February 2023

IN SOME AREAS of the country, they call this time of year “the dog days of winter.” But looking around in Arkansas right now, the jonquils are ready to bloom, and it’s 70 degrees outside. The forecast is just as nice in this month’s newsletter. All around this great state, there are a number of […]

Jon Chadwell, Executive Director, Newport Economic Development Commission Newport, AR WHEN WE HEARD about the Newport Economic Development Commission’s bold new plan to train long-untapped segments of their Northeast Arkansas population for careers, including in IT, we just had to sit down with Executive Director Jon Chadwell and get him to tell us all about

A SKILLS STRATEGY FOR ALL TIMES 5 ways IT apprenticeships are the right idea for today’s economic climate Lonnie Emard, ACDS Apprenticeship Director IN RECESSIONARY PERIODS, company leaders often react quickly to cut costs in labor and training. When businesses need to do more with less is when IT apprenticeships become all the more attractive

MAGIC HAPPENED The improbable story of how Arkansas became a global capital of FinTech John Chamberlin Past President, Arkansas Academy of Computing BEFORE WE CALLED them memes, there was a computing cartoon that showed several people looking at a blackboard covered with a complex flowchart. The many boxes and decision points funneled down to one