{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://womack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398437", "Times Record: Womack To Chamber: Best Days Ahead For Fort Smith", "2014-11-07", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "AR", "Steve Womack", "W000809", "womack.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "More than 3,300 jobs have been created in Fort Smith over the past two years, with the single largest jobs announcement in the state occurring in Fort Smith, according to the\u00a0Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.\r\nFort Smith\u2019s transportation and logistics, manufacturing, health care, higher education and customer service sectors, as well as the Air National Guard\u00a0188th Wing, were highlighted for more than 620 members at the Fort Smith Convention Center during the chamber\u2019s annual meeting Thursday.\r\nAn economic development report for the past two years was made with an emphasis on the city\u2019s international connections to South America, Europe and Japan, in addition to $429 million in capital investments made in Fort Smith\u2019s businesses.\r\nLast year\u2019s annual meeting\u00a0was dedicated to celebration of the chamber\u2019s\u00a0125th anniversary.\r\nFor the past five months, Fort Smith was at the top of the\u00a0Arkansas Tech University Economic Index. Traffic at the Fort Smith Regional Airport, an economic indicator, has caught up and is set to surpass pre-recession levels.\r\n\u201cI can say without hesitation that Fort Smith\u2019s best days are ahead, not behind,\u201d keynote speaker U.S. Rep.\u00a0Steve Womack, R-Rogers, said. \u201cWhen you consider the confluence of systems \u2014 river, rail, air, and interstates \u2014 and available energy resources, the Fort Smith region is uniquely situated to be the center of a resurgence of American productivity.\u201d\r\nCommenting on the region\u2019s growth within the energy sector, Greg Davis, a spokesman for\u00a0Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative, said Fort Smith \u201chas a responsibility to the rest of the country\u201d and the investments made by local companies would be felt in return.\r\nMajor ongoing projects Womack mentioned at\u00a0Chaffee Crossing\u00a0included a new ArcBest corporate headquarters and the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine.\r\nThe future\u00a0U.S. Marshals Museum\u00a0was also a topic of discussion with Womack, as he passed around three of the freshly printed U.S. Mint commemorative coins.\r\nFort Smith economic development projects on the to-do list for Womack include following up on funding he\u2019s helped secure for the 188th Wing\u2019s new intelligence and \u201cdrone\u201d mission; completion of Interstate 49 to U.S. 71 South with a bridge across the Arkansas River at Barling; and deepening of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.\r\n\u201cThat means growth,\u201d State Rep. George McGill, D-Fort Smith, said of the highway and river projects. \u201cAnd the 188th is another big asset that could even get bigger.\u201d\r\nWomack said he has invited Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James to Fort Smith to see the 188th and expects a visit in the near future.\r\nOutgoing chamber board chairwoman Melissa Hanesworth, managing director of Pernod Ricard in Fort Smith, said the 188th Wing is one of those entities that expand Fort Smith\u2019s borders beyond the state line.\r\nWomack said the chamber has many members with an \u201cuncommon spirit of community\u201d who worked to promote the city\u2019s \u201ceconomic vitality.\u201d\r\nMichael Barr, president of 80-year-old local window business\u00a0WeatherBarr, will take over for Hanesworth as the new chairman for the chamber\u2019s board of directors.\r\n\u201cYou\u2019ve heard all the statistics. We\u2019ve gotten the jobs announcements. And the results speak for themselves,\u201d Barr said. \u201cThose results did not happen without a significant amount of work and perseverance.\u201d\r\nBarr said the Fort Smith chamber is one of the most successful in the state.\r\nTim Allen, president and CEO of the chamber, said he had made the goal last year with his director of operations, Tamara Fitzpatrick, to move up in a state ranking. The chamber recently realized that goal.\r\n  \r\nClick\u00a0here\u00a0to read the original article.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://womack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398437"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7790927775204182, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}