After featuring over 20 organizations with meaningful solutions to strengthen our entrepreneurial ecosystems and foster inclusive community and economic development practices, Season 2 has come to a close! We wanted to spend our last episode speaking about what we know best here at Endeavor, supporting scaling entrepreneurs with Endeavor President Adrian Garcia-Aranyos. He shares how Endeavor unlocks the transformational power of entrepreneurship by selecting, supporting, and investing in the world's top founders around the world.

Today we are joined by Anna Mason, Managing Partner at Rise of the Rest. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest® Road Trip with Steve Case is a nationwide effort to work closely with entrepreneurs in emerging startup ecosystems. She shares her unique perspective on how the most compelling investment opportunities in the next decade will emerge from startups in cities based outside the coasts.

Through a diverse coalition of public and private partners, led by George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), Tulsa Innovation Labs is creating economic development programs that seek to make Tulsa the nation’s most inclusive tech community. They focus their efforts on five specific areas: energy tech, drones, cyber, analytics, and virtual health. As innovation moves more into America’s heartland, Tulsa is no exception, as it has become a growing hotspot for tech startups, small businesses, and nonprofits and is anchored by leading aviation, cyber, energy, and healthcare companies. In today's episode, Shauna shares how Tulsa Innovation Labs is launching big projects with transformative impact.

Robin Wallis Atkinson, CEO of INTERFORM, shares how art and innovation intersect, promoting the thriving economic development we see across the world and how her team at INTERFORM supports designers and artists in Northwest Arkansas by providing education and resources needed to create a self-sustaining design-led fashion and arts industry.

Devon Laney is a tech entrepreneur and also has over 15 years of experience in building thriving entrepreneurial & innovation ecosystems. Devon has also spoken in both the U.S. and internationally on entrepreneurial development, business incubation, and innovation, and currently serves as the Board Chairman of the International Business Innovation Association. And today, Devon talks with Canem about how his team is maximizing its momentum and finding new, fresh ways to serve and elevate the Tulsa community through entrepreneurial support made possible by 36 Degrees North.

The Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) is on a mission to create economic opportunity by attracting higher-paying jobs, expanding and diversifying our state and local economies, increasing incomes and investment, and generating positive growth throughout the State. And today, Katherine Holmstrom shares with us how her team has managed projects resulting in millions of dollars invested in the State, as well as new infrastructure and job growth in our local communities. Listen in to hear how AEDC is helping to create a growing economy for entrepreneurs and innovators to thrive.

Edward Haddock, District Director for the Arkansas District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration is responsible for the delivery of all SBA programs and services as well as coordination between the SBA, the district’s Small Business Development Centers, SCORE chapters, and the Women’s Business Center throughout the State. And in this episode, he shares a variety of programs and services delivered by the SBA include the loan guaranty program, which is delivered through more than 50 eligible lenders, assistance in government contracting, export development, and entrepreneurship training.

In episode 33, Mary Beth Brooks, director of the ASBTDC at the University of Arkansas, shares how in 2020, 5,876 Arkansans in our region received consulting, cutting edge market research, and educational events at no charge through resources at the ASBTDC. Mary Beth and her team are a go-to resource for founders in Arkansas to expand their expertise and scale their companies.

Today, we’re joined by Katie Thompson, Director of the Science Venture Studio and Founder of Rooted Startups to learn how her team helps early-stage science and technology companies prepare and submit Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) proposals. She shares with us the process of submitting the proposals, how University students and companies are matched during the program, and virtual events available to those interested in learning more.

Today, we’re joined by Katie Thompson, Director of the Science Venture Studio and Founder of Rooted Startups to learn how her team helps early-stage science and technology companies prepare and submit Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) proposals. She shares with us the process of submitting the proposals, how University students and companies are matched during the program, and virtual events available to those interested in learning more.

Today we’re joined by Katie Milligan from Heartland Forward. Heartland Forward is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “think and do tank” focused on improving economic performance in the center of the United States. They believe that transformative research concentrates on factors that impact the American Heartland’s economy through innovation, such as research development and commercialization, human capital formation and labor force skills training, entrepreneurship awareness and capacity, access to early-stage risk capital, and issues around immigration, demographics, health status, and quality of place. Heartland Forward is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, but their work focuses on the entire Heartland region. Today Katie shares with us how they help to support communities through local programs and resources driven by their research and shares a sneak peek of their 2021 Heartland Summit as they bring together leading thinkers, innovators, and investors, to create powerful networks for forging paths of progress.

