The Retail Journey
Welcome to the Retail Journey where we will cover important topics, interview industry stakeholders, and address emerging trends as we journey through our mission of helping our listeners thrive in retail. Your hosts for this show are CEO James Harris and CGO Charles Greathouse.
The Retail Journey
Retail at the Heart of Bentonville: Economic Growth & Community Impact
Explore Bentonville, Arkansas with Brandon Gengelbach, President and CEO of the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce. Brandon shares what drew him to Northwest Arkansas, including professional opportunities and his love for cycling. We dive into Bentonville's unique vibe, blending local entrepreneurship, major corporations like Walmart, and a thriving community spirit.
Hear how the Chamber fosters business growth, connects Walmart employees with the community, and champions Bentonville’s vibrant culture—complete with great schools, restaurants, arts, and outdoor adventures.
We also look ahead to exciting projects, like the Alice Walton School of Medicine and collaborations with Cleveland Clinic and Mercy, while reflecting on lessons learned and the importance of creating emotional connections in a welcoming community. Tune in for a fresh take on Bentonville’s growth and its bright future!
Hello and welcome to the Retail Journey podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Charles Greathouse.
Speaker 2:And I am James Harris, and today we are talking to Brandon Gingelbach. Brandon is the president and CEO of the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce and prior to that he served in similar roles in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas, Indianapolis and Murray County, Tennessee. Welcome to the Retail Journey. Thanks, gentlemen, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Brandon, we're glad you're here. I'm glad to be here In Bentonville and on this podcast.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you, I wasn't sure which one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and joining us on the Retail Journey podcast. We like to focus on things generally related to retail and retail in Bentonville, and today we're talking mostly about Bentonville. That's amazing.
Speaker 3:I figured that four or five people had said no.
Speaker 1:I know you're community oriented which I commend you and so.
Speaker 3:I guess I'm checking that box today.
Speaker 1:Regardless of its origin. I'm glad we're here, uh no.
Speaker 2:What did bring you to Northwest Arkansas? Uh, the job. Yeah yeah, it's no previous connection, no family.
Speaker 3:No, so I uh, when you're in the chamber of commerce world similar to your world, you, you do this thing long enough. You get to know folks and different markets, and so I heard about the opportunity and I'm a cyclist, and so that just spurred a phone call and then from that it turned into you know, someone telling me that this is, this is, this is the perfect marriage of you, personally and professionally, with this community that's kind of tough to look away from.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't take that lightly when one of your good buddies tells you that Like hey the culmination of everything you've experienced has led to this moment.
Speaker 3:I was like, really Okay, I guess I should listen to that.
Speaker 2:Take a look. So, besides biking, more about the business community, what were some of the enticing elements about Northwest Arkansas?
Speaker 3:Well, for someone like me, I'm an economic development practitioner, so I'm somebody that likes to get engaged, helping to grow economies, and you want to be in a place where you've got other innovative folks that are in play, that are wanting to try new things and do different things, that are wanting to grow afraid to make mistakes, uh and very um, just unique in their thinking, and what you find is a lot of these larger cities. They don't need a whole lot of innovation. Yeah, they're market driven boston, new york, san francisco. I've lived in places and done this job in places that are not necessarily those tier one markets but have acted in ways that allowed them to be that way, nashville being the big one being in Nashville in 2000, before it became sort of where it is today.
Speaker 2:There's been some significant economic development in there. Yeah, that's where the fun is, so that's where Bentonville is.
Speaker 3:It's a really cool community. It's part of the Northwest Arkansas region and it's an area that's just growing, wanting to try new things, very aggressive about how to go about doing things. They don't act like they've arrived and for someone like me, especially coming from Texas, Texas is amazing and wonderful, but it's so market-driven. There's so much going on, A lot of the work that a practitioner does. In my role, we're just facilitating growth as opposed to really sitting down and using your brain power and your relationships to identify solutions to problems that can create opportunities for companies like High Impact.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's fascinating because the nonprofit world is not one that I've ever really stepped into, except for a board here and there or a committee for an annual fundraiser, so kind of getting into some of the pots and pans. What on a practical level in the community like Northwest Arkansas, what are some of the go-to initiatives that you're pursuing right now?
Speaker 3:Well, the nonprofit world that we're in is a little bit different than other nonprofits. For us, it's about growing and developing the economy. So we're here to be able to do whatever we can to help companies like you all be successful, and that includes a variety of different things. So we have a membership program and you join the chamber like you would join a gym and you receive certain benefits, and the goal is that we offer benefits that help companies be successful. So the key for that is being able to offer the type of education, networking, connections, whatever it is, to help you all be successful. So we just launched some focus groups earlier this year to be able to revamp our membership process.
