Ep. 147 - Growth Strategy: Preserving Northwest Arkansas’ Soul with Nelson Peacock

Northwest Arkansas is growing fast, and the stakes are getting real. Traffic is heavier than it used to be, housing costs are climbing, and the green space people love can disappear one subdivision at a time. So how do we head toward nearly 1 million residents by 2050 without losing the very things that make this place special?

We sit down with Nelson Peacock, President and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, to walk through a new long-range vision for managing growth across Benton and Washington counties. Nelson explains why quality of life is the region’s “secret sauce” for economic development and business growth, and why protecting regional character has to be the starting point. We get into the idea of creating more town centers and walkable hubs that bring jobs, services, and community closer together, helping reduce sprawl while keeping that Northwest Arkansas feel.

From there, we dig into the unglamorous but critical pieces: the true long-term cost of infrastructure, the need for housing options at every stage of life (including workforce housing and missing-middle homes), and why transportation planning can’t rely on I-49 alone. Nelson also breaks down why water and wastewater require regional cooperation, and how governance has to evolve when city decisions ripple across the entire corridor.

If you care about Northwest Arkansas, regional planning, housing affordability, smart growth, infrastructure, and what it takes to keep a place livable as it booms, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s thinking about moving here, and leave us a review with your biggest hope for the region’s future.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Doing Business in Bentonville. I'm Andy Wilson. I'm the executive director, and I'm so excited that to that we're back today. You know, it's been uh last week since we we chatted together, and I want to also say thank you to all of our viewers and listeners, because without you, we would not have a podcast, and your your commitment is so powerful. So thank you. Okay, I've had a great guest today, Nelson Peacock. Welcome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

This is gonna be one of the most exciting conversations I've had in a while. You know, we're normally we're talking AI, we're talking retail, and we're talking all the stuff that's very important to what we do in our lives. But today we're gonna get to focus on one of my favorite topics, is Northwest Arkansas. I guess because I live here. I love it. I've been here over 30 years, and it's so wonderful. And Nelson is the president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. What do you say?

Why The NWA Council Exists

SPEAKER_00 1:13

That's right. Well, the Northwest Arkansas Council is a regional uh nonprofit. It's actually founded uh by Sam Walton, Don Tyson, and JB Hunt back in the early 90s. Um, and they had a simple premise. The premise was is we needed our businesses and our elected officials and civic leaders to work together to create an environment where our businesses could grow and thrive. So they set out and identified three key things that needed to happen for Northwest Arkansas to be a more robust place for their businesses. One was the regional airport, or now the national airport uh that probably many people fly into when they come here. Right. Uh getting uh internet access to internet, interstate highway access uh to I-40. There was a uh we weren't connected by the via Interstate uh not too long ago. And then a four-lane road from Springdale to Sylum Springs. And so all of those projects uh came online between 96 and 98. And that is when uh kind of the growth trajectory and everything really took off for Northwest Arkansas. And we have grown and uh shaped ourselves as those businesses have grown and shaped themselves into what they are today. Um so we have those three key businesses, uh, and also the University of Arkansas Chancellor is on our board, and you know, that's grown to around 34,000 students, R1 research university uh here in Northwest Arkansas.

