THE NEWPORT INITIATIVEOne year in, and counting Jon Chadwell,Executive Director,Newport Economic Development Commission JUST SHY OF a year ago, G.B. Cazes of The Emory Group wrote compellingly in this space about a ‚Äúcrisis of regional imbalance‚ÄĚ in this country‚Äôs tech and innovation landscape. ‚ÄúMuch of Middle America is being overlooked,‚ÄĚ Cazes wrote, ‚Äúas big tech […]
John Chamberlin, Tech Entrepreneur, Teacher, & Cheerleader for Arkansas’ Computing History, Part 2 JOHN CHAMBERLIN, FOUNDER (in 1975) of Arkansas Systems, Inc., is a diehard promoter of this state’s long, impressive, and generally underappreciated history of technological expertise and accomplishment. In last month’s newsletter, Chamberlin recounted how he, James Hendren, and their team turned Arkansas
MEET KRIS HAIRE Age: 32 Hometown: Hot Springs, Arkansas Apprenticeship: Oaklawn MY BACK STORY I grew up on the less fortunate side of Hot Springs, in a single-mother home in the housing projects. I have one brother and two sisters. I’m the middle child, so my mom was always worried about the oldest and the
THE WORD FOR July 2021 is gratitude! Here we are just past the middle of the year, and we’re actually able to enjoy some of this summer. And while we do, we at ACDS want to express our thanks to all of you with whom we’ve built relationships over the past 24 months. To the
EDITOR’S NOTE: This month, in lieu of a regular Guest Column, we bring you a handful of short-ish insights and observations that for various reasons didn’t make it into our featured Q & A’s over the past year. We try to keep our published interviews in the 2000-2500-word range, and yet some of the raw
John Chamberlin, Tech Entrepreneur, Teacher, & Cheerleader for Arkansas’ Computing History IF YOU’VE READ the past few issues of this newsletter, you’ve come in contact with John Chamberlin’s contagious enthusiasm for promoting the long history of technology expertise in this state. “If we get a lesson in Arkansas history about the Bowie knife, we should
WELL, HERE WE are, on the cusp of getting back to ‚Äúnormal.‚ÄĚ Except that the post-pandemic normal is nothing like the good old pre-pandemic normal that we used to know and love. Doing business has changed. How we work has changed. And between in-class, hybrid, and remote, going to school is now like eating lunch
MEET LAURA WEIDERHAFT Age: 31 Hometown: Rogers, Arkansas Apprenticeship: WhyteSpyder MY BACK STORY I grew up in Rogers and graduated from Rogers High School. I was mostly interested in playing basketball, and my thought was to go to the U of A in Fayetteville and study premed. My dad was an industrial engineer doing planning
Gio Bruno, Owner/Proprietor,Bruno‚Äôs Little Italy Restaurant,Little Rock WITH THE SUMMER of 2021 come at least some nods toward normalcy. More fans are in the stands at ballgames. Some movies have actually debuted in theaters. And‚ÄĒhallelujah!‚ÄĒrestaurants are opening their doors to families and friends eager to enjoy a meal together again. For a look at where
ArkansasCOMPUTING HISTORY, Part 2 EGGS, CHICKENS, DATA Arkansas’ poultry industry flocked to computers early John Chamberlin, Past President, Arkansas Academy of Computing THE 1950S AND 1960s were a pivotal time for the poultry industry in Arkansas. Both local entrepreneurs and northern producers moving south were keen to take advantage of our state’s milder climate, lower