Speaker 3:It used to be back in the day you think of chambers you're thinking of like your dad's chamber, of going to the Holiday Inn. And back in the day you think of chambers you're thinking of like your dad's chamber, of going to the Holiday Inn and sitting in the ballroom and just shaking hands with random people, pumped that you met somebody. And now it's much more niche and much more focused, and so, in fact, I'm meeting with you all offline to have some discussions about how we, as the chamber, can better serve you all and better serve the CPG vendor supplier community here in Bentonville.
Speaker 2:So that's another thing I like about what Bentonville is doing, and I don't know if you brought this or this already existed, but it's the greater Bentonville area. The tide in Northwest Arkansas is rising and it's not a competition between Rogers, bentonville, fayetteville, it's the tide's coming. So how do we build the infrastructure to maximize? That's right.
Speaker 3:Although I have to say I've had this conversation before it's the greater Bentonville area. I'm thinking we should just choose greater Bentonville or Bentonville area, Doesn't greater Bentonville area isn't that sort of synonymous with the same thing? Double dipping it's okay, that's how I feel we're double dipping, so let's just choose one of the other we'll look forward to that.
Speaker 1:I've got a guy on that, so we'll know the source of that change, if we do in fact see it good. But yeah, I love the rising of tides.
Speaker 3:You know well it's it's yeah, at the end of the day, when we're dealing with members or we're trying to recruit new companies to come to town, they don't see community lines. They don't understand where school districts stop and start, where neighborhoods stop and start. At the end of the day, they're looking for the best location for them to be successful as an organization and a location where they can attract and retain talent. So in that end, you would never pitch Bentonville on its own. You're going to pitch Northwest Arkansas half a million people as well as half of Missouri that can drive down here as well.
Speaker 3:So, you have to have that approach and I think in Northwest Arkansas there's movement around that regionalism well, and there's uh, there's something to that.
Speaker 1:As far as it's not something I realized. Um, you know, our last office location was in a rogers zip code and we had interest in the bentonville area chamber but figured oh, I don't have an address in that zip code, so we can't join the Bentonville Chamber. Was I wrong?
Speaker 3:Yes, you were wrong. Yeah, I was super wrong.
Speaker 1:Brandon has already told me that Now I know, but we do have a Bentonville address now and that actually didn't matter.
Speaker 3:It doesn't. At the end of the day, chambers are like any other business. We need to be able to offer products and services to our constituents in a way that best serves them. So, from a chamber perspective, we had a new company come in town two weeks ago that they do freight forwarding and they're trying to figure out which chamber to join. I just said listen, what are your challenges and issues and what help do you need? And that can help determine. It doesn't matter where your office is. What matters is that there's organizations here that can address the issues and the challenges.
Speaker 3:I think a lot of people look at chambers of commerce and they think of charity, they think of traditional nonprofits, of I'm going to give my 2% to either a 5K or the Chamber of Commerce, and while what we do involves a certain amount of love for the community and a certain amount of I want to support the community. That's supporting us, that's supporting my kids. There's also the business case. Supporting us, supporting my kids, there's also the business case and at the end of the day, that's really what businesses should be focused on. Is we're an association. What association around here, or multiple associations, can help us get to where we want to go?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Personally I'm excited about the Wall Street series and I know it's been around for a while. We weren't involved because we thought we couldn't be in Rogers, but we are now Talk a little bit about that for people that may not be familiar with it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was really exciting to come here and learn that we had a specific able to have benefits that are specifically around. That is key to be able to help grow and develop the most important segment of our economy in Bentonville, I would argue, northwest Arkansas. So I mentioned earlier having focus groups. I think a key piece is what are the challenges and issues that this ecosystem is dealing with in 2024, 2025, and how can we as an organization, as that business association, help address those needs. At the end of the day, it's talking to you all and having you all engaged and your insight in terms of what's important to you all to be successful in terms of access, connections, education, whatever that is. We have the platform to be able to help with that and do that in sort of an objective, neutral, party way, and I'm excited about being able to take that to another level.
Speaker 3:The community here is just unbelievable. You know this better than me. I feel like this CPG vendor supplier is sort of hitting its next wave of evolution. I feel like these CPG founders that came here, that are baby boomers that came and founded all these offices that are located in Northwest Arkansas, are close to retiring and there's this new wave of folks that have grown up in it because their family moved here and they've just taken jobs here or they're new into this consumer brand world and they're coming here and the synergies that are around what was originally here when these offices were started and what exists now is completely different.
Speaker 3:And so I feel like, oh, this is we, we, this is an opportunity for us, almost like like they were on the ground floor of like, okay, this is completely different in 2025. How can we help you all be successful?
Speaker 2:And therefore, uh, walmart and all of this ecosystem, and what time period we're talking about. When those founders, as you called them, came here, it was the 90s. It wasn't that long ago, but the evolution has been multiple times over now. That where the what it looks like to be a brand doing business with Walmart has transformed multiple times.
