New West Memphis Mayor Bill Johnson has vowed to cooperate with Marion, the county seat, as more residents pour into the county. Interstates 40 and 55 merge for much of the length of West Memphis, which has become the hub of many major trucking companies and truck stops. The 1990 Census indicates 1,491 residents are employed in transportation-related industry, while an additional 1,449 are employed in hotels, restaurants or other jobs catering to a traveling clientele. West Memphis is also home to Southland Greyhound Park, one of the nation's largest dog tracks in terms of money wagered. The county's other major employers are companies manufacturing lamps, concrete, pipe fittings, wire products, corrugated containers and chemicals.
Agricultural output includes soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice.
West Memphis, with an estimated population of 30,000, has an 1,100-seat civic center, an airport and Crittenden Memorial Hospital. The county is served by three rail lines. Residential growth in West Memphis is running at almost twice last year's rate, according to the city's economic development director, Sidney Runnels. Street widening and beautification projects are well under way or ready for ground-breaking. Marion, with a population estimated at 8,500, has been the county seat since 1937 and boasts an old red brick courthouse, a library, six parks and its own school system.