The idea of a good time is seeing other people have a good time, according to Janis Alexander.
“I started out working the front desk of a hotel, working hospitality for many, many years,” said Alexander, chief operating officer at North Little Rock Tourism. “Then I kind of transitioned over to accounting for a while.”
Hospitality and accounting may sound like two totally disparate courses of study, but for Alexander, they fit hand in glove. Her position, which includes overseeing North Little Rock’s Argenta Plaza and Downtown Riverside RV Park, is very much about giving people the right amount of bang for their buck.
“I use both of those assets for the position I hold now,” Alexander said.
Yet it’s the hospitality side of things that truly comes through when talking to Alexander. There is passion in her voice when she talks about her time at North Little Rock’s tourism arm. Since taking the job in 2018, Alexander has seen the area bloom, becoming not just a tourist destination but a favored spot for folks in central Arkansas to gather and enjoy food, the arts or just an evening outdoors.
There are few aspects of the North Little Rock experience that do not bear Alexander’s fingerprints. Part of her job includes overseeing Argenta Plaza, the $5.36 million outdoor event space right along Main Street that has hosted everything from private parties to farmers markets to professional networking events.
“There’s so much that we’re excited for,” Alexander said. “The rejuvenation of the Argenta area has been fabulous for North Little Rock. It’s safe. It’s walkable.
“Now, with the addition of an event center and two new hotels coming in, it’s creating this great vibe in North Little Rock. We’re just very excited about the momentum we have at this time.”
Alexander’s own story is tied deeply to the kind of experiences that are becoming so common for the North Little Rock area. She grew up in Cabot and attended Arkansas State University-Beebe, and she knew enough to consider North Little Rock as a place to shop and enjoy dining out. Like many, her eyes opened to just how much else was becoming available in the area.
Neither Alexander nor the city itself has rested since. More is on the way, including a May groundbreaking for what will become a music pavilion and museum area.
“It’s going in right next to Argenta Plaza,” Alexander said. “That’s a local private-public partnership that’s going to be happening there.”
Alexander may love the unveilings of new attractions, but she also seems to treasure the everyday process to get there. The entire North Little Rock Tourism staff plays a role in not just attracting events but making sure those events are running smoothly. It is a far, far more intense process than manning the front desk at a hotel, a process Alexander was born for.
“The one thing I learned is how to implement and really plan events,” Alexander said. “That was a huge learning curve for me. There’s a lot of moving parts. I’ve definitely become more comfortable with it. We’ve got such a great team here, such a creative and collaborative team.”
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