Mike Preston, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, will be the featured speaker at the 2017 Economic Outlook Dinner hosted by the Texas A&M University-Texarkana College of Business Wednesday, Feb. 15 , in Eagle Hall of the University Center on the A&M-Texarkana campus, 7101 University Ave., Texarkana, Texas.
There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m. Dinner begins at 6 p.m.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Preston executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission in March 2015.
Before joining AEDC, Preston served six and a half years as the vice president of Government Relations for Enterprise Florida.
Since joining AEDC, he and Gov. Hutchinson have successfully worked with more than 150 companies to locate or expand operations in Arkansas. These companies are investing three billion dollars in the state while creating 8,600 new jobs that pay an average of $21 an hour.
In addition to his business recruitment efforts, Preston led AEDC as the agency merged with two other state agencies, resulting in savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars without one lost job.
He is a 2005 graduate of the University of Florida. He and his wife Anne are happy to call Arkansas home.
“We are excited to bring Mr. Preston to Texarkana to share his insights about the local, regional and national economy,” said Dr. Gary Stading, dean of the A&M-Texarkana College of Business.
