Latest news with #NorthwestArkansasCouncil
Axios
16-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
The Shift: Bentonville event convenes $2B in capital
More than 400 people registered to attend the third VC Immersions event held in Bentonville Wednesday. The big picture: The series launched in February 2024 as a flagship of Startup NWA, an arm of the Northwest Arkansas Council. Organizers convene a curated group of entrepreneurs and venture capital firms to network and, ideally, strike a deal. About $10 million of investment in early-stage companies resulted from the first two events in February 2024 and October, Serafina Lalany, executive director of Startup NWA, told me. State of play: On Wednesday, 40 venture capital firms with more than $2 billion in assets under management held lightning round meetings with entrepreneurs, a sort of speed dating for VC, one attendee said. By the numbers: About 250 entrepreneurs from 32 states and four countries attended. Twenty-seven companies were from Arkansas. About 200 meetings were scheduled. What we're hearing: Retail and supply chain/logistics innovation is growing in NWA, but shrinking in Dallas, where RevTech Ventures is based, the firm's co-founder David Matthews told me. RevTech recently leased space at OnwardHQ, an entrepreneur and VC co-working space in Bentonville operated by Startup NWA. The firm has no investments in area companies, but Matthews said he's optimistic. San Francisco-based Precursor Ventures' founder Charles Hudson is invested in two NWA-based companies: Carrot, a fertility-focused platform founded by Tammy Sun, and Airtime, co-founded by Phil Libin. Both Sun and Libin relocated from the Bay Area during the pandemic. What we're watching: It will likely be a few months before the scope of the investment impact of the event is known, but some preliminary estimates should be available in the next couple of weeks, Lalany said.
Axios
08-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Scoop: Waltons launching STEM university in former Walmart headquarters
Heirs of Walmart founder Sam Walton plan to launch a private university focused on science and tech — located on the company's old HQ campus near downtown Bentonville. Why it matters: The future university would provide students pathways to jobs in automation, logistics, biotech and computing — fields crucial to Northwest Arkansas' future. Building talent in those areas is a priority for the U.S., China and other countries racing to compete in the global economy. Of 15,400 active area job listings in February, roughly 10% were STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and math), according to data from the Northwest Arkansas Council. State of play: Sam Walton's grandsons Steuart and Tom Walton are set to announce the school Thursday at the Heartland Summit in Bentonville, an invitation-only gathering of policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors focused on economic development in the middle of the U.S. Plans call for the yet-to-be-named STEM school to be a model of modern, flexible learning emphasizing business. The inaugural class is expected to be roughly 500 students, eventually growing to about 1,500. What they're saying:"We have the opportunity to build a new model of higher education, designed for the realities of today's economy and the challenges of tomorrow, and set a new standard for what's possible," Steuart Walton said in a news release shared with Axios. The big picture: The university is the latest in a string of philanthropic work from the Waltons that continues transforming this town of about 60,000 people and the larger Northwest Arkansas region of nearly 600,000 into a regional powerhouse. In the past 20 years family members have invested in world-class art museums, a medical school and holistic wellness, as well as trails, public art and other civic-oriented development. All have been economic engines for Arkansas. Flashback: Walmart's original home office campus is being vacated in phases as nearly 15,000 employees populate a new flagship 350-acre campus across town. Steuart and Tom Walton said in 2022 they would buy the old HQ and surrounding parcels for about $60 million. A mixed-use development, which would include the new university, is now planned at the site. The grandsons acquired nearly 3,000 acres of mostly undeveloped land in nearby Bella Vista last year. They've not announced plans for the parcels but said they would be centered on outdoor recreation, hospitality and retail development.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Capitol View: Rep. Rick Crawford, Northwest Arkansas Council CEO Nelson Peacock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – It's been a busy week in Washington, D.C., with Congress returning from a two-week recess and returning to committee and floor work. Capitol View host Roby Brock met with Arkansas Congressman Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to discuss his role in this important and powerful position. Roby then talks with Northwest Arkansas Council CEO Nelson Peacock to discuss how new legislation could affect business. Capitol View airs on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
