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Article: El Dorado hopes 'the promise' brings back the golden days.(Reprint)
- Article from:
- Arkansas Business
- Article date:
- February 16, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Journal Publishing, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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EL DORADO, ARK., AND THE area around it are naturally rich in pine forests, salt water and oil. Now, the town is seeking to capitalize on a new resource--education. In January 2007, Murphy Oil Corp., the community's signature employer, announced that it was setting aside $50 million to endow the El Dorado Promise, a program that offers grants to graduates of E1 Dorado High School so that they can attend college.
"That started the ball rolling," Mayor Mike Dumas says. "That changed the whole attitude of the community."
He and other leaders in El Dorado (rhymes with "tornado") credit the Promise for energizing townspeople to approve later that year a ...