Peacock’s Path Back Home

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Well, I am glad 36 years ago, those those leaders sat down and said we have to have a vision. That's right. We have to, you know, we have to have a way forward. And it's it's you know, uh, because I we moved here around 30 years ago. Yeah. And so prior to that, I was with Walmart. We were back and forth, back and forth. And you're right, exactly. Those things you talked about, it happened. Yeah. And it and it worked. That's right. It means working well today. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna we're gonna go forward a bit and we're gonna get to uh talk to Nelson about many things here that I think you're gonna be so interested in, even if you don't live here uh but but and come here to visit, I think you're gonna be so excited to hear the vision that Nelson and his team has put together for the next 25 years, and we'll talk about that. So I'm so excited again. But before we get into that, we need to talk about you for a moment. Okay. So um what brought you back to Arkansas?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Well, I was born and raised here. I went to school in Fayetteville. Uh actually, uh, you know, my dad, I was born in Fayetteville. My dad was in law school at the time. We grew up in the Delta, uh small town near Memphis, Tennessee, actually, uh right next to a rice farm. And uh anyway, I came back to school in Fayetteville um in law school. And, you know, it was a far different place uh back then. I left in 1998 and ended up in Washington, D.C. Uh, had a calling for public service. Um, at least I didn't I didn't know what my calling was, but I wanted to go up there and have a good time and get a job. And I ultimately did that and and made my way into some politics, uh, worked in the uh Obama administration um and sent a judiciary committee and a few other things. Then uh during the course of that, I met Janet Napolitano. She was the governor of Arizona and became Homeland Security Secretary. And so I worked for her for five years uh in Homeland Security, overseeing the government relations uh for that uh cabinet agency. Uh she ultimately got the job as the president of the University of California system uh and asked me to come to Oakland uh with her to oversee that effort. So I was there for about five years. Um in this job, the Northwest Arkansas Council CEO job opened up. I had a friend from here, since I went to school here, said, if you ever want to come home, this is the job uh for you. Uh and uh so I went through the interview process, and my wife, who's from California, was like, Yeah, just go have fun, see your friends, enjoy the interview. And then when I told her that I wanted to take the job, uh I think she was a little shocked. Um, but you know, we made the move about seven years ago, and it's been it's been really great. And I think I've been able to uh add a little bit of a little bit of political background, um, a little bit of uh public relations, a little bit of marketing, um, all to help try to move Northwest Arkansas forward. And we just get so much support from our members, our companies, uh, the general public. And it's just really been uh a blessing to be in a place where you can um uh effect change. Right. Um a lot of these other organizations I've been at are they're so big, it's you know, it's like moving the the battleship or steering the battleship. Here, we're headed towards that, but there's still enough um the ability to make an impact. And so that's what I really found uh enjoyable. Wonderful. So you've been back nine years or so? Uh eight or nine. Okay. So it maybe it goes by fast.

Defining Northwest Arkansas Cities

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Yeah. Okay, good. Well, great. Well, welcome back. I'm glad you came back. And and uh I hope your wife is enjoying Northwest. This is great. Uh that's a great story. It really is. Okay, now Nelson, uh, we live in a uh unbelievable area, don't we? You know, we as people know, we have Walmart and Tyson and J.B. Hunt and uh then the University of Arkansas, as we call it Big Four around here, but so many other wonderful uh opportunities here. Absolutely. I mean it's amazing that you know the supplier community, hundreds are here, so many other private businesses. And and you know, one of the things I know that you're passionate about is and when I was reading your path forward and studying it, is that you you talk about how important that each of our cities are that make up. So talk about what what that looks like, the cities that make up what we call Northwest Arkansas.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Yeah, so Northwest Arkansas is we define it as you know, two county region, Benton and Washington counties, made up of five major cities, um, and now a lot of smaller towns that are becoming uh larger. Yeah. Um, but uh, you know, Bentonville, obviously with Walmart headquartered here. Um, Rogers Lowell, JB Hunt is headquartered there, uh, and then you know, about Pinnaple Area, where a lot of the suppliers of communities relocating their local headquarters. Uh, Springdale uh has Tyson Foods and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. And, you know, it runs along the I-49 corridor. That's where the bulk of the population is growing, and you know, we're one of the fastest growing places uh in the country, as a lot of people know. But but each town is really uniquely defined uh in a way, uh it in large what measured by uh the demographics there, but also that major employer that has really shaped things and investing in their community. I know for folks that come to Bentonville, they can see the the footprint that Walmart and the impact that Walmart has had, but you can see that across the region, uh certainly if you go to downtown. Springdale, and even out if you go out to Salem Springs, Simmons Foods out there, really it impact and those companies uh really do a good job of of giving back uh and really have a um a lot of pride in their hometown. And I think because they've grown up together in many ways, uh it's it's um lent itself to that civic pride uh and reinvestment uh into the community.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Right. Absolutely. Uh yeah, you're so right about that. It's exciting to, you know, again, it's just an exciting and positive place to live and raise a family, do business. Yeah, you're so right. Okay, now one of the things we really want to spend our time on, and I'm and I know you're excited about this, and you're gonna be announcing this, and it's it's what, you know, as you look, we we have opportunities ahead. You know, you like you know, by 2050, I think we're estimating it have about a million residents. Yeah. Is that is that still pretty close? That's the projection. Yeah, yeah. Oh my goodness. So with that, yeah, then I know you, your team have spent a lot of time thinking about that. And that, you know, what what is your strategy for managing growth uh to this 2050 time frame? But yet I know also you and your uh uh team is very, very focused on what makes Northwest Arkansas special. Yeah. There's a lot of things that make us unique here. The trails, the arts, uh the low stress lifestyle, the community that you just talked about. Yeah, the companies giving back, all those things make up really our culture here.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Yeah.

