Since working at the chamber, I have come to love Searcy history. “Searcy, Arkansas: A Frontier Town Grows Up with America” by Raymond Lee Muncy is full of stories of the founding, naming and growing of Searcy. My favorite story is about the resilience and determination of local Searcy leaders in the 1940s.
In 1945, at the close of World
War II, the Searcy Chamber of Commerce had less than 170 members and an annual
budget of less than $6,500. During this time, community leaders realized the
need for industry and manufacturing. Ewing Pyeatt, president of the chamber of
commerce, and Elmer Yancey saved their gas rations for a recruiting trip in St.
Louis, Missouri.
When they arrived, the
entire city was shut down because that was the day Nazi Germany surrendered; it
was V Day. Every restaurant and store was closed in celebration. The only
reason Yancey and Pyeatt were able to find food is because they met someone who
owned a grocery store and let them buy bread and lunch meat.
The next day, Pyeatt and
Yancey met with the International Shoe Corporation, the second largest shoe
company in the nation at this time, to discuss the company locating to Searcy.
They struck a deal with each other: The International Shoe Corporation agreed
to place a manufacturing plant in Searcy, train locals instead of transferring
skilled workers from other plants, provide a construction engineer and cover
the deficit incurred in construction costs if the people of Searcy could raise
$100,000 for the cost of the building.
Pyeatt and Yancey returned to Searcy confident their town of less than 5,000 people could keep their end of the bargain. They began door knocking on homes and local businesses, asking around town, talking to people they knew and people they didn’t. According to the book, raising money for industry had never happened before and some residents were hesitant to donate with only the promise of community economic development. But everyone listened to their story. Within two weeks of their St. Louis trip, over half the money was raised.
On September 17, 1945,
Pyeatt and Yancey called a town meeting at the high school where they presented
the progress report of the shoe factory. The locations committee secured a spot
on South Main Street, 374 people signed a pledge to contribute $99,000, and the
International Shoe Corporation was finalizing plans for the move to Searcy. The
company opened in 1948 and employed over 500 people.
In a 1948 edition of The Daily Citizen, the Searcy Chamber of Commerce president Truman Baker said, “The entire program from start to finish was successful only because of the wholehearted cooperation and unselfish work which each member of each committee rendered to the chamber of commerce. If that spirit of unselfish devotion to community progress continues as its present place, as I am sure it will, there will be no holding the chamber of commerce in the good and genuine progress which it can make for the city of Searcy. My heartiest thanks and my deepest appreciation go to all of the officers and members of the chamber of commerce for one more outstanding job well done.”
The 1940s proved extremely successful for
Searcy. The population grew by almost 64% that decade. In 1950, Forbes Magazine
even covered the advancement and development of Searcy.
Our leaders sacrificed their
time, efforts and resources to spearhead economic development. It is our job to
pick up where they left off. This story is proof everyone is essential in the
progress and growth of Searcy. Not one person or one group has this duty; we
all do.
Written by Hannah Hackworth, Searcy Regional Chamber of Commerce Communications and Events Coordinator.