Speaker 3:You know you're old when you're like the 90s, was not that?
Speaker 2:long ago. These poor kids who are here watching this, they're like it was a long time ago.
Speaker 3:I've never heard of the band Boys to Men or Counting Crows.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah, Soundtrack of my life. But it's a unique community in a few ways. One you've got Walmart, sam's Club, enormous, multinational, largest retailer. You've got the brands for the large CPGs that have an office here but it's not their corporate, the people that are thinking about anything beyond selling more product at Walmart and Sam's. They're not here.
Speaker 2:And then you've got a handful of local companies who are based here and that's a unique element and they kind of obviously there's a lot of overlap between them and Walmart. And then there's companies like us that are third party, where they're. You know, in the previous two there's probably not a lot of need for networking in terms of traditional what you, what you would do at a normal kind of mixer like that. But on the third party side, which is probably more doors than the other two things combined, which is probably more doors than the other two things combined, the brands and the companies. So is the strategy to kind of look at those different markets and create unique products for each one or something that kind of addresses the needs of all three? Yeah, I don't know. That's the beauty of.
Speaker 3:For us, the power of what we do is convening and being able to listen to folks and be able to meet the needs in the best possible way. We can't be all things to all people, and so I think it is better to focus on those one or two areas where we can make the most impact. To me, I think there's just offhand doing this. I feel like there's a business development piece of offering benefits to businesses to help to be successful, and certainly you mentioned those third parties. I mean that's a big deal. I think connections, referrals, whatever those types of things are all positive, but I, on the brand side, I feel like and maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like there's an opportunity to create community oh yeah, for a couple of reasons, and you know number one we want these people to be here, we want them to be happy.
Speaker 3:We're losing out if, if they're not contributing to the fabric of Bentonville, if they're just driving to Rogers or one of our communities and back and forth to work. And so is there a way, in the confines of the Walmart ecosystem, to get them to be open?
Speaker 3:And I'm sure, plenty of them are. They're coaching kids' teams and maybe on school boards and stuff, but I know plenty are not, and so to me maybe there's an opportunity there as it relates to connection and convening, and then maybe from the other side of things it's more business development and networking. But y'all know the answer. I can see it in your eyes.
Speaker 1:Well, I just have felt the power of being able to sit and talk with someone who's having similar problems. They're trying to solve those same problems in a different way than you are, and somewhere between the two of you is a better answer to both of your problems than what you would have come up on your own, and to me, that's the power of these sort of spaces. You could call it networking. To me, it's not about shaking hands and oh, what do you do? That's great. Moving on about shaking hands and oh, what do you do? That's great. Moving on, it's about, like, let's talk about a topic, you know, let's actually go into something and come out better because of the discussion rather than just connected.
Speaker 3:um, I find a lot of that, because you can do both you're actually connecting, but at the same time, you're discussing topics that are of interest and allowing people to learn through the process. Substructure helps.
Speaker 1:Like you said, an unbiased facilitator. Yeah, your local chamber of commerce, there you go Can create economic development. I love it, you know.
Speaker 3:I saw you before we came on air. Here you had a beef jerky. Yeah, I can already see your disposition. You've changed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel great you've yeah, before it was you're now. Great, you're on and they have a pretty good office here. Jack links shout out they're not a sponsor of the show yet yet we have zero sponsors to the show.
Speaker 2:That's okay.
Speaker 3:That's okay you could be the first I could be a sponsor.
Speaker 2:Chamber could sponsor there you go, write that down so walmart and the and the companies that sell to them and the companies that support them are a unique and driving element here, but it's not the only element. There's a tremendous startup and kind of innovation junkie network that exists in the area. How plugged into that is the chamber.
Speaker 3:So we're very plugged into that. It's great, A very unusual market in Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas. A lot of people that do what I do around the country are focused on recruiting large corporations. And recruiting companies to your community is I always equate it to like your son or daughter hitting a home run in a sports or a competition yeah, a competition. It makes your self-esteem feel better. Is it the highest and best use of our time? Does it impact the economy in the way that helping local companies or entrepreneurs be successful? Probably not. Do they chase incentives? There's arguments both ways.
Speaker 3:That's not going to be an area of focus for us. There's just so much market-driven growth that's happening. There are some key areas that we can talk about that we want to lean into. But the entrepreneurship piece, with the creativity happening on the retail side you know this more than anybody that's an area for the chamber to lean into. We don't need to do programming. A lot of chambers want to be in that entrepreneur space because there's an opportunity to get funds to help the economy and do things. I have no clue, you know. The entrepreneurship piece is another. They speak another language, but we have the ability to convene and we have the ability to make those connections for what the entrepreneurs need and we have the ability to recruit companies for the accelerator programs here to keep those companies while they're here making sure we're meeting their needs. So after the program, that not a whole lot of other chambers are doing and there's huge economic benefits for that, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's also importing entrepreneurs or talent through the CPG network. Because you come here for your two years of rotational with a large CPG and it's like, okay, yeah, I'll do it. Where is it? Arkansas? Like okay, yeah, I'll figure that out, bentonville, I don't know. And then you get here and realize it's way better than you expected and you stay. I can't tell you how many friends and neighbors I have that are now even outside the ecosystem but came because of that and then stayed because Bentonville is awesome.
