BENTON, Ark. (KTHV) -- Soon, the city of Benton will be home to a economic powerhouse. The vote passed by a margin of 72 percent last year for a hotel and convention center to be built along I-30.

S&P Golf off I-30 in Benton is in a prime location for business.

"We moved in December. A lot of people use the movie theatre so on Fridays and Saturdays, they'll stop in," says Owner Flip Whitner.

He moved his store from Sherwood to Benton five months ago and is very glad he did.

"I mean there's not a busier interstate than I-30 and basically it connects everything going south of us, Hope, Texarkana, everything else like that," says Whitner

The prospect of a new neighbor made it even easier.

"There was a possibility of the convention center possibly coming in here and of course that was a bonus," says Whitner.

"We're in the finally stages getting ready to break ground," says Mark Fikes with Benton's Advertising and Promotions Department.

Thanks to a one and half cent sales tax on hotels and restaurants, the city will begin construction on a convention center this summer.

"We're really becoming a 'we' community. We can do this thing and this is a citizen's build," says Fikes.

The 7 million dollar structure connected to a new hotel will hold nearly 1,100 people for banquets, lectures and other events. Events Whitner hopes will bring even more customers through his doors.

"We basically do business one golfer at a time," says Whitner.

The Benton Convention Center will be available for a variety of private events. Fikes says a timeline detailing it's completion will be released in the coming weeks.