Growth Pressures And What’s At Stake

SPEAKER_00 10:34

So talk to us about the field. Yeah. So when I look back, just one second looking backwards, when you look at the foundations of our organization and the growth of these companies and all the relocations of companies here, uh a secret sauce in that was quality of life. So we combined a great economy with quality of life, and that really created the flywheel for people to relocate here and everything. So a lot of what the council does through our economic development is focus on quality of life. And that's kind of where we've leaned into growth. Uh growth, we are one of the fastest growing places over the last 10 years, projected to be one of the fastest over the next 10 to 20 years. Um, and over the course of this time, that's really always been 100% positive, right? It's been uh more things to do, more opportunities, more arts, more culture, more restaurants, all of the things that people uh love about Northwest Arkansas. But we are starting uh to get to a point where there are some negatives that are coming with growth. And that is people are used to low traffic. You know, yeah. If you come from a major city, you might laugh about what we think is heavy traffic, but it is heavy according to a lot of the people that live here. Increased housing costs, those are coming up. Uh, we are uh through growth and spreading out across the region through mainly single-family uh housing developments, uh, we are losing a lot of the green space that people love here and rural, uh, this combination between, you know, kind of city living and rural living has kind of coexisted really nicely over the last 20 years. There's starting to be a lot of pressures uh on those activities. And then just the infrastructure seen and unseen costs that are going up around water, wastewater, things like that. So, what the council felt our role that we could play was to help us figure out how we can do these things together. How can we invest together? Because the decision Springdale makes certainly impacts the cities around it, uh, and vice versa. So um what we decided to do was come together, bring everyone together, listen to the community, listen to our leaders, and try to establish a vision for Northwest Arkansas that can, as we double in population almost, can we preserve those things that that we really love about it as we grow, as we increase opportunity for everyone. And so that's what this new vision, the uh the growth strategy that we are putting out uh tries to do. And we do a few major things with that. And the major one is we want to anchor uh growth and regional character. Uh, we want to make sure that that the all of our cities have the tools and the knowledge to preserve what they love about their town. And I think doing that and doing that together, we'll be able to build a place where everyone uh can can find their place, fit in, uh, and then hopefully do it in a way that we uh reduce as much pressure as possible on our infrastructure. Let's keep it affordable. Um let's keep it easy and manageable. That's what people love about this place, and that's what we need to maintain.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

You know, I love how you position uh that that to anchor the growth of the regional uh character. Yeah. I think that's a great foundational piece. And and how you talked about that, um, you know, that's that's where we're really working together to make a stronger future right here. Right. And and I and you know, I to your point, and I've not heard this you with the way you said this, this is perfect as you look at our growth through this character lens. And that's and and and that's your very first, I would think, uh, on your list of I think yeah, I think it I think that's powerful.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