Speaker 2:We're blessed Quality of life. Compared to a lot of places, it's off the charts.
Speaker 3:I told the mayor I wanted this to be called the Unicorn City. She didn't like the idea.
Speaker 3:She actually said it wasn't original enough, which I found confusing. I think it's very original. In fact I'm going to get a hat with a unicorn jumping out of the Bentonville Water Tower. I love that. But we've got an amazing school system here. The education Is this the first place my kids have gone to public school? They've always gone to private school in the other markets that we've lived in. We have a restaurant scene here that punches way above its weight. Population, Really good. Yeah, I mean the restaurants here, and we're talking 60,000 people in Bentonville, half a million in Northwest Arkansas. The arts are unbelievable here and expanding Holy cow. And expanding 110,000 square feet expanding.
Speaker 2:And the number of great concerts you can see here at a typically very approachable pricing. It's almost every weekend.
Speaker 3:It is. It is every weekend, literally. You've got the trails and outdoor recreation, the amenities. You've got a job market here If you want to work for any brand pretty much in the world, I mean, there's tons of opportunities and oh, by the way, it's affordable.
Speaker 2:I've always felt like the most fortunate luck of the draw thing that's ever happened to me is that I grew up in Northwest Arkansas, graduating high school in the late nineties. But the timing for launching into what I, within a year or two, realize, oh, I like products and I like, you know, seeing them in a store and people buying them. Um, I wouldn't have had that realization if I grew up in Milwaukee, you know, let alone the opportunity to be involved in it before I'm done with college. It's a very, very fortunate place to get to be from.
Speaker 1:I could see you as a good cheesehead, though, sam. I'm glad you're here too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, that's what would you do if you didn't do this. So growing up in this ecosystem influenced you to do what you do now.
Speaker 2:It influenced the career I always wanted to be in business and an entrepreneur. I don't think that's part of DNA. It was the location of being able to actually have access to do that at a fairly young age.
Speaker 3:Yeah, in a market that is literally booming on the ground up, which is most people want to leave where they grow up Right and not double down. Yeah, literally booming on the ground up, which is most people want to leave where they grow up, Right and you know, not double down, yeah, but I guess it's changed so much.
Speaker 2:It's not the same place, that it's not even I mean every two years it seems like it's changing to where.
Speaker 3:It's like, well, yeah, I've lived here, but I don't really feel like I've lived here because it's, it's you know, just and a large city.
Speaker 1:What's been the biggest surprise? As you've moved to Bentonville, that's a great question.
Speaker 3:I think realizing the other areas of growth and opportunity. I think realizing the other areas of growth and opportunity. I really Walmart is a big part of the ecosystem and we're blessed and thankful for all that it brings. But there's a lot going on in health and when you have the richest woman in the world who decides to get involved in something in any other community, that's like oh, that's nice, that's sweet, and here it's like oh, that's nice, that's sweet.
Speaker 3:And here it's like, oh, wow, we're going to completely transform our community and transform healthcare in a way that Crystal Bridges has helped transform the community from an art standpoint. So I really did not understand that. I just thought, oh, I'm coming to Bentonville, home of Walmart, and there's some nice-to-haves on the side. And same with the aviation side. We had the UP Summit a few weeks ago and the convening that's going around mobility, specifically aviation and air and logistics. I had no clue and those are really exciting opportunities. Going back to how we started, these are fun opportunities that we all, as community leaders and business leaders, can get around and talk about. That doesn't happen in larger communities, right, and I feel really fortunate to have that here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, there's also. I mean there's a technology sector that's um. Surprisingly, you know if you're not in that part of the world, it's pretty substantial in northwest arkansas. Some of it related to retail, some of it not, um that that that hub has been intentionally kind of created and starting to see it fill up it is.
Speaker 3:We had a northwest arkansas tech Summit. We do this 11th year to do it. We did it just a few weeks ago and it was technology focused around those actual three areas we just talked about, which is the retail value chain, mobility and health and it's so big I almost feel like we need to be separating that, convening that much. Again, I didn't realize the tech infiltration and just the talent that we're involved with is around tech and retail or health or some form of those two really.
Speaker 1:When you look in your crystal ball and think about what's coming ahead, fast forward. Two years, three years in the Bentonville area cast a little vision for us. Where are we going?
Speaker 3:Yeah, do you have a crystal ball?
