If slow and steady really does win the race, Texarkana ought to take home the trophy. Its strategic location, diverse economic base, mature manufacturing sector and stable job and housing markets ideally position this town for growth – the slow, steady kind. With every step, be it infrastructure improvements, retail development, industry recruitment or workforce development, Texarkana moves closer to becoming an economic powerhouse.

The broad base of Texarkana’s economy has helped insulate it from the extreme ups and downs felt in other parts of the country, says Jerry Sparks, economic development director for the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.

“We have had slow but steady growth over the years,” Sparks says. “We haven’t had dramatic swings in employment and the local housing market. And we don’t foresee any rapid change – which is good as long as we maintain our slow, steady growth.”

The defense industry has been a pillar of Texarkana’s economy since the Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant set up operations here in 1941. Although the Lone Star plant is downsizing, the defense industry still supplies about 5,000 jobs, according to Sparks.

The Lone Star facility’s large campus and manufacturing capabilities, along with a comprehensive plan proposed by the Red River Redevelopment Authority should make for a smooth transition to other uses.

“And we’ve been blessed with a diverse economy,” Sparks says. “In addition to the defense industry, our two hospitals provide over 2,000 jobs. We have two paper mills that pro­vide about 2,000 jobs. Cooper Tire employs 1,500. And we have many local businesses that employ between 100 and 400 employees.”

A growing network of asphalt arteries and a strong rail system make this area an ideal distribution nexus. Already, Interstate 30 and U.S. highways 59, 67, 71 and 82 converge in Texas’ northeast corner. Construction is currently under way that will extend Interstate 49 north from Shreveport, La., through Arkansas to I-30 at Texarkana.

And Interstate 69, also known as the “NAFTA Highway,” – which will ultimately stretch from Port Huron, Mich., to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico – is slated to flow right through the region, though final plans have not yet been established.

“If Congress doesn’t approve I-69 as federal Interstate [in Texas], then Texas will build it as a toll-way,” says Marcus Sandifer, public information officer for the Atlanta District of the Texas Department of Transportation.

As part of the Trans Texas Corridor plan, the route would follow U.S. Highway 59.

“This is spurred mostly by NAFTA, because truck traffic has boomed,” Sandifer says. “The Trans Texas Corridors are all intended to get traffic, people and goods across Texas.”

The major highway improvements are projected to double the amount of freight carried through the region over the next 15 years.

“We are poised to be a natural location for warehousing, logistics, anything transportation and movement-of-goods based. When these highway construction projects get finished, we’ll have some of the best road transportation anywhere. Combine that with the rail system, and we are ideally situated,” Sparks says. “We are actively recruiting all manner of companies to look at us as a distribution center.”

A $153.5 million project aimed at improving frontage roads and relocating entrance and exit ramps along I-30 at the north end of Texarkana is also underway, Sandifer says.

And big-box retailers have seen the area’s potential. A retail development surge near I-30 includes Home Depot, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Target and Gander Mountain. Numerous restaurants and hotels also have opened, including a Courtyard by Marriott and a Hampton Inn and Suites, says Brad McCaleb of the Texarkana Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The increasing number of service sector jobs is drawing workforce made available by the military’s downsizing. Meanwhile, local leaders look ahead to long-term work­force development.

Even the Texarkana Independent School District is in on the effort, tailoring educational programs that look to the region’s future. The new Martha and Josh Morriss Math and Engineering Elementary School opened in the fall of 2007.

“The school is designed to take students on a math and science track all the way from kindergarten through a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University,” McCaleb says.