Tag Archives: Peco

DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN POCAHONTAS BRINGS NEW BUSINESSES

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By Christine Miyawa
Delta Digital News Service

POCAHONTAS – The demographic in Pocahontas has changed tremendously in the past five years, as new businesses mushroom to cater to a growing populace of diverse cultures.

Until 2016, the town consisted of 93.6% Caucasian and 0.0% Pacific Islander. In 2015 plans to construct a chicken plant in Pocahontas began, setting in motion the wheel for economic growth the town currently enjoys.

In the beginning, many locals protested the construction of the chicken plant claiming it would open the town to foreigners. Local business owners feared it would cause minimum wage to rise, posing competition for the limited workforce. The city council went through great lengths to educate the locals about diversity and tolerance and how beneficial the chicken plant would be to the town’s economy. After several town hall meetings to convince the locals and business owners, Peco, the chicken processing plant, finally opened its doors in the Spring of 2016. Located along Highway 67 at the border of downtown Pocahontas and Lawrence County.

“Since Peco opened in 2016, our company has recruited 3,879 workers,” said Joie Saienni, the branch manager of Onin Staffing Company that recruits staff for Peco.

The plant hired many locals from management staff to track drivers and sanitation workers. Many locals found jobs in the hatchery, live processing, de-bone unit, evisceration unit and packaging section in quality assurance department, raising the local hourly wages from a minimum of $8.25 to $22 an hour for those working in the live processing.

Initially, the plant hired only locals from Pocahontas and nearby towns within Randolph and Lawrence Counties, but have since replaced them with workers from as far as the Marshall Island, in the Pacific.

With the opening of Peco, the demographic of Pocahontas began to change. The 2010 census shows a population of 6,608, and as of July 2018, the population had risen to 6,644. The 2020 census will tell how much the number has grown since. However, evidence shows a shift in the race composition and growth in new businesses. From 93.6% white, consisting of an older generation above 18 years old, according to the 2010 census, to young Micronesian families from the Marshall Islands.

Many Marshallese have enrolled their children in the Pocahontas Public School system. The superintendent of the Pocahontas School District, Jerry Martens, said Pocahontas School District has 250 new pupils from the Marshall Island.

In 2017 the Pocahontas School District began plans to build a new elementary school to cater to the growing population. The former Pocahontas School District Superintendent Daryl Blaxton predicted in 2017 a rise in the number of new students from 200 – 500 students by 2018. The new elementary school project is underway.

Because of the population shift, several new businesses mushroomed, adding to the growth of the city’s economy.

The city reported steady growth in the past few years with 2019, seeing a rise in revenue of 11%.

Paula Thorpe, who works for the Pocahontas Water and Sewer Company, said that in the past five years, she saw a rise in new water customers from 440 in 2015 to 500 in 2019.

Several businesses, including the grocery chain store Harps, opened in Feb. 15, 2017, giving competition to Walmart Superstore. Harps added to its services, a butchery, providing custom beef cuts and pork cuts.

Soon after the construction of Harps grocery store and a gas station was completed, the First National Bank built a second branch next to Harps, along Highland Boulevard, offering banking opportunities to newcomers and new businesses.

Among its customers is Herman Lopez, who owns a Mexican restaurant in Pocahontas. He has been through the lows of business. A shoe factory, which was a primary employer in the city outsourced when the government signed NAFTA, and with its move, most of the mom and pop businesses in town died. The town square had been left with a few stores as most shops closed down. For more than seven years, Lopez runs his Mexican restaurant, one of the only two Mexican restaurants in town.

Two years ago, he expanded his business, opening a mini-market grocery adjacent to his restaurant to cater to the needs of the Marshallese customers who have moved in town.

The mini-market called Mercadito Latino contains exotic food ranging from Fufu flour-a special kind of flour made from Plantain or Cassava to potteries and house deco. Lopez imports his groceries from far and wide, including Mexico. Lopez says business is booming.

Across the road from Lopez’s store, a new convenience chain store, Jordan’s Kwik Stop 52, a gas station and a travel center opened November 2019. Adding to the growth of the economy of the city. Jordan’s Travel Center is the only travel center in Randolph County along Highway 67.

With many new people in town from different places, the city, which was within a dry county for a good number of years, finally managed to gather enough votes to pass a liquor ordinance. And, as from fall 2019, Walmart, the biggest supermarket in town, began stocking liquor. Pocahontas has since seen its first bar in many years. Located across the road from the Randolph County Chamber of Commerce.

The city has also started work in 2018 to expand its court and jail size.

With the progress the city made due to the change in demographic, there are fears the scourge of the coronavirus outbreak may pose significant setbacks to the progress made over the past few years. But there is faith in the city’s capacity to handle the situation, especially with the merger of St. Bernards Medical Center and the Five Rivers Medical Center in Pocahontas in 2019 to improve services.

‘THE ROOST’ PROVIDES COMPETITION FOR CHAIN STORES

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By Christine Miyawa
Delta Digital News Service

POCAHONTAS – Walking into The Roost, one may mistake the furnishings on sale as brand new. The touch of snow-white color exudes the ambiance of a rich country with a splash of Bohemian flavor.

The merchandise may look new, but most of the furnishings are from a different era. An era when quality and functionality trampled the mere aesthetic value. Quality quite elusive in most of today’s house furnishing. But don’t be mistaken, the store refurbished all the furnishings.

From a hobby to a full-time occupation, Kimberly Jo Chaffin started refurbishing and selling furnishings while still in college. She did it for five years while in business school. Chaffin taught herself from watching videos.  She began by painting her furniture.

