Arkansas & Missouri Railroad Co., 1301 S S St, Fort Smith, AR 72901, US

Western Arkansas Planning & Development District, Inc, is a non-profit organization, established in 1966 as one of several economic development districts throughout the country. In Arkansas there are eight development districts, each a separate non-profit organization with its own board of directors. The service area for WAPDD consists of the six western Arkansas counties of Crawford, Franklin, Logan, Polk, Scott and Sebastian. Click here for WAPDD area map. WAPDD's services and programs are targeted to meet the needs of county and city governments in this six-county area. Click here for a listing of the local governments and chief elected officials. WAPDD is governed by a board of directors, approximately two-thirds of whom are local elected officials and one-third private sector persons appointed by local elected officials. The board helps assure that WAPDD's activities and services are relevant, responsive and satisfactory. [ Click here for a list of WAPDD board members ] The mission of WAPDD is to provide local governments in western Arkansas services that assist in improving area residents' quality of life. To accomplish this, WAPDD employs a dedicated staff of persons who are knowledgeable and experienced in various fields of local government service. [ Click here for a WAPDD staff roster ]. WAPDD also serves as a forum for area elected officials - representing widespread interests, including rural, urban, city, town and county - to share ideas and discuss regional and local issues. As such, WAPDD provides opportunities for coalition and cooperation among locales to meet the challenges of serving the needs of the region's and its individual communities' citizens.