November is one of the busiest times of the year. Our team is balancing training events and projects across the state while preparing to wrap up the 2017 year as the holidays approach. And even though our hands are full, we made time to host two of our biggest events the first week of November: Hot Spring County Conversations and Community Development Basics.

Hot Spring County Conversations was an event hosted by Hot Spring County, with the support of County Judge Dennis Thornton, in partnership with Entergy Arkansas, West Central Arkansas Planning and Development, Hot Spring County Economic Development Corporation, Malvern/Hot Spring County Chamber of Commerce, College of the Ouachitas, and our team at the Center. This event brought over 100 Hot Spring County community leaders together to hear community and economic development professionals from across the state and offer a forum for conversation to build a brighter future for the county. Jon Chadwell of the Newport Economic Development Commission and Russell Carey of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation shared how to engage young families and leaders and information related to Arkansas’ current and future workforce needs. Attendees also discussed the future of Hot Spring County, and were issued a challenge from the county judge.

You can view photos from Hot Spring County Conversations here.

Right after completing Hot Spring County Conversations, our team hosted Community Development Basics. This event was a one-day training session on (you guessed it!) the basics of community and economic development. The purpose of this session was to educate community leaders on the basics of community and economic development in an effort to strengthen Arkansas communities. Participants explored topics such as community and economic development, community capital, how data relates to community and economic development, cross sector collaboration and integrative leadership. Speakers included representatives from the UCA PhD Leadership program, Arkansas Center for Research in Economics, Arkansas Community Foundation, Arkansas Economic Development Institute, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and the Jack Welch Institute for Management.

There is no cost to attend either of these training sessions. They were made possible through the Moving the Needle Grant from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.

If you are interested in hosting a community and economic development training event in your community or if you need assistance with a program or project in you community, please reach out to our staff through our assistance form: https://uca.edu/cced/request-assistance/

The business case for why equality is our business

On October 11th, The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub hosted a one-day summit titled “The Future of Workplace Inclusion: LGBTQ Equality.” This complimentary conference was presented by the Human Rights Campaign and supported by Acxiom, Argenta Wealth Management, Cranford Co., EGP PLLC, Tyson Foods, Walmart, Arkansas Times and Starbucks. The audience included corporate leaders, human resource and diversity managers, state and municipal leaders and others interested in learning about the business and economic development case for equality.
Participants learned best practices for making their business or organization inclusive of LGBTQ people, heard from corporate leaders who established inclusive policies and learned how to improve their business rating on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index. The overarching theme of this event was the importance of building a culture of diversity and inclusion in Arkansas’ workplaces to create a stronger statewide economy.

Kendra Johnson, HRC Arkansas State Director, started the event by welcoming attendees and sponsors. Beck Bailey, Deputy Director of Employee Engagement at HRC, kicked off the first session on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. The CEI is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.

The second session was a panel where business leaders shared best practices and experiences within their respective organizations. Deb Sinta, Vice President of Talent at Tyson, Jerry C. Jones, Chief Ethics and Legal Officer, Executive Vice President & Assistant Secretary of Acxiom, and Jane Behrends, Walmart’s Senior Director of Strategy, Changes, and Communications, were the panelists. The panel shared the following:
• We are focused on acquiring the most diverse talent and being the place that people want to come work.
• If it’s good food for business, associates and customers then it is good for the community.
• Expected behaviors should guide the conversation rather than individual beliefs.
• Businesses are seeing a transition in company purpose aligning with social good.
• It is important for organizations to practice top-down messaging related to human rights issues. If we don’t have human rights, then what do we have?
• What would happen if [insert protected class here] was discriminated against or treated poorly by customers, co-workers or suppliers?
• There is tremendous power in the private sector to drive social change.
• The business community has led the way in establishing diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Beck Bailey led the third session titled “Making the Case for Equality: Challenges, Opportunities, and Tools for Change.” During this segment, the question of “how sexual orientation and gender identity come to work” was raised. The answer is during water cooler conversations. “It’s about the little moments where we share our personal lives. What’d you do this weekend and who’d you do it with?” Having conversations with coworkers can build working relationships and increase productivity. However, these same conversations can cause discomfort for members of the LGBTQ community.

It has been proven there is a direct correlation between engagement and being comfortable at work. An example of this relationship can be found in the HRC Cost of the Closet report. “Employee engagement suffers by up to 30% due to unwelcoming environments.” This lack of engagement directly impacts the recruitment and retention of employees. A business’ reputation on fairness and equality not only affects current and future employees, but also customers and suppliers.

