LITTLE ROCK The Arkansas Economic Development Commission is an agency that thrives on secrecy, so much so that big-name projects' real names aren't uttered until they're a done deal.
A Denmark windmill blade manufacturer's Little Rock plant was known around the office as "Project Zephyrus." When Hewlett-Packard Co. mulled a move to Conway for a new facility, proposals detailing the millions offered in state incentives simply referred to HP as "Project Sigma."
The secrecy, state officials say, is necessary to keep Arkansas in the hunt for major business projects. No company will come to the state if they fear that details of their internal operations will be splashed on the front pages of newspapers or lead the nightly local newscast.
Democracy and a free press, however, thrive on openness. So it's not anything new for the state's economic development arm and reporters to clash over access to information.
That rift appeared again in June as word leaked out of HP's decision to open a facility that will eventually employ 1,200 people in Conway. When the news got out, HP spokesmen and government officials from Gov. Mike Beebe on down declined on-the-record comment for the rest of the week.
Arkansas Economic Development Director Maria Haley appeared to criticize media for reporting on the development before it was announced, calling the leaks "extremely irresponsible."
"All the people who knew about the project did not comment. Hewlett-Packard had no comment, the governor had no comment, we had no comment and the (Conway Community Development Corp.) had no comment, and that should have been a signal," Haley told the Log Cabin Democrat newspaper.
Joe Holmes, a spokesman for the commission, said Haley wasn't trying to discourage reporters from seeking information about pending projects. Holmes said he wasn't surprised that word of the HP project got out before the official announcement.
"This was too big, too many people knew about it. We knew there would be a story," Holmes said. "She was referring to all the people who are out there talking about something in some detail that they really don't know."
Holmes acknowledges that the agency operates with some level of secrecy for pending projects, but contends that the details of taxpayer-funded incentives aren't kept out of public view. Whenever a project is announced, details of what was used to lure them are open, he said.
"We're going to be as transparent as we can be," Holmes said. "We're not going to take you inside the negotiations. We can't do that."
As if to underscore that point, the commission departed from its tradition of taking a broad definition of an exemption in the state Freedom of Information Act regarding economic development records when it relased the state's incentive agreement with HP.
"This is not something we've normally released, but when you look at it, there's very little in there that has not been talked about," Holmes said.
The memorandum of understanding details more than $43 million in local and state incentives offered to the Palo Alto, Calif.-based technology company to set up shop in Conway.
But the documents leave more questions unanswered. Among the parts blacked-out are the total number of employees HP plans to bring and details of its performance-based incentives, such as the estimated tax credit the company will receive each year.
Also, portions of the formula used to determine how the state can recoup the $10 million in "quick action closing fund" money if HP doesn't meet its promised payroll or employment figures remain blacked out.
DeMillo covers Arkansas government and politics for The Associated Press.
