Arkansas Inc. Podcast: AEDC Year in Review - 2024
December 19, 2024In this episode of the Arkansas Inc. Podcast, members of the AEDC Business Development team discuss economic development trends, notable Arkansas projects and wins, and other highlights from 2024.
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TRANSCRIPT
Clint O’Neal:
This is Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, here with the AEDC Business Development team.
Group:
And you are listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.
Clint O’Neal:
Welcome to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. This is Clint O’Neal. I serve as executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. This is the final Arkansas Inc. Podcast episode of 2024. I think we have nine people here with microphones. As we've done for the last three years, our final episode of the year is with the AEDC Business Development team, here to share stories of behind the scenes projects, some trends in economic development, and hopefully some fun that we've had along the way.
A lot has happened this year. AEDC has participated in many economic development announcements in all corners of the state, in a wide range of industries. We've taken several international trips out there, telling the story of Arkansas as a great place to do business. This has taken us from Arkansas, all the way to South Korea, to Japan, to the United Kingdom, to Germany, to Ireland, to India, back to South Korea, a trip Olivia made to Canada. A lot of trips around the world.
It's been a fantastic year. There's so much that has gone on at AEDC. We're only going to cover a small piece of that today. Everything from entrepreneurship initiatives to rural development, so much great work in community development, film, military affairs, across many divisions. But today's episode features the business development team. So here we go.
We're going to recap 2024 with Olivia Womack, Raven Johnson, Richard Eberle, Regan Pugh, Cam Napier, Alicia McCloria, Steve Jones, and Bethany Duncan. AEDC Business Development team, welcome to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.
Group:
Great to be here.
Clint O’Neal:
All right. So thumbs up around the room. Everybody having a good time. This is a little bit of a lighter episode. We're going to tell some stories. Economic development is very important work, but we're going to show that we can work hard, play hard as well. First up, Olivia Womack. Olivia serves as our director of business development. Olivia, you have taken four international trips this year. Before we get into it, just tell us, are you getting some rest at the end of the year? How do you feel about that?
Olivia Womack:
It's always fun to go on international trips and represent Arkansas abroad, but it is always nice to come back home and sleep in your own bed and eat your own food as well. But no, we had a really great time on those international and had a lot of productive meetings, conversations and events, and so really excited to see in 2025, the results of those trips. But yes, I am going to get some good rest over the holidays, for sure.
Clint O’Neal:
Well thanks, Olivia. So it's an honor to be here with the team that you lead, the business development team, many people in the room. Give us your perspective. This is your second year as director of business development. Tell us more about the team.
Olivia Womack:
Sure. Well, first off, I couldn't be more proud of the business development team and the work that we get to do, serving Arkansans each and every day. A lot of times it's late nights, early mornings, a lot of travel, both in-state, nationally and internationally as well. And I think what really motivates all of us and helps us to thrive in these roles is that we get to serve our state, and we get to help bring more and better jobs to Arkansas through working with companies that are either expanding here within Arkansas or that we are able to attract into the state. And so we have a lot of fun.
We work really well together. I think hopefully, you'll see, especially from this podcast episode, that we all get along and collaborate really well. And I think that that team spirit and atmosphere of collaboration really shines through in our work, and helps us to be even more successful as a team, and also to partner with our community partners around the state and other stakeholders, as we work to attract more business to Arkansas. So it's an honor to serve with these wonderful people on the business development team, and excited for the Arkansas Inc. Podcast listeners to get to know each and every one of them.
Clint O’Neal:
Thanks, Olivia. Well, everybody will have a chance to say a few things, but first off, who's making their podcast debut here?
Alicia McCloria:
I am.
Clint O’Neal:
Cam Napier?
Alicia McCloria:
No, I am too.
Clint O’Neal:
Alicia?
Alicia McCloria:
Yeah.
Clint O’Neal:
Oh, Regan? Okay, so of the nine people here with the microphone, we have three people making their debut. The Arkansas Inc. Podcast. Welcome, again.
Regan Pugh:
Yeah, we'll see if it's my next career path. Maybe. I don't know. We can cut that.
Clint O’Neal:
Are you thinking?
Richard Eberle:
Comedy is definitely not it.
Regan Pugh:
Richard, we'll have to talk about that later.
Clint O’Neal:
All right. Steve Jones is our Building Insights coordinator. Steve, I think a lot of our listeners probably know you, a veteran in the business, but for those that do not, tell the audience the role that you play at AEDC.
Steve Jones:
So basically what I do is work with communities. I go in with the attitude, I'm from the government and I'm here to help, and it doesn't always... They don't ever take me seriously, I don't think until we get into it. And the agency as a whole, I think, comes across that way. But what I do is, I work with them, putting property and identifying property on the website, the Arkansas Site Selection Center, to see if we can help market, because we have to let them know that if they're not on that, they don't really exist as far as the business world is.
Clint O’Neal:
Very good, very important. That type of work has led to many economic development wins in 2024 that we'll get into. Bethany Duncan serves as our business development operations manager. Bethany, we know that that includes everything from planning international trips to trade shows that we do, to a lot of work around the office, helping get RFIs ready, helping just lead many initiatives for AEDC. Tell us more about that and what some of your favorite parts of the job are.
Bethany Duncan:
Well, I love my job, because like you said, I get to do a little bit of everything, so I get to just be a general support to the team. And then it's been really cool to see how my role has kind of changed into getting to play to my strengths and things I really enjoy, supporting, like you said, on helping plan events for some of our international trips, things like that. Getting to take part in the Farnborough Airshow, and some of those kind of extra initiatives that we get to go, represent the state in. And then, yeah, just day-to-day, just kind of getting to help with special things we have