The LGBTQ community may represent roughly 4% of the population but they hold approximately $900 billion dollars in buying power. This number does not include allies of the community. Recently, there has been a rise in people looking to spend their dollars with companies that align with their values. Consumers are not the only ones who are being selective about who they do business with. Companies are also selecting their suppliers, manufacturers and distributors according to their social practices.

Key takeaways from “The Future of Workplace Inclusion: LGBTQ Equality” conference are as follows:

• The LGBTQ community and non-LGBTQ allies have substantial buying power.
• Businesses have a significant influence on communities and legislation.
• Sexuality and gender identity come up in everyday conversations.
• Workplace education and training vary depending on company climate. Some companies need more extensive training while others do not.
• Having policies that are inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees improves recruitment and retention.
• Regardless of company size, the Corporate Equality Index can be a resource for instituting inclusive policies.
• Expected behaviors should guide workplace practices rather than individual beliefs.

Moving forward, it is important for companies and organizations to adopt policies and practices that are inclusive to all people without regards to race, ethnicity, religious belief, age, gender identity, marital status, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation or political affiliation. Doing so will build a culture of diversity and inclusion in Arkansas’ workplaces resulting in a stronger statewide economy. Employers will be able to attract and retain talented employees, increase sales across market segments and improve the company’s reputation within the community and industry.

Our staff knows that summer is officially upon us when our calendar hits Dr. Mark Peterson‘s Breakthrough Solutions Conference. One of our favorite conferences to attend, Breakthrough Solutions aims to create 21st century communities and regions that are vibrant, sustainable, and resilient (echoing the Center’s work and making Mark a GREAT partner for our initiatives). The program is described as “an award-winning, next-generation strategic planning and development program of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service with partners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.”

Known as a cutting-edge program in the field of community and economic development, the 2015 Breakthrough Solutions conference (and pre-conference focused on community branding) did not disappoint those in attendance. Every minute of Breakthrough Solutions enlightened, engaged, and informed – imagine an information highway running through participants heads at 70 mph. Our brains were so laden with new information at the end of each day we were owed an afternoon nap!

So, let’s dig into the nitty gritty of the conference starting at the beginning – the pre-conference workshop entitled “Fresh Thinking and Bold Action Through Branding Your Community.” The pre-conference was spear headed by branding expert Roger Brooks‘s “Developing an Economic Development Brand” video, Martin Thoma (Principal of Thoma Thoma), and Chip Culpepper (Principal of Mangan Holcomb Partners). Roger Brooks relayed the first golden nugget of information to attendees with the statement, “94 percent of people with access to the Internet are using it to determine where they should live, where they should visit, and where they should start a business.” Embracing this fact and understanding its impact on Arkansas communities is essential to successful community branding. Adding to that foundation, participants also needed to grasp that community brands are not completely composed by communities; there are already inside and outside perceptions set in place that impact community brands. These perceptions are driven by:

1. Visual cues
2. People and attitudes
3. Word-of-mouth
4. Social media and publicity

Roger Brooks also stressed to participants that they should NOT market every asset they have to their target audiences. Brooks pushed listeners to market what makes them DIFFERENT. He posed the question, “What is the one thing your community can provide to consumers that they can not get anywhere else or within driving distance elsewhere?” Another key to successful branding Brooks pointed out is to market a brand that is experiential because tourism is built on “things to do.”

Brooks’s video introduced participants to an overview of community branding and supplied a 13-step Branding Process. After the video ended, Martin Thoma gave a quick spiel over how brands work and why they work. Thoma stated that successful brands must follow U.S.A. (are unique, sustainable, and have a competitive advantage), must have gained loyalty from consumers, and are not a result, but a process.

Brooks and Thoma’s presentations helped get our branding juices flowing before entering the afternoon session where we split into groups to assist two Arkansas communities in a mini branding session. Our session was led by Thoma and concentrated on Cleveland County (the other session led by Culpepper focused on Perry County). Thoma led the group through the following process:

1. Cleveland County reported on their fact-finding
2. The county identified its target markets
3. Our group and the county identified high potential branding themes
4. The differentiating ideas were run through a feasibility test
5. The group assisted the county in writing a brand promise – their brand story
6. Cleveland County community leaders described their desired brand – what did they want to be known for in 10 years, and the brand promise – how will they deliver on that promise
7. We discussed the potential look and feel of their brand
8. Our group talked about their brand product bank and action plan

The pre-conference ended on a high note as our groups were filled with achievement as we wrapped up our branding assistance for both counties involved in the sessions. The day was a perfect blend of lecture and hands-on technical assistance.

The next morning kick-started a more in-depth look into what Breakthrough Solutions encompasses. Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, was introduced as the keynote speaker and was the first of the day to present. Gines began his speech fast and hard, delving into the current state of community and economic development. He posed the question, “If industrial education and economic development activities were popular in the past, but are now ineffective, how do we change to support small businesses and entrepreneurs?” He pointed out that we as economic developers need to change the conversation away from industrial attraction to small business creation, support, and entrepreneurial education. Gone are the days of gaining “big business” on a large level.

