Regional Industry & News

MELBOURNE -- Ozarka College, a two-year community college in Melbourne, entered into a $100,000 contract with a private consulting firm in 2024 to help secure a federal grant on behalf of the college.

The problem, however, is that the college never submitted the contract for a legally required legislative review before work began.

Ozarka officials acknowledged their mistake in documents submitted to state lawmakers, attributing the failure to obtain the required legislative review before work began to an oversight involving staff turnover and changes in federal guidance.

Now, nearly three years later, after successfully securing the grant and with the contractor awaiting payment, Ozarka is going before lawmakers Tuesday to ask them to retroactively ratify the agreement. The college has not made any payments to the contractor, according to the submitted documents.

The agreement with Cascadia Consulting, a private consulting firm, calls for the company to receive $50,000 upon notification of the grant award and another $50,000 for its grant-writing and support services.

Under Arkansas law, nonexempt service contracts worth at least $50,000 in a year must undergo legislative review.

In an Oct. 29 letter to lawmakers, Ozarka College President Josh Wilson acknowledged the error, but urged lawmakers to retroactively ratify the contract, arguing that doing so was "in the best interest" of the state and college because Cascadia had performed the work in "good faith," expecting to be compensated.

Wilson said in his letter that the college had implemented a new tracking system for its contracts to ensure a similar incident would not occur in the future.

Ozarka College did not respond to requests for comment before publication deadline Thursday. The contract will go before lawmakers Tuesday for review.

Tarek Anthony can be reached by email at tanthony@nwaonline.com.

Tarek Anthony is a higher education reporter and a recent graduate of the University of Oregon, where he earned degrees in journalism and political science. He previously served as editor-in-chief of the Daily Emerald and interned at Oregon Public Broadcasting and The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Support journalism that covers the topics that matter most to you. Donate today to preserve the quality and integrity of local journalism.

This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC

Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2026, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.