That you know, a lot of this gets implemented through plans and zoning and you know, bonds and infrastructure development. And I think that can get if we focus on that, you get you could lose something along the way. So we wanted to zoom out, yeah, keep it high level, and make sure that we focus on what is important, what people love about this place, and preserve that and build on that uh even as we grow, as we bring newcomers in, um, as we invest in our infrastructure, you know, we need to preserve what makes this place special.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

So you you you brought the mayors, the chambers, the business leaders, you brought them all together and you listen. That's right. And from that, you develop this path forward.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah, and and the and the people. We had a roadshow in September where we did dozens of town hall meetings and survey work. Uh, and so uh, you know, a lot of these things we've been talking about individually. Yeah, different cities have been redoing their development codes, and there's you know clearly a lot of investment in parks and outdoor recreation and bike trails. So this has all happened over the through the last 10, 20 years. We're we've tried to put a bow on it, yeah, uh really define it, what we've been doing, and then hopefully that establishes the vision for us. Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

And that's your path forward, just maintain those downtowns you talked about, those trail systems, that arts, that culture, all of that.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Not only maintain it, make it better.

Town Centers And Gentle Density

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Yeah. And and and that's uh so okay, that's that is awesome. Well, one of the interesting things in that our consultants that helped us with this, you know, we went back and looked at, and I'm sure this is uh true across the country, but in Arkansas in particular, a lot of these town squares were established, you know, in the mid-1800s, and they are still the footprint of development today. Um and what we are proposing uh in here is a vision for a lot more uh squares and uh town centers across northwest Arkansas. Um that way there can be pockets of gentle density, or we're never gonna be, you know, huge downtown skyscraper kind of place, but we can have places where there are jobs and services that keeps people off uh off the roads as much. Maybe they can walk to work, yeah. Uh maybe they can uh you know have community uh in certain places uh that don't exist today. And by doing that, we can reduce the level of outward growth that pushes pressure on our our uh our rural landscapes and also the green space uh that people love. And if you do it right and you develop where there's already infrastructure, you don't have to rebuild new roads or infrastructure. And so you can do that in a more cost sustainable way over time.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

You know, I just read this morning about the Drake Farms Development Fed, a 20-year plan. Yeah. And they said this, they said the art is just exactly what you said. Yeah. You know, bring in people together, whether shopping, living, working, yeah, all in one area.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah. One of the things that we found that when we did our research here, and you look at uh other cities that have grown really rapidly, is people feel like they lost their community along the way. And I think a lot of that is that that they lose those gathering spaces because it's too hard to get to downtown or it's a hassle. Yeah. Uh and they're in their car, they're commuting a lot, and they just lost what they felt special about the place before. So how can we build lean into that and and preserve that?

Resilience And True Infrastructure Costs

SPEAKER_01 18:30

I I love that. I I love that. Anchor growth and real and uh in regional character, powerful. What's your next point, uh strategy?

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Well, I think you know, what we've put down is strengthened community resilience. And by that we mean financially. Uh, make sure uh that um you understand when you make decisions the fiscal impact of that. Because if you're always catching up to the infrastructure that you put in, when you build a road, it's a permanent liability. It's an asset for the community, but it's also a liability for the city or a a wastewater line. Yeah. Uh permanent, it's an asset, but a permanent liability. Um, so be strategic in how you do that because if you are as a city or a county, is all of your money is going to maintain a road that you built 20 years ago, then you can't invest in the park. Maybe it pressures your investments in education. Yeah. And the the cycle of that just continues. And so what we're saying is be very strategic about how you grow. Um, and that that's one of the things I think that we will be able to do is to to quantify this, to have real research behind this to show um um to show how these investments uh work and how they can pay off. Um and you'll see a little bit of that in the report and also some of the strategies that will be coming out following that. Um and that's particularly true of some of those smaller towns that that may not have a city planner. Right. Or they may not have, you know, they may not be prepared for the 2,000 uh home subdivision that the developer wants to develop. We need them to understand that um they need to take a step back, have a vision for their community, and understand the fiscal implications of decisions they make.