Gines also pushed rural communities to funnel their energy into small business creation, retention, and expansion. He stated that as population severely increases, big business increases, but as population stays fairly stagnant or decreases, small business increases. He urged, “We shoot ourselves in the foot when we marginalize small or micro businesses; they are what gives a community a sense of place and distinction.”

On a community level, Gines asked the audience, “Why does one community survive and the other does not?” The answer: leadership. Attendees had to think about the diversity of their leadership: age, race, gender, culture, values, etc. Gines also communicated the “5 C’s of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem:” capital, connection, capability, culture, and climate. All five C’s need to intersect to create a successful business owner in any given community.

Gines left participants with Federal Reserve resources that can be found here and information about the “Grow Your Own” guide.

Next up on the agenda was the “Ignite Session,” an interesting presentation style in which presenters are given five minutes to give their presentation and then the audience votes on which presentation they most enjoyed. Chris East with Cromwell Architects Engineers spoke about “Pop Up In The Rock,” a community development initiative that focuses on enhancing local city areas with underdeveloped potential. Britt Talent, editor of the Cleveland County Herald, presented Rison’s homesteading initiatives and talked about the Arkansas Homesteading Conference held in Rison. Then came Jerry Smith, President and CEO of the Morrilton Chamber of Commerce, who discussed Morrilton’s FUN committee – a committee that doesn’t focus on the “work” model of volunteering, but instead on a “fun” model to make volunteering an enjoyable, leisure time activity. Next up was Lamont Cornwell, Executive Director of Saline County Economic Development, to share Saline 2020, a visioning process and strategic plan for Saline county. Carla Vaught with the Polk County Cooperative Extension presented “Google, Banners, and Bears,” a report on how the city of Mena is learning, growing, and bettering itself. Our close friend Jon Chadwell, Director of the Newport Economic Development Commission, was the next presenter. Chadwell shared “New Vision Newport,” a leadership program developed by the Newport Chamber of Commerce that is designed to build team work, teach leadership skills, provide participants with community education, service opportunities, and results in creating the future leaders of Newport. The final presenter was Martie North of Simmons First National Bank. North talked about her journey as President of the Friends of Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and discussed with attendees how to build a board to make things happen.

Though each presentation seemed to be over in a millisecond, each was packed with rich and applicable information. It was tough to pick which presentation was the best, but when the votes were in the winner was (drum roll please)…. Britt Talent with Rison! Talent took the audience through a crash course on homesteading (an extremely unique way Rison has harnessed its assets to distinguish itself from other cities throughout Arkanas).

The man of the day, Dr. Mark Peterson, presented “Building Your Community’s Future Through Fresh Thinking and Bold Action” after the “Ignite Session” ended. Peterson combined lecture with interaction (REAL interaction, including asking the audience to stand up and touch their toes) to get the blood flowing before lunch. He began by presenting the audience with key questions about their communities such as: “Is the economic base of your community and region on solid ground,” “Do community leaders have a shared vision of the future of your community in the global economy,” “Is your community perceived by people outside your community as having a high quality of life and place,” and “Does your community/region have a pipeline of entrepreneurs who can and do start businesses?” He suggested creating an asset map to highlight differentiating factors in communities throughout the state and stressed the importance of:

• Maintaining momentum
• Harnessing balance and team work
• Challenging your community
• Avoiding distractions
• Realizing opportunities

Peterson left attendees with his keys to a successful community which revolved around leveraging assets, sharing the same vision, and displaying measurable results.

After lunch, the 2015 Breakthrough Solutions conference took an interesting turn – instead of experts in the field, we were exposed to high school aged, up and coming community leaders. Students from North Little Rock High School and Harrison High School shared their difference making community projects they developed through EAST programs. The North Little Rock students created the NLR Community Farm. The farm is run by students with the assistance of their facilitator and brings the community and school together. The NLR Community Farm is such a success it is impacting the student population in a big way; the food collected from the farm now goes to children in need within the district and helps educate students on healthy eating.

The Harrison students started their project by identifying a problem in the city of Harrison – specifically, a branding problem. The students recognized that Harrison, recognized as the home of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), was perceived as a racist community to many outsiders. They wanted to combat this negative image by sharing the real, accepting Harrison community with the outside world. The students launched a hashtag campaign, #IamHarrison, that went viral state-wide. The campaign created positive change and helped to break those negative perceptions.

After various breakout sessions (our team attended “Growing Entrepreneurs in Your Community” and “Engaging the Millennials in Your Community”), Breakthrough Solutions 2015 came to a close.