“I had junk furniture and did not have a lot of money, so I painted it to make it look nice. I would disassemble the furniture and play around with the pieces to create a new pattern. It takes practice and patience,” she said.

It wasn’t until a year later when she could paint a profitable furnishing.

“I look back at the furniture I did when I started and say, ‘Geez, did I do that?’”

After attaining her degree from business school, she worked in the public school system for eight years. Chaffin said she felt she needed a more flexible schedule to cope with family demand.  She decided to revisit her old hobby, rented a booth in a store in Walnut Ridge and engrossed herself into refurbishing.

In 2016, she moved the business to Pocahontas. She opened her store in 2,200 sq. Feet building across the road from the Pocahontas Municipal Airport along Highway 67.

By the seventh month after the store opened, the business expanded so fast she needed more space. She moved the store to its current location in 7,000 sq. Feet building along Highway 62. She named the store “The Roost”.

Chaffin said the name ‘The Roost’ started with the coming to Pocahontas of Peco Foods Company a chicken processing plant.

She said Peco made a big difference in the economy of Randolph County and they wanted a throwback to Peco.

“I affiliate the name “Roost” with chicken and since our store theme is a farmhouse, we thought, why not use the name “The Roost,” she said.

Chaffin buys used furniture, mostly made of wood like hickory and White Oak. She refurbishes and re-sells them.

“All the furnishings in the store are mostly real wood,” she said.

Chaffin said most of her buyers like the looks of the items. The piece may remind them of their childhood. The store focuses on the farmhouse look, which most locals like. The store custom paints too.

She said to buy a dresser in a store chain, one would pay over $1,000. Whereas one can come to the Roost and find something trendy, midcentury look or farmhouse look for a fraction of that cost. Sometimes a third of the cost.

Recently, a refurbished hardwood dresser at The Roost went for the price of a new vanity dresser with a similar design at Bed Bath and Beyond, a chain store for furnishings and housewares.

“We are not a flea market. We are an upscale resale store. We base our prices on what we paid for the item,” Chaffin said.

In setting her price point, she factors in the cost of hiring someone to run the store while she moves around sourcing for items.

She sources furnishings from Texas, Illinois and upper western Arkansas. Sometimes people call them or send them messages on their Facebook page to pick up items for re-sale.

“A lady I sold to a piece of furniture two years ago and she wanted to re-sell it again, so I went, looked at it and saw it was still in good shape. Bought it and resold it a few days after,” she said.

Chaffin said her business extends to the states of Missouri, Tennessee and most parts of Arkansas. She markets her goods on Facebook and receives customers from as far as South Dakota.

“A customer was sending children to Williams Baptist College and arranged to have a two-sitter glider set shipped from The Roost to South Dakota,” she said

Myra Alexander, a frequent customer at The Roost, said she likes shopping there because the store sells authentic items.

“They are livable; they are comfortable with my grandkids. They have good stuff,” she said.

She said the store calls her when they bring in items she may like.

“I couldn’t find something for less than 1,500 at Hesner, so I called The Roost, told them what I wanted, and they went looking for it and called me. They are personable with me,” Alexander said.

She said her living room contains a modern section and she uses items from the Roost to blend her furnishings. Alexander said the art of painting furniture also inspires one to get creative and do something beautiful to their old furniture.

She said she likes shopping at places like Bed Bath and Beyond, but their products are too commercial looking, and they produce many pieces of the same thing.

“The Roost sells authentic and different items you won’t see anyone where else. If you see something at The Roost, you better get it because next time it won’t be there and it’s not like you can get the same kind at Walmart or Bed Bath and Beyond,” Alexander said.

Chef Donald Smith moved to Pocahontas from New Orleans six weeks ago to work as the new executive chef of Rolling Hills Country Club in Pocahontas.

Moving into a new town, Smith needed furnishings for his new house.  He first bumped into the Roost by chance as he walked across the road from a nearby supermarket.

“I’m the type of guy that likes antique stuff, so I don’t mind if it’s refurbished.  If it’s nice, I buy it and the price point at the Roost is good. Some of their prices are not expensive at all, but I didn’t find what I wanted,” Smith said.

Smith wanted a TV stand and not finding one at the Roost, he decided to look at Walmart. He said even though he did not find the TV stand at the Roost, he will go back there to look for other stuff.

Human resource manager at Walmart, Sherley Ringo said she knows there are other stores out there, but she is confident about the products Walmart offers.

“Walmart stocks a variety of items to meet higher demand,” Ringo said.

If spoilt for choice on a place to shop for furnishings, Smith said, “I prefer buying at the Roost because it’s local and the money stays within the community.  If I buy in stores like Walmart, the money won’t stay here in the community.”

Chaffin said the benefit of shopping at a re-sale, refurbished shop like The Roost can replicate looks at a fraction of the cost.

So far, two individuals approached her and asked if she would consider opening a branch of The Roost in Missouri. The second one offered to run the store three days a week if she would open a branch in Paragould. But Chaffin said the present store takes all her energy and leaves no time to spare nor desire to open branches.

She does not consider franchising either because she did not patent the name “The Roost.”

She said her goal is to give customers pleasant shopping experience. She wants to help them get what they want without looking through a bunch of junk to get it or spending so much money on a low-quality item at a chain store.

Chaffin said her main challenge is to keep the right attitude when running behind on a customized item. She said working with family member poses its kind of problem, especially when dealing with illness in the family. However, the store allows her flexibility to take care of her ill mother.

The popularity of her refurbished goods continues to drive up the cost of the materials she uses for refurbishing, which in turn, raises the price of the items. But the niche market for her kind of goods continues to snowball.