Speaker 2:I love that expression.
Speaker 1:I'd love to.
Speaker 3:I'd love to have a crystal ball, just to reference Um it's chat GPT.
Speaker 2:That's a great point.
Speaker 3:Uh, that's a really really good question, I think so much is on the way that from a retail perspective, from the home office, 2026 is for me.
Speaker 1:I'm already looking Home office campus happening.
Speaker 3:Crystal Bridges. Crystal Bridges expansion Alice Walton School of Medicine will be opening. Expansion Alice Walton School of Medicine will be opening At some point. They're going to start building this hospital that they just announced that Alice Walton and Cleveland Clinic and Mercy are going to be involved with. So for me, I'm not even 2026. And that's.
Speaker 1:Central and 49, right. That where the hospital?
Speaker 3:I don't think that's been announced yet. The location Okay. I don't think it's somewhere. It is I think.
Speaker 1:I think that's been announced yet the location.
Speaker 3:Okay, I don't think it's somewhere it is. I think you're on the right boat. Cool, I think it's interstate area, but I'm not sure they've announced specifically where that's going to be and when they're going to start and all that stuff. So for me it's really beyond 2026, because we're 2024.
Speaker 2:That stuff's cooked.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that stuff's so for me it's, but for people just driving by. They might drive by J Street and be a little surprised at how big some of the buildings are that are being built. Alice Walton School of Medicine is pretty incredible. You may have noticed driving on Northeast A that Crystal Bridges might be getting bigger, but very much bigger.
Speaker 3:Very much bigger.
Speaker 1:It's a bit remarkable for those that just aren't in it day to day. If you want to shine some light on for folks in the audience that either fly to XNA, get an Uber to the Walmart home office, have their buyer meeting, get back in the Uber and drive back to XNA. That's their only exposure. That's so depressing.
Speaker 3:To Bentonville. It's so depressing To Bentonville, it's so common it is.
Speaker 1:Shine a little light on like hey, here's a couple of the areas that are either new or just very much growing, that are world-class, that you might not have seen.
Speaker 3:I think that's practically the entire city. There's just so much that's being built and developed. So we've talked about the crystal bridges and the expansion's just so much that's being built and developed. So we've talked about the crystal bridges and the expansion and the space that that's going to offer for community convening. These, these exhibitions that they have are amazing. No, world class. Yeah, I didn't. I thought, oh, here's a great museum like the kimball museum in fort worth.
Speaker 2:You know it's no, this is on the same rotation as the louvre and the met and yeah, I mean, it's all the good stuff unbelievable.
Speaker 3:My wife went last night. There was jane fonda was presenting with uh, I forget the there's another actress that was there. Anyway, they were sitting here talking about, um, women and maternity and whole health and it's like my wife just you know, know, drop the boys off from school. I'm going to go hear Jane Fonda in my 60,000 person town, like think of the people who are on the way to XNA from the Walmart campus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the best people watching in the square in Bentonville anyway, is Shareholders Week, because you have no idea what celebrity, what politician, what person is just going to be walking to the five and dime. That's right, yeah.
Speaker 3:That's it. That's it, snoop Dogg. There he is, hi Snoop, how's it going?
Speaker 2:100% oh go ahead yeah.
Speaker 3:No, I mean we've got. So there's going to be all new retail that are coming along J Street. You know where the home office is, so all the new retail concepts that are going to be coming from there. Downtown has already, I feel like there's a new restaurant opening each week. Yeah, um, which is phenomenal, um, the runway group, which is tom and stewart walton's group.
Speaker 3:They bought 2700 acres in bella vista yeah and they're going to be doing some, some big work there in terms of outdoor recreation and community building, affordable housing, retail. So much of the things that we're focused on as a community is how do we continue to make this a vibrant community where we can attract and retain talent, and part of retaining is retaining those that grew up here like you. You know who maybe go somewhere and then come back. But how do we do that? And that's that's what's happening here. Because we're a smaller, less competitive market, you have to do those types of things to be able to get people to pay attention.
Speaker 3:And I think I don't know the numbers, I don't share the numbers. I just do know, anecdotally from the conversations I've had, that when Walmart talked about consolidating locations and people coming to the home office or just, you know, taking a package, I think there's way more people that said, oh, we're coming to Bentonville, yeah, and that's a tribute to them, it's a tribute to the family and the community here, all of us working together to make this. I mean that's a really amazing compliment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I appreciate that and I think there's a ton that Walmart, walt and family have done for this area. When we were talking about sustainable economic development. For any community, a major company, a heavily involved family, are awesome, and for it to be sustainable, it takes a lot of business development, a lot of business engagement. If you're here, you're in business, you should be looking for ways to be engaged. You know High Impact. We help people. We're a service agency. We want you to have everything you need to thrive at Walmart and Sam's Club, and if you are thriving at Walmart and Sam's Club, we're not going to sell you something.
