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By Lynda Hollenbeck
Courier Staff Two Benton women are candidates for the position of executive director of the Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission, Alderman Brad Moore, commissioner, said today.
The applicants are Sara Arnold and Jill Jones.
“We hope to make a decision two weeks from today,” Moore said. “We will be interviewing the second candidate (Arnold) at 4 p.m. today.”
Jones, the first person to apply, has been interviewed twice.
Moore said Arnold has worked in public relations and marketing for the Bridgeway psychiatric facility in Little Rock.
Jones has owned and operated an advertising agency in Florida and also worked for television stations in Little Rock and in other states, he said.
“I received a couple of phone calls from other people who showed some interest in the job, but these are the only two who have actually applied,” Moore said.
“Basically, this person will be the face and voice of the A&P Commission,” he explained.
“The executive director will work with Mangan Holcomb Partners to fine-tune and develop our marketing plan. Her main job will be to hold Mangan Holcomb to a higher degree of accountability, so someone from the industry would be the ideal candidate to make that happen.”
Mangan Holcomb is the Little Rock advertising firm hired by the commission to develop marketing campaigns for the city as a whole and for specific events and entities within the city.
“Both of these women have had experience in media on the advertising side,” he said. “And both are residents of Benton, which is always a plus.”
Moore said recently that the salary for the director has not been set, but the commission has determined the salary will range from $35,000 to $65,000, plus the city of Benton’s benefit package.
“That’s a wide range,” Moore said. “When we surveyed other cities with A&P directors, we found the salary range was $40,000 to $140,000, which wasn’t a consistent range.”
In conjunction with the commission’s primary goal to advertise Benton, the director will be expected to “work with city and community leaders to build a strong cohesive team atmosphere to better promote and enhance the city and its attributes,” Alan Jessup, the commission chairman, said previously.
The A & P commission was formed about two years ago. It is funded through a 1.5 percent tax levied on the local hospitality industry — motels, restaurants, delicatessens, drive-in restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, carry-out restaurants, convenience stores, grocery store restaurants, food delivery businesses and similar enterprises.
The commission approved a job description for the director last fall, Moore said.
The executive director will assist the commission in developing and accomplishing strategic goals and missions, Jessup said.
Earlier, Moore pointed out that Jones and her husband moved to Benton when her husband was transferred to Little Rock with Dillard’s. “They chose to live in Benton out of several Arkansas cities,” he said.
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