Upon completing this blog post, the magnitude of information packed into those two short days really hit me – my brain has once again become exhausted, but reliving the experience was well worth it. We can say with full certainty that the conference 100% completed its purpose, “to provide community and regional leaders with insights, tools, and solutions that they can use to create communities that are vibrant, sustainable, and resilient.”

Until next time, we tip our *virtual* hat to you and urge you to keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!

On May 8, 2015, the Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) held the first ever Faulkner County Economic Development Boot Camp. The Boot Camp, modeled after our premiere community and economic development training program the Community Development Institute (CDI), was created to support recovery efforts in Faulkner County and to give back to our community. Faulkner County elected officials, community leaders (from Vilonia, Mayflower, and Greenbrier), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff members, and other representatives from state government agencies involved in Faulkner County projects were invited to the event. The unique training opportunity was held at UCA’s Brewer Hegeman Conference Center and was free of charge to participants.

The Faulkner County Economic Development Boot Camp covered topics such as Economic Development 101, Marketing and Branding, Community Development Musts, The Role of the Local Official in Economic Development, Business Retention and Expansion, Site Selection, and all community leaders participated in a scenario planning simulation. Upon completion of the Boot Camp, participants were awarded a Certificate of Completion signed by UCA President Tom Courtway and Continuing Education Units awarded by UCA.

A boot camp is defined as “a short but very difficult training program : a program or situation that helps people become much better at doing something in a short period of time” by the Merriam-Webster dictionary. True to it’s name, the Faulkner County Economic Development Boot Camp can only be described as rigorous. Participants were in for a roller coaster ride of information and interaction.

First up was Jon Chadwell, who spoke to participants about Economic Development 101 and Marketing and Branding. Jon spoke about the “Confluence of Economic Development,” or what pieces in a community need to flow together to create a successful economic development environment. He identified six sectors of a community that need to be unitedly strong:

• Economic – What is going on in your economic environment? Be aware.
• Community – Why would a business/company pick your community to locate in? What things are there to do?
• Workforce – Can you supply a skilled and educated workforce? What training programs are available at local high schools, colleges, and other facilities?
• Leadership – Do you have a broad leadership base? Intentionally think about diversity in your leadership roles; think about your future leaders.
• Capital – Have people in your community invested in your community? Encourage investment.
• Infrastructure – Do you have access to all the essentials for a new business to build in your town: electricity, water, sewer, roads, Internet, etc.?

Jon went on to discuss the essentials of marketing and branding communities. He pushed participants to remember that their community is their product and they are marketing it to three distinct audiences: partners (state agencies, other communities), internal (local government, residents, community organizations), and external (new businesses, industry, tourism, and potential new residents). To effectively reach these audiences and connect with them, communities must have something to sell, identify it, and be able to point out what is unique and different about their community.

The Boot Camp’s second speaker was Steve Jones. Steve discussed Community Development Musts with participants and implored them to remember, “PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING!” When someone new arrives in a community (whether they be a passerby, visitor, new resident, or potential new business) their opinion and perception will be shaped by what they see. So you don’t want them to see this, this, this, or this. Instead, community leaders should create a community environment that instills positive thoughts and associates those thoughts with a major attraction(s). Such as Eureka Springs and The Great Passion Play or the city’s abundant night life. Steve’s “Musts” ended with insights into residential, industrial, office, commercial, downtown, and tourism development.

Being the Building & Sites Coordinator for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), Steve ended his presentation with site selection prospect readiness. The major themes during this section of the Boot Camp were the need for competitive advantage and being in-tune with community data sets and statistics. Participants interested in learning in-depth details about site selection were encouraged to participate in AEDC’s Prospect Readiness Education Program (PREP).

During a much needed lunch break (A.K.A. energy revival), participants heard from Amy Whitehead who quickly covered “Top 10 Things Elected Officials Should Know About Economic Development” and Jamie Gates who led an open forum about the future of Faulkner County economic development efforts.

The day ended on a high note as participants split into teams to engage in “The Futures Game: Midwest USA.” The Futures Game allowed participants to explore decision making, and to better understand their own leadership and decision making styles. The game created an enjoyable and challenging environment for engagement and participation in discussions about the future.

Though participants may have experienced information overload during the full day of training, we’re positive that the event was a success and that participants learned a lot and enjoyed themselves (we even discussed creating an annual Boot Camp – stay tuned!). Before we allowed participants to kick off their weekends, we snapped a group photo – what a good looking bunch!

If you’re interested in working with us to create a training event similar to the Faulkner County Economic Development Boot Camp for your community, we would love to hear from you. Click the links to learn more about other types of Training and Technical Assistance we offer.