Speaker 1:We like plugging the holes that need to be plugged. We like helping where help is needed, and I think there are a lot of folks like that who think, oh, there's no help needed For me, they're covered, and that's just not true. Another one of the things that I had wrong you can have an address outside of Bentonville and still be a part of the chamber, and there's a lot of need when it comes to building a sustainable environment for economic development. Can you talk to anybody in the audience that might also be thinking the same thing of like, oh, they don't need my company to participate?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it breaks my heart. That literally is the saddest thing when you told that story of people that just get in the car and come here and come back, because to me it's people that are and I'm not this is maybe an exaggeration, but it's people that are, and I'm not. This is maybe an exaggeration, but it's people that are so career minded that there's not room for.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I think it also has a lot to do with being home with kids, family that sort of thing.
Speaker 3:They want to get home. Admire that. They're not Okay. Thank you for painting. Painting that a little bit.
Speaker 2:But there might be others that have different motivation.
Speaker 3:but the end of the day, I think, uh, I want folks, everyone needs to be engaged in in your community and and allow your voice to be heard. It's ironically easy for that to happen when you're facing uh challenges or you're having a rally cry. Yeah, you mentioned in the the bio here murray county County, tennessee. Murray County is the home of Saturn the car maker.
Speaker 3:GM had a good run these people are too young, but yeah, had a good run. And so I moved there 2010 and they closed the plant and I was on the front page of the Tennessee and yeah, I was like, oh, so what are you going to do now? 18% unemployment. I'm like, well, the good news is you can only go up, right, right. It was the best place, one of the best places I've ever worked, because the community was immediately like what are we doing?
Speaker 3:The banks are together, all the banks. They're competing. It doesn't matter the hospital's in the room, the school district, the city, the county, and there's that community mindset. I think you saw that with, unfortunately, the tornado, that came through northwest Arkansas in terms of we just were coming together. We're helping people.
Speaker 2:There's volunteer crews on every street just cutting down trees, that's it.
Speaker 3:Just doing whatever can happen. There's a lot of markets around the country that have a story like that, oklahoma City being a big one. When United Airlines said they were going to move there and then they talked to their employees and the employees were like we're not moving to Oklahoma City, and then they've ended up helping to transform that community. The community came together. That doesn't happen as much when the community is doing really, really well without you. So that is, I think, a opportunity for us and a key ingredient for us to be successful long-term is the economic development efforts have to be driven by the business community and friends and family and large employers like Walmart need to be providing the support to guide and direct the efforts and be at that table. They cannot be the only one driving it.
Speaker 2:Right and. I think that's a misconception, that there's this master plan, that really powerful forces are behind and there's no changing it.
Speaker 3:That's extremely observant. I think people normally go negative and assume there is something. I think part of it is and there's clearly a direction. But help this company that's here, the Fortune One, be as successful as it can be from a talent standpoint, engagement from other people. There's got to be more initiative to help drive, to help create better ideas, to help push back on some things, to make it truly something that the community wants and needs. And that doesn't always happen because we can get spoiled and things are done for us and we don't think we're needed. And for me, that's going to be the biggest challenge as the chamber president is to say hey, everybody, in all these other markets, the entire community is around the table and there's a few of you that are around the table and that's not enough. And let me tell you why we need to be around the table. Let me show you what other communities do when they get around the table. And, to be honest with you, I think I know that you know family and foundations and others would love to be on the sidelines helping to direct the effort not, you know, moving forward.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know the other part of it is you. I mean, you can't forget, this is 60,000 person town. I mean, this is, this is a small town. Nwa is a small community. Um, we punch way above our weight but at the end of the day, you know the planning and zoning that's at the city, um, the, the development process, the infrastructure. We're a 60,000-person town that really needs to develop the sophistication of a half a million metropolitan area, and so that's happening. It just can't happen at the scale that the rest of this business development has happened and it doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't. It doesn't, and that's a key reason why I'm here and why we're having these conversations about the business community coming around the table to say, hey, listen, we've got to sort of elevate the rest of the areas of the community to help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. So what would you say to someone who's like okay, I've learned now a bit of the role of the chamber? It's not just glad handing and and high five and new people. There's a. There's some serious advantages and value to be brought, and it's not just for people who are a small company based here. You can be based somewhere else, have interest in the economic development of Bentonville how then do I get engaged? So what now? So what?
