Paul Harvel
Paul Harvel is former president and CEO of the Greater Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, where he served for twenty-one years. He is also executive director of Fifty for the Future. Harvel graduated from East Texas State University. He began his Little Rock Chamber of Commerce career in 1968. After that he was an executive member of the El Dorado; Enid, Oklahoma; Midland, Texas; and Armarillo, Texas chambers. Since he has returned to the Little Rock Chamber he has helped with much of the improvements to Downtown Little Rock and the surrounding area.
Harvel was involved in the Pinnacle Mountain State Park Project, the development of Pulaski Technical School, Alltel Arena, Little Rock Convention Center, Clinton Presidential Library, River Market Project, and the Arkansas Partnership. The Arkansas Partnership is a Central Arkansas Economic Alliance. Harvel was also involved in the new Little Rock Chamber of Commerce building.
Paul Harvel once said, "The Chamber of Commerce advertising budget for the next 20 years couldn't buy what we're getting now." This was in reference to Bill Clinton's campaign for the presidential election in 1992. In reaction to the siting of the Clinton Library in downtown Little Rock he said, "The uniqueness of this library is that it's tied to a lot of different things. I think it's going to be the busiest part of the city."
References
- "Clinton's Rise Is a Windfall To Little Rock," The New York Times, October 8, 1992.
- "Presidential Center Revitalizes Little Rock," American City & County 113.10 (September 1998): 106-108.
