The City of Hot Springs will host the Ouachita River Valley Association (ORVA) Annual Convention tomorrow and Friday, August 24 and 25, at the Hot Springs Convention Center and Lake Ouachita Corps of Engineers Project Office.
ORVA is a nonprofit group whose mission is the continued economic development of the Ouachita River Basin, with the river as one of the primary generators of economic and recreation activity in South Arkansas and North Louisiana.
Keynote speakers for the convention include U.S. Senator Tom Cotton and U.S. Representative Bruce Westerman. Additional presenters include Mayor General Michael C. Wehr, Commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Colonel Michael Derosier, Commander, Vicksburg District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Jim Dailey, Commissioner, Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism; and Chris Colclasure, Deputy Director of Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Attendees include other members of the Corps of Engineers, members of the Hot Springs Board of Directors, and representatives of various stakeholder companies and agencies.