# EDCCC formalizes contract termination with data center project > *Near-verbatim extract of the archived article from The Arkadelphian, lightly cleaned for readability. The original HTML is preserved alongside this file.* ## Source metadata - **Publisher:** The Arkadelphian (arkadelphian.com) - **URL:** https://arkadelphian.com/2026/05/01/edccc-formalizes-contract-termination-with-data-center-project/ - **Published:** 2026-05-01 - **Byline:** Joel Phelps - **Archived:** 2026-06-10, by PowerShell Invoke-WebRequest - **Wayback snapshot:** https://web.archive.org/web/20260603200321/https://arkadelphian.com/2026/05/01/edccc-formalizes-contract-termination-with-data-center-project/ (organic snapshot, 2026-06-03) ## Extract In a brief special-called meeting Friday morning [2026-05-01] in Arkadelphia, the Economic Development Corp. of Clark County formally terminated an agreement to sell a 1,000-acre site for the development of a data center in Gum Springs. Twelve of the 15-member board were present. About 20 community members were in attendance at the meeting, which was held at a Dawson Education Cooperative conference room in downtown Arkadelphia. Once the meeting was called to order, Shelley Short, CEO of the Arkadelphia Regional Economic Development Alliance, noted that the community had turned its attention to the local prospect of a data center since the EDCCC authorized her to enter a contract to sell the 991-acre Southwest Arkansas Mega Site to developers representing an unnamed data center. The developers, DC Devco LLC, were representing an end buyer whose identity would not have been revealed until closing on the property. Following the April 16 meeting, DC Devco had until April 27 to make a $200,000 deposit in earnest money. While DC Devco deposited an initial non-refundable $50,000, the remainder hadn't been deposited by the deadline as spelled out in the agreement. Reading from correspondence sent by EDCCC legal counsel, Short said the board had the option to acknowledge termination of the contract, declare the $50,000 as non-refundable earnest money, and send written acknowledgment to DC Devco of the aforementioned facts. EDCCC chairperson Lori Ross opened discussion from board members. An attending citizen asked whether the public could raise questions, but was denied. Board member Lloydine Seale then motioned to authorize Short to send written acknowledgment of the agreement's termination to DC Devco. Brian Kirksey offered a second, and the motion carried unanimously by voice vote. With no other business, the meeting was adjourned. Immediately following adjournment of the meeting, citizen Abigail Fowler inserted comment that, with no discussion about the EDCCC's intent with the nonrefundable $50,000, residents would have to continue attending meetings to raise questions. A community meeting regarding the data center project, scheduled for May 4, has been canceled. The EDCCC's next meeting will be Tuesday, June 2, at noon at Fairfield Inn & Suites in Arkadelphia. ## Notes - **Tier 3** — local news outlet; authoritative secondary reporting on Clark County / Gum Springs. - This is the early-May 2026 report that the **"Project Pulse" / DC Devco contract for the Southwest Arkansas Mega Site at Gum Springs was terminated**: DC Devco deposited only the initial non-refundable $50,000 of the required $200,000 earnest money by the 2026-04-27 deadline, and on 2026-05-01 the EDCCC board unanimously acknowledged termination. It is the primary citation for the "contract was later terminated" claim previously carried as an unarchived curator note on [the 2026-05-22 Arkadelphian archive](../../2026-05-22/arkadelphian.com/data-center-eyes-clark-county.md) and in [[Identifying the Unnamed Cooling-Water Data Centers]]. - Cited by: [[Identifying the Unnamed Cooling-Water Data Centers]]; `web archive/2026-05-22/arkadelphian.com/data-center-eyes-clark-county.md` (curator note).