Speaker 3:now. So what now? Really, at the end of the day, it's taking the first step of getting connected and being able to talk about the interests that you have, the challenges that you face, both from a business standpoint and from a community standpoint. Most of the time, they're synonymous right with you all. You want to grow and develop your organization and oh, by the way, that's going to help the community in which you live, and so we'll have some companies that are actually helping with infrastructure for this community, and so they care because they're, they have a vested interest in the construction and infrastructure, oh, like a CEI or something like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's it If you're a CEI, or if you're Crossland Construction or you're Garver or you're any one of these companies that's being engaged. Part of it is well, there's business opportunities for us. The other part of it is our husbands and wives and kids are all here too, are all here too, and we want to ensure that the work that we're doing and the work that's happening is going to compliment our lives as citizens as much as it is from a business standpoint. So there's that connection for every business, and may not be both, may not be personal and professional, but there's always a business piece and sometimes that business piece is greater or less. Usually the smaller businesses, the business piece, and sometimes that business piece is greater or less. Usually the smaller businesses.
Speaker 3:The business piece of the chamber is really enticing because offering connections, being able to do referrals, being able to create environments where they can connect and have conversations with people that they don't normally get to, that's a value. The larger organizations they're probably a bit more interested in just the future workforce and making sure the development process at the city is going to be fast and efficient, making sure that Arkansas, at the state level, has competitive policy as it relates to business and as it relates to tax and as it relates to all the different nuances of running a business, so it's really just getting engaged and showing up and being able to say, okay, I want to help and I need help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. I mean, you are a cyclist. I also enjoy riding bikes. I'm the odd man out here.
Speaker 1:When you find yourself on a trail wishing that it was better maintained, there's something very tangible you can do about it. Go work with one of the local groups here. Friends of Arkansas, single Track is one of the best. There's a handful of groups you can volunteer with and actually improve something. If you find yourself in Bentonville wishing something was different, you're working here wishing that there was more of something, more of something else. It's an invitation to come, be involved in shaping it to be better, to find ways to improve, to work with others, to collaborate through what it takes to improve as a community, and I think it's the same kind of invitation. It's not meant to be passively observed, but if you're here, be a part of it, it's well said.
Speaker 3:I'm grateful for y'all, for your interest in community and your interest on this podcast and just the understanding and the connection we all, at the end of the day day are created to serve and help others.
Speaker 3:And you all get to do that in your business. It's, you know, for y'all it's a calling, not as much as a career. It's truly using your talents and abilities to help others and being community-minded and just expanding your circle just a bit outside of your family and your work is incredibly rewarding and, to me, part of why we were created. And you're robbing the community and yourself and your family by not opening yourself up, to be willing to get engaged in that effort and the public school system here. Sorry to cut you off.
Speaker 2:No, you're great, I was cutting you off the public school system.
Speaker 3:they have community service and it is the greatest thing ever because it's opening up my kids' minds to something about serving others.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:And guess what they have to be forced to, but it's just like everything else, right, you're forced and they're like I don't want to do this. And that was really cool, dad. Yeah, I didn't realize there's people that struggle for food, or I didn't realize that. You know, at city hall you can actually talk to the mayor and ask questions and you know it's it's um, not enough people are engaged on that side of things and and we see that, and so I think I'm glad that we can talk about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of my favorite things about this area. I've only lived kind of two other places for fairly brief periods of time, but I've traveled a lot, particularly with business, and it is so but I hear other people say this about Northwest Arkansas that it's so easy to get to know people. So you move here new. We've got a person in our office moved here. I think right out of college didn't know a soul, connected to half of the square. Now in about a year. It's a unique place where you can meet somebody at a thing, have a conversation and you're having lunch the next week, where that just wouldn't happen in Minneapolis, austin, et cetera.
Speaker 3:Depending on the community, you usually get ignored. In a large community, you get ignored because it's just too big, it's too busy, People are running around. In a small community, you get ignored because this is who we are and you're not one of us, You're not here yet and so here you have the benefit of both. It's a smaller community and you've got folks that are from here and not from here and they're all opening with open arms. I talked to a woman. She runs a cycling nonprofit here and she said Jessica Pearson with Bentonville Moves, and she says the thing I love with Bentonville Moves and she says the thing I love about Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas is you can be talking with somebody and you're interacting and you're having fun and you have no idea whether or not they're a local or not. Yeah, and then all of a sudden it comes up. It's like, oh wow, you've lived here 35 years.
Speaker 3:Oh you moved here three weeks ago. There's just something about the energy of this place of helping others, of telling stories, of connecting um that makes it really special, yeah yeah, well, I think it's time for our lightning round.
Speaker 1:Let's do it all right. Um, I'll start with a zinger. Uh, biggest failure in business biggest failure in business.
Speaker 3:I feel like I have a top 20 failures Top 20.
Speaker 1:All right, we'll go through the first 10. Is that right? That's great.
Speaker 3:Tell me about a time where you were in the corner sucking your thumb after a bad deal. So I think one of the and I mentioned this in my job interview when I was they asked me a similar question and we had a big fundraising campaign in Fort Worth that we put together and brought all the people together and we're so excited about sharing the vision of the community and what was going on. It just was absolute, complete failure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, great idea.