Housing Options For Every Life Stage

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Great, great. You know, this this your next next strategy point that I'm excited about and I was learning about is that build housing for every stage of life. Yeah. Now I did that call my attention, maybe because of my age. And you know, yeah, I'm uh, you know, 30 years ago when I bought my house. So now I'm thinking, I'm thinking about that.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Yeah. So talk about that. Well, we so we started looking at housing prices, and when I got here, that was this was housing prices the selling point. You could sell your place in California, you could come here and you know, get your McMansion and you know, still have some money left over. Yeah. Um but as we've grown, and as this place has become more desirable, obviously, that means the housing uh prices have gone up. So we did some research uh four years ago now, uh, and we actually started a workforce housing program called Groundwork that is helping work on zoning and other things with our cities um to make sure that you could build all the right types of uh uh businesses or housing for nurses, for firefighters. We want to make sure that they can live in the city where they serve. School teachers, all of that. That is, I mean, you know, in the Bay Area, we knew this a lot of our teachers had to commute two hours. And I just felt the loss of community by that. They weren't living in where their students lived. And so so anyway, we don't want that to happen here. So we began to focus on that. And some of the analysis we did found that by and large. We're building single family homes spread out or apartments. There was no very few duplexes or four-plexes. And, you know, a lot of younger people just graduated college. Maybe they want an apartment, but maybe they want something between an apartment and a single family big house with a big yard. And so we need to have those options for them. A lot of them want to live in close to downtown. Well, you know, we know that downtown housing is in demand. That's why it's going up so how so high in cost. So can we make more of it? Can we have more opportunities for people to live a walkable lifestyle in Northwest Arkansas? So that's one of the things that we want to do. And so as you kind of go up and then you have children, uh, maybe you want your single family, you want the yard. And then as those children go to college, maybe you want to downscale. So you don't want to take that on. And what we found is there's less mobility here to make those decisions because there's less options for people. And so we we want to have housing optionality so that people can move around and not be stuck in something that's not suitable for them. Because if you're, you know, just a two-person household and you are, I guess, stuck for lack of a better term, in a four-bedroom home. Now your children have left, and you're paying all that extra cost for upkeep, you know, if you want to move somewhere where there's a condo or you know, there's less yard to deal with, those options should be open to you, and that'll create a more dynamic market and allow lower prices and more flexibility.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Oh, I think I think that's an excellent point. And and you're right, as we grow, the demographic shifting that you know is shifting, you know, young people coming in, wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

This is a very young region, and there and more very diverse. Yeah. Um, when the council was founded, this area was 95% white in 1990. We are now uh heading towards 33 underrepresented minority percent. Yeah, that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Um I I love that diversity uh is happening in our area. It's it's really wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah, honest. And diversity of people that aren't from here, over 60%, maybe 65%, are not from Arkansas. I didn't realize it was that high there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Well, you know, it it's and and you know, one of the things I tell people all the time is uh, you know, they said when Northwest Saukers are growing. I said, yes, but I really think it's growing well. But what I'm what I'm learning and hearing from you is that you're gonna your council is gonna ensure that we grow well. That's what I'm what I'm hearing from you. We're so we're going to try.

