He giveth and taketh away

By now you probably know that the economy is not in the greatest shape. Some places in the country are completely upended while others are doing quite well. Here in Conway, we seem to have a mixed bag.

There are quite a few businesses that have shut their doors here, but, on the bright side, there are a few that have decided to hang their shingles in Conway. Of the ones that have recently closed, there are:

• Mickie's Bluefish Grill
• IC Corp
• San Francisco Bread Co

I'm sure the employees and patrons of these businesses will sorely miss them.

On the flip side, though, we have some big names moving in and to Conway.  The most famous, of course, is HP (set to bring about 1,200 jobs).  There are some other developments in the works, too.  Here are some high points of economic development in the City of Colleges:

• Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield data center
• The Village at Hendrix
• Continued growth and development of retail space
• New restaurants like Logan's Steakhouse, Big John's Subs (located on Meadowlake and Donaghey), TGI Fridays, etc.
• Downtown Conway's continued success
• 501 Life magazine

"Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.” - Andrew Carnegie