Ashley Wardlow is the Executive Director of the NWA Technology Summit hosted by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce. This annual event has something for everyone – from "adventurepreneurs" to C-suite executives – anyone interested in how technology can help businesses and communities collaborate to solve common challenges are welcome to join as they explore answers to the question, "What's next…after next?". In this episode, Ashley gives us a sneak peek into what we can anticipate for 2021's NWA Tech Summit. Don’t forget to check out NWA Tech Summit’s podcast, Tech Support.

WeWork launched its first Arkansas location in October 2020 on the second floor of the historic Massey Building in downtown Bentonville. WeWork Labs is WeWork's global digital platform connecting and supporting early-stage startups and small businesses. And this week, we're joined by Carlos Estrada, Senior Manager of WeWork based out of Houston Texas, and Chandler Abbott, team lead of the local coworking space in Bentonville to discuss some of the exciting programs they have in store for small businesses in 2021.

To wrap our three-part mini-series discussing 'the power of corporate partnerships' in our entrepreneurial support community, this week, we're joined by Greg Kessman, Managing Director of Plug and Play. Plug and Play connects the largest corporations to the world's best startups through industry-focused accelerator programs in Bentonville, Silicon Valley, and beyond. They run over 50 industry themed accelerator programs in cities worldwide each year and partner with over 400 leading corporate partners to make it happen. In this episode, Greg shares trends he anticipates for the supply chain industry and discusses how Plug and Play programs support entrepreneurs in Bentonville and beyond.

To continue our three-part mini-series discussing 'the power of corporate partnerships' in our entrepreneurial support community, this week we’re joined by Wayne Miller, the Executive Director of The Venture Center. The Venture Center’s award-winning Fintech accelerator programs speed the growth of early-stage companies and help validate their solutions for real-world problems, fueling innovation in the financial services industry alongside their corporate partners FIS And the independent community bankers of America.

As part of Season 2, we are launching a three-part series focusing on the impact of corporate partnership programs in our region and how they play a critical role in building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. To kick things off, we were joined by Becca Shaddox, Partner at i2iLabs and Founder of Anchor. She shares insights on where she sees the future of retail shifting amidst the Covid-19 crisis, what opportunities founders have in engaging with new funding opportunities coming to NWA. Becca and her team help companies across the retail, food, pharma, and brand industries by designing strategic programs that enhance and grow companies at scale by connecting them with the enterprise partnerships they need to thrive.

In this episode, Yee-Lin Lai, Program Officer of the Home Region Program at the Walton Family Foundation, shares her inspiring journey to Northwest Arkansas from Singapore and speaks to us about how the Walton Family Foundation is helping to shape and empower economic development initiatives in the Heartland to support our regions scaling entrepreneurs.

Emma Willis serves as the Director of the Heartland Region at Venture Noire. She supports the tech development for Spectra, a group of black-owned venture studios with the collective mission to advance innovation for a better and more equitable world. And today, she shares with us how we can all work to close the racial wealth gap in the Heartland and elevate opportunities for empowering diverse founders in our region.

Experiential learning has risen to the forefront of entrepreneurship education. It plays a critical role at the University of Arkansas in building a culture of innovation through programs at the McMillion Innovation Studio and Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub. In this episode, Sarah Goforth, Executive Director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, shares her entrepreneurial journey with us and how she discovered her passion for empowering students to become innovators and entrepreneurs. Students don’t just become ready to create their own futures — they become ready to change the world.

Last week, our Northwest Arkansas community lost a dear friend and entrepreneur, Francis Hwang, to suicide. Words cannot adequately describe this tragic loss. 

Entrepreneurs create new jobs, combat recessions, introduce useful products and services, and create prosperity. Through the ups and downs of innovating, they experience joyful celebrations but also suffer loss.  As entrepreneur ecosystem builders, it is vital that we understand the causes of founder's strengths and vulnerabilities and share this knowledge to empower future entrepreneurs to prevail. A few months ago, our team at Endeavor hosted a ScaleUp Summit session featuring Brad Feld. He openly discusses his personal battle with anxiety and depression as a founder and shares insights on what we can all do to support entrepreneurs in vulnerable times. As we honor the memories of our brilliant, brave, and beloved friend, Francis, we share a clip of Brad Feld’s session with you today.