services.  The plan included county-wide focus group meetings to identify projects, which was used as the basis for a plan submitted to both city and county governments and taken to a vote of the people.  In April 2001, all measures passed, including a $15 million dollar multi-use, multi-generational recreational complex with indoor competitive and therapeutic pools. 

Since coming to the Delta Center, Frankie has facilitated chamber board retreats, developed training curriculum and workshops for chamber and economic development professionals, volunteers and elected officials, and written reports including retail gap analysis, economic base analysis and feasibility studies.    

Frankie is a graduate of the Institute for Organizational Management, University of Delaware; the Economic Development Institute, University of Oklahoma and the Community Development Institute, University of Central Arkansas.  She completed the Certified Economic Developer (CED) program in April 2001, administered through the International Economic Development Council. 

She is a member of the International Economic Development Council and completed the Economic Development Strategic Planning program in September 2004.  She served as an instructor for the UALR Mid South Basic Economic Development program in 2007 and 2008.