Crye-Leike has opened its first franchise in Arkansas Crye-Leike has opened its first franchise in Arkansas. The Memphis-based firm has sold a franchise to Crye-Leike Missco Realty in Blytheville. This will be Crye-Leikes fifth franchise, joining others in Oxford, New Albany and Tupelo, Miss., and Monteagle, Tenn. The new Arkansas franchise is owned by Sandy Bagwell, who will serve as the managing broker of the firm. The office address is 404-A Park St. Blytheville is located 65 miles north of Memphis. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched a multimillion-dollar program to further help communities protect children from the dangers of lead poisoning. HUD will provide $84 million to conduct lead testing in federally funded, low-income housing, and more than $20 million to train additional inspectors and other workers, including maintenance and renovation specialists, to carry out HUDs new lead safety regulations that take effect Sept. 15. Lead can cause permanent damage to the brain and other organs. In the United States, nearly 1 million children under age 6 suffer the effects of lead poisoning. Children from low-income families have been found to be five times more likely to suffer from lead poisoning, according to HUD. The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors "Construction in Commercial Real Estate" course set for Sept. 13 has been approved for eight hours of continuing education credit by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission. The course will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the MAAR Education Center. The cost of the course is $75. David Houston will serve as instructor for the course. Call 818-2421 to register. Learn the specific secrets to smart real estate investments in CRS 204: Creating Wealth Through Residential Real Estate Investments, which will be held on Sept. 20-21 in the MAAR Education Center. Participants will learn how to identify the right opportunities, compare real estate with other investments, and create additional wealth for themselves and their clients. This course requires students to bring a financial calculator. The cost to attend is $230 for MAAR members registering by Sept. 6 or $315 for non-MAAR members. The course will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day and is approved for 16 hours of continuing education credit. For further information, call MAARs education director, Linda Stubbs, at 818-2421.