Regional Governance For A Fast-Growing Region

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yeah, you're gonna work really hard. Ultimately, this will be the decisions of our mayors, our city counselors, our court members. Uh, we're just a nonprofit, uh, but we are outlining a vision with their input. Yeah, and we hope that over time we're gonna get the governance in place that we need. Right now, we have city by city governance. Um, and if you look at other fast-growing regions, we really looked a lot at Utah and what they've done as they've grown rapidly, and and and we're gonna need a council of governance to oversee a lot of these different things. We already have a uh an MPO, which uh is statutorily required, you know, works on housing and transit options. Um, but we believe we need to turn that into a full council of governance that oversees water, wastewater, uh we know the regional transit, right? Um, including highways. And so that's something that we're going to try to be bringing people together uh to figure out that. And and you know, that'll be up to the the the mayor, that'll be up to the elected officials of what they believe will work that protects their interests and their constituents, but also respond to this broader need uh for regional governance.

Highways Funding And Smarter Development

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Well, speaking of highways, that's your next point, right? So what how so what what did you uh what do you want to talk about there?

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Well, there's a there's a few things um uh there. Uh one is uh the way we are growing, um I think uh regional planning put out their vision 2050 not long ago. We have six billion uh in needs for our highways over the next 20 years, uh, and three billion in identified revenues. So we're gonna have to find new ways to pay for uh new roads and maintain what we have. Uh if you look at the roads that we have, I believe the analysis was it would stretch all the way to Fairbanks, Alaska. That is how much road we have to maintain. Um and that's just what we have right now. So we're gonna need to find new revenues to to help us along the way. Um we also need more connection points. Um right now, if you want to take a trip of any significant length, you're driving to I-49, you're going north or south on I-49, you're getting off, then you're going east or west. So we need more um routes so that not all that pressure is coming on to I-49. And there are plans in place right now to do that. Uh uh R Dot, the Highway Department has announced uh new 112 upgrades to 112. Uh we have been working really uh closely uh and focused on getting the Springdale bypass done, uh an airport access road, and a lot of these things are coming online over here over the next year. Um but we're just still we're just getting started. Uh there's gonna be a lot more growth, a lot more need. And I think if you go back to the conversation that we were having, is can we grow and build in a way where there's already infrastructure in place? Uh an example for people that are from here, but there's highway 71, which was the north-south carrier before I-49 was built. Well, there's very little development on that road, uh, certainly no housing. Um, and can we uh change our zoning rules? Can we focus on that as a priority because the road is already built? We don't have and also the the wastewater and water infrastructure is already built. We don't have to build that again. Uh and so we're already paying to maintain that. Um, so I think those are some of the ideas that you're gonna see come forward from the council um yeah in to to be worked on.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

I think that's excellent. Yeah, I really do. I think that's using our resources wisely and and going back, because you're right, at 71, it's almost forgotten it's not, but you know, it's it was our way uh north and south for years and years. And now there's multiple other multiple ways, but I think you're right, the the 71 and then you you get 112.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

Both of those uh you're yeah, you're you're studying and working on yeah, and then R Dot, this was just in the papers the other day. Uh R Dot is looking for another North Seth, a south connector out near the airport. Right. Uh, you know, this will be this won't be built for 10, 15 years, you know, minimum. But they're planning for that because we know that there are a lot of growth. No matter what we do, there's going to be a lot of growth uh that's pushing west.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Okay, you have shared four of these goals with us. Okay, let's do the uh let's talk about the next two.

Regional Water And Wastewater Cooperation

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Yeah, these are really good. I'm yeah, yeah. Well, the yeah, the other thing that we learned is really about water. Um uh right now uh cities uh by and large handle their own wastewater efforts. Uh that has led to uh some inefficiencies. Uh some cities have uh uh overcapacity, others have very little capacity. Uh we also know that water doesn't respond to jurisdictional boundaries, it flows downhill. Uh so uh what no, it doesn't matter where the city line is. So we have to develop a better regional system uh for handling water that's stormwater and wastewater. Right now we have a regional drinking water system, and so we've been looking at uh a study with um the state of Arkansas uh to help us establish a uh regional wastewater system. Um and that will be one, just the hard engineering of where it goes and how it's treated and all of that. But probably the more difficult part will be the regional governance and what's fair to ratepayers and what have they invested over time. How do we ensure fairness in the future and small towns versus large towns? Those conversations are taking place right now through a partnership with the state. And ultimately, this will become a part of the state water plan. Um and we think that's really important right now. Like I said, there's some building moratoriums uh in certain cities. I know Bentonville's faced a lot of pressures and doing a lot of investment in their wastewater system. Uh, how can we do that together? Yeah. Um really the the bottom line, can we do if we work together, can we be more efficient? Right. And I think the answer to that question is yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Good, great, wonderful. And um your last one is um lead together.

