Crawford County
Small Town, Big Vision: Alma Balances Charm with Growth and Star Power
There’ s a little piece of Mayberry in Crawford County, and the secret to keeping that magic alive, the movers and shakers in the community agree, is to preserve that small-town charm while cultivating growth and expansion.
Alma has about 6,000 residents, and Mayor Jim Fincher says the city limits are so small you can“ pretty much throw a rock from one side to the other.”
But Alma’ s downtown is booming, with new owners busily adding endeavors like a coffee shop, day spa and more. A new subdivision is being built, and the city saw $ 13 million in construction in 2024—“ a big number for Alma,” Fincher says.
“ Life is slow-paced,” he says,“ and that’ s a good thing. But we have great schools, great churches, great parks and biking trails— and within an hour, we have access to the best entertainment, best medical care, best dining and best shopping in Fort Smith, Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa.
“ I hate to be cliche,” Fincher adds,“ but we really are at the crossroads of Mid- America.”
“ Eventually Alma is going to be a big town with a hometown state of mind,” agrees Bryan Huff, president of the Alma
Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.“ We’ re going to grow, definitely, and possibly exponentially” when I-49 is extended from Barling to I-40 in Alma.“ The Chamber can help keep that small-town feeling by supporting small businesses and their success.
“ We love our franchise businesses, and they help our tax base by getting traffic off the interstate along with providing jobs in the area. But the heart of a small town like this is the small, local businesses that feed back into the local economy,” Huff says.“ The way we keep our community strong is to make sure small businesses are successful.”
While the numbers show developing growth— and projections bring to mind words like“ exponential” growth— Alma is also blossoming in ways even its leaders might not have imagined! PAC’ d House Productions, based at the Skokos Performing Arts Center, will produce a new theater series starting in July, and on June 1, Celebrity Flag Football comes to Alma High’ s Airedale Stadium, with stars of film, TV and even Bare Knuckle Fighting taking the field against contestants representing the Air Force.
“ First, we want to pay tribute to our military,” so this series will continue with other branches in other places, says Celebrity Flag Football promoter Tommy Parker.“ And we partner with a couple of non-profits— Hopefor22aDay and All My God Children,” one of which is working to end veteran suicide and the other supporting at-risk children.
Celebrity Flag Football, Parker says, will be a familyfriendly chance to“ watch a bunch of legendary celebrities run around on the field playing a good game of Sunday football” while also getting to chat with them off the field in what Parker calls“ a face-to-face, real-person situation.” They’ ll be set up to meet and greet and sign autographs, he promises,“ and there will be lots of surprises, too.” The competition will air internationally on TrillerTV. Scheduled to appear
so far are Parker’ s fiancee, Tami Erin, star of 1988’ s“ The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking” and her costar, Branscombe Richmond; Quinton Aaron and Jae Head from 2009’ s“ The Blind Side”; Ice( Lori Fetrick) from“ American Gladiators”; TJ Stukes from“ Squid Game: The Challenge” and the Harlem Wizards; Hasaan Rasheed from 2018’ s“ Black Panther”; and Jessica Borga from Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Parker hopes to have the Alma High cheerleaders and marching band on the field, too, and Molly Ann Dunaway, an Alma High grad who is now Miss Arkansas Worldwide 2025, will help coach.
Parker is CEO and founder of Celebrity Sports Inc. and owns the regional rights to eight sports, including dodgeball,
Continued on page 12
10 • 2025 ALMA AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GUIDE