Speaker 3:It's a $3 million goal and we raised like $200,000. It was just very sad.
Speaker 1:That's not quite the thermometer exploding on the top.
Speaker 3:No exactly Not quite there.
Speaker 2:Not quite there, and you just feel like they didn't see the vision.
Speaker 3:No, I think. I mean I just did it wrong. I mean the delivery was wrong. So much of what you do. You get so anxious sometimes with an idea or a thought because you know what needs to happen, that you don't bring people along for the ride.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:And everyone is supportive of it.
Speaker 3:But you've got to just get them around the table. That's easy to do in any sales scenario. Yeah, and it's really bad for community. Right At the end of the day, it's the community that needs to be pushing this forward together, not one individual, and so that was a bad call, same mistake over and over, but but that's how you learn, that's how you get better.
Speaker 2:I mean the the stories go back to. You know hershey's filed bankruptcy seven times, or whatever it was, before he was finally successful. And there's generation, generational wealth in a multinational that exists in its wake. Um, so we we like to ask that question um biggest learning this year.
Speaker 3:I think the biggest learning this year is for community, especially high growth communities, to be successful, you have got to bring the locals and the transplants together to create, um, an emotional connection and a respect and an understanding that in high growth communities, everyone is going to have to sacrifice a little bit. You know, locals, this is not the community that you signed up for. I'm so sorry. We are standing on your shoulders. Former leaders, former business leaders, thank you. Transplants hey, you know, this isn't where you came from. This is not where you came from. This is a little bit different and you need to know and understand and respect this community of whose land you're on, if you want to talk in those terms, so that we can move forward.
Speaker 3:That's the biggest fracture for high-growth communities is an us-vers mentality, and so when you have big decisions involving infrastructure, involving public transit, involving housing, it always comes back to local versus transplant. Not in my backyard, you're too narrow-minded. It's this back and forth. So to me, that was a real big lesson for me to come in and say, okay, let's start this off the bat, let's bring everyone together, because you can't have that. I love it.
Speaker 1:We talked about concerts every weekend. Who are you listening to, or what are you reading, if you're not into music?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I really don't have time for a whole lot. It's really, where am I writing? That's sort of the yeah.
Speaker 1:I love it?
Speaker 3:Where are you riding right now? Where am I riding? And I have a gravel bike and I ride in Pea Ridge and I ride by the airport. In fact, wife flew in from Fort Worth. They have gravel literally at the airport, like right next to the runway. So I just do these gravel loops and it's XNA. So you know there's one runway, maybe two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you just see the plane. It's like you know it's like honey.
Speaker 3:I'm flying in at 930.
Speaker 2:All right, that's an American flight there. It's coming from.
Speaker 3:DFW. So, um, to me it's, that is my escape, that's where I get energy, that's where, um, I can have peace and, um, I will tell you, for the non bike rider, uh, the greatest thing is the e-bike. Yeah, and I'm telling you, all my friends will come visit from various places and as long as you get them like a padded pants so that their bottom doesn't hurt, you get on this e-bike and you can ride with us and you don't have to do anything.
Speaker 2:You just are hitting this lever going and nobody knows that people I'm riding with.
Speaker 3:That's it and you're and you get to. I take all my friends because, you experience. You don't get to experience the true uh, outdoor recreational experience. Um, if you're not on a bike in Northwest Arkansas, Like you know, you have to be hiking or walking in which you have to drive to, but you can literally leave from downtown and be somewhere else. And the energy and the camaraderie. To me it's way better than books and music.
Speaker 2:Sorry books and music people.
Speaker 3:Obviously you're books and music people.
Speaker 2:This has been a fun conversation. It's been good to kind of hear a little bit of your vision for the chamber and for the for the community well we're.
Speaker 3:We're blessed to be here, blessed to have y'all here and fun times ahead for all of us absolutely.
Speaker 1:Someone wants to get a hold of you. How do they, how do they find you well?
Speaker 3:you can. I was going to say call me, call you, you can call me, you can email me. You can go to the greaterbettenvillechambercom Actually, it's greaterbettenvillecom is our website and get connected to us.
Speaker 1:Sounds like we'll probably keep the greater than if we drop a word, it won't be greater I think it will be.
Speaker 3:I think I'll let you decide To me. I want to lead with Bentonville, okay. So I want to be, Bentonville area chamber versus greater Bentonville, just because I think Bentonville is the namesake. Start typing Bentonville first. Start typing Bentonville first. I like that. Cool Bentonville first, I like it. You should get into this whole retail thing.
Speaker 1:I think you got an act for it. Yeah, I've named enough things in my career. We'll stop there, all right.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for joining us this has been great and to everybody listening thank you, or watching, thank you for joining us. You can always check out all of our podcasts on our website at highimpactanalyticscom or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you very much.
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