Where To Find The Plan And Closing

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Yeah. I mean, we talked a little bit about regional governance. Yeah. All of our cities have their own character, their own goals, their own visions. But a lot of these uh areas, the the things that need to happen are pretty similar. Uh, you know, they have to make smart fiscal decisions. They want to preserve their character. They need to, you know, uh to make sure they have a place where uh employers are gonna run a relocate and they need to have money left over to invest in what people care about, whether it's education or parks. And so what and more I guess more importantly, before I move off that, the decisions that Bitonville makes impacts Rogers and Centerton. Correct. The decisions that Rogers makes impact Springdale. Um, so we are all tied together in a way, and so we want to make sure there is some kind of regional governance that is overseeing all aspects of this and where you know elected leadership uh feels that they can be part of this regional system, but also uh represent the people that voted them into office.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

I the I think that's wonderful, and I think your vision, what I'm calling your vision report, I I think you you have provided very clear direction to our community. And I want I want to say thank you on behalf of all of us here in in our community. Uh we appreciate the hard work you and the council, your team are doing on this. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Oh well, there's a lot of people to thank. Uh and I appreciate that, you know, all the leaders that have participated, the mayors, um the county judges, the Walton Family Foundation has helped us with the funding to bring on really two great consultants, a DPC co-design and placemakers. They do this work all around the country, really helped us frame what this is going to look like. And you know, at the end of the day, our goal, and I know for your audience, is like, how can we continue to make this a great place for business? That happens if we really lean into continuing to build our quality of life. Um, there are so many great things happening here. This vision, this report is intended to strengthen those uh and not let growth overwhelm us as it has done in so many other uh cities across the country.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

Well, Nils Peacock, I will tell you it's been such a pleasure to visit with you this morning. Yeah, thanks for having me. Oh, I'm so glad you're here. And I want you to know the guru, you are welcome back anytime to talk about this great region. So, anything we can do to help uh communicate your vision and what's going on and and your your castle, you're welcome. Anytime. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Before we go, I'll just make one plug for Growing Home NWA. That's where you can find this study uh analysis. And then if you go to Northwest Arkansas Council.org, you'll find all of our different work streams that we work on. It's great.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Well, we want to get this out and we'll make sure that we uh when we publish this uh podcast, we'll make sure we can we have a link there with this so everybody can sit and anything else we can do here doing business in Biddenville. You know, you got my phone number, you call me. Yeah, I also want to say to you, I want I want to appreciate your communication, uh director Nate. It was great to speak some time with him. Again, just a very um qualified individual on your team.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Yeah, he he's wonderful, and we try to keep him as busy as possible.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Well, he said he's pretty busy. We got 20 minutes, and I was proud to get it.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

So but anyway, so uh to all of our our viewers, thank you so much again. As I said at the top of the show, we appreciate you so much and what you do. Uh and uh don't don't forget you can message me on LinkedIn if you have any questions or thoughts or comments or things you'd like for us to focus on, you don't hesitate. And I'll also be we have a live event coming up on April the 29th. Uh, we're gonna talk about AI and people. So I will be broadcasting that. You can uh hear our panel talk about the future of AI and then how that integrates with the workforce, you know, the people in the in the um the in this working. So you will want to um to tune into that. We'll be a lot more information coming on that. Nelson, thank you again. It's been a pleasure, man. Thank you. Okay, goodbye, everyone. Thank you, man.