KELLAMS: Let's launch this Friday edition of Ozarks at Large with our friend Michael Tilley from Talk Business & Politics. He's on the phone with me from his office in Fort Smith. How are you, Michael Tilley?
TILLEY: I'm doing well. And if I'm your friend, that may speak to how difficult it is for you to make friends. But I'll take it.
KELLAMS: Not at all. Gosh, so much to cover this week, including something that I've been following on Talk Business & Politics for the last seven or eight days or so, and that's Temple Live music venue in Fort Smith canceling all shows; shutting doors.
TILLEY: Yeah. And it's not just Temple Live Fort Smith. Beatty Capital Group launched it with the Temple Live in Fort Smith, but they bought Masonic temples in Cleveland; Peoria, Illinois; Wichita, Kansas. So they had four of them, including Fort Smith, that they've had to shut down.
There are many factors, but I think the biggest is what we have all known over the past several years, and that's the power of these large ticketing platforms in Ticketmaster. What Lance Beaty explained to me was that these ticket companies also own their own venues. They own artist agencies. So they have pricing power to make it difficult for competitors.
Beaty had built up a pretty big venue system, but it's still small compared to others. The quote he gave, which I'll read here: "We are simply an outsider in an insider's business. No matter how much money you throw at it or how creative you think you are, if you're not on the inside, you're not in."
He pointed to the National Independent Venue Association. They put out a report that showed 64% of independent venues were not profitable in 2024. Thirty-one percent of them said rising pressures came from expenses of artists and booking fees. The industry, in their report, said they’re not asking for special treatment. They just want a fair system to take some of that monopolistic pressure out of it.
But it is a shame. This is a tough loss for downtown Fort Smith. The venue was active. It regularly brought thousands of folks to the area for concerts, many of those from out of town. Beaty said he's hoping to find another operator. He's looking for venues to get some of them reopened. But for now they're all dark. It's not a good thing, especially for downtown Fort Smith.
KELLAMS: I saw Dwight Yoakam there a few years ago and it was a heck of a show and an intimate venue.
TILLEY: Yes. I've been there too. It's a shame.
KELLAMS: We have the latest numbers that reflect building activity in the Fort Smith metro. What do they tell us?
TILLEY: They tell us August slowed down considerably. We look at Fort Smith, Greenwood, and Van Buren building permit numbers. They totaled about $12.2 million in August, down 53% compared to August 2024.
The upside is year-to-date the cities have almost $217 million in permitted construction, up a little over 21% compared to the same eight months in 2024. In Fort Smith, numbers are up 22%. Van Buren numbers are down around 4%. Greenwood numbers are up 21%.
It's a mixed bag, but the three cities are on pace to improve over 2024, which was down almost 45% compared to a record 2023. So there's still a rebound going on from 2024. We'll see what the next few months look like.
KELLAMS: We know some construction could begin this fall on a solar canopy scheduled to be in downtown Fort Smith. This will be an interesting addition.
TILLEY: It will. It's been a long time coming. As early as October, we could see work begin on about a $1.4 million, almost $1.5 million solar canopy in the parking lot at 215 Garrison Avenue in downtown Fort Smith. It's where the farmers market meets, and so it'll be a great asset for that to provide cover. That'll be on two rows of parking, so plenty of space.
They hope to have as little disruption as possible and have the canopy ready when the farmers market kicks off again in March. That canopy is part of several projects the Fort Smith Board of Directors approved in September 2024.
According to the city, all the solar installations are expected to generate over $100,000 in net savings each year and about $3.5 million in savings over the life of the solar array. So while the canopy is cool for downtown Fort Smith, it's part of a larger operation.
KELLAMS: The Port of Fort Smith is receiving nearly $2 million from the Arkansas Waterways Commission. For those of us not quite as familiar, what does this mean?
TILLEY: It adds more to the story of recovery. The 2019 flood essentially wiped the Port of Fort Smith out. There was very little left, and it was not a functioning port at all. They've essentially rebuilt it in 2024.
Marty Shell, head of Five Rivers Distribution, which manages the port in Forth Smith and Van Buren, said about $6 million had been spent to build the port back. Most of that from grants, insurance proceeds and FEMA money. They're probably up closer to $8 million or more now when this money comes in.
Ports aren't sexy or visible. Usually they're dusty, muddy, and loud. But they are essential to many economic sectors, not just in Fort Smith but in Northwest Arkansas and other parts of the state. If you stop port activity in Fort Smith and Van Buren for a significant time, thousands of folks would be out of work at manufacturing plants, construction sites, certain agra sectors and so on. It's a backbone in our economy.
KELLAMS: Finally, I think if I asked you a week ago, gave you 100,000 guesses who will be the featured speaker at the Fort Smith Chamber banquet this year, I don't think you'd come up with who.
TILLEY: No, and I would probably run out of names before I got to 100,000. But yes, the ambassador of Finland to the United States, Leena-Kaisa Mikkola—and I got that pronunciation off Google, so if I missed it, blame Google—will be the featured speaker.
The banquet is Oct. 7 at the Fort Smith Convention Center. She was ambassador of Finland to the People’s Republic of China and to Israel. Just a long history.
She's here primarily because the Foreign Pilot Training Center in Fort Smith will host pilots and planes from Finland later this year. U.S. Rep. Steve Womack helped bring her to the banquet. Chamber President Tim Allen says their goal is to have a representative from every country that will have pilots at the air base for the chamber banquet. It's a big get for the chamber. I’m looking forward to seeing what she has to say.
KELLAMS: You can find out more about everything we've talked about, as well as much more at https://talkbusiness.net/. We've got Arkansas and we've got Mississippi, the first SEC football game of the year. Michael, any predictions?
TILLEY: I just can't imagine the Razorbacks would lose. We always win against Ole Miss, I think, don't we?
KELLAMS: There we go. You heard it here first. Michael, thank you so much for your time.
TILLEY: You're welcome, sir.
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