Ashley County, Arkansas

down to a bare minimum. We don’t have armed guards at the school. And I’m hoping that’s what industries are looking for. My children are grown, now, and live in Ashley County. The rea- son I ran for this job was with the idea if I can make this county better for my two children, then I can make it better for everyone else. My goals are pretty selfish. How many people have children that have to leave their home town to get a job? A lot. I’d like to have them stay here.” Ashley County is indeed a special place. In the square in Hamburg, there is a pavilion, a gath- ering place. And periodically when the weather is warm, they’ll have impromptu concerts there. Everybody brings lawn chairs and listens to the music. “It’s just a family atmosphere, Hud- son muses. “There are kids running everywhere, having a good time. Ninety miles north in Little Rock, there is no way I would let my grandchild run loose on the riverfront. I would keep a tight watch on him. But here, everyone knows every- one, one way or another. In my opinion, if an industry was to come down here and look at the whole picture at what we have they would think, ‘This is a place where our people would want to work, live, and retire.’ It’s an area where your kids are safe. That’s what matters. We have the technology here to do whatever we want but we still have that small hometown Mayber- ry feeling.” PREFERRED VENDORS n Georgia-Pacific Crossett - www.gp.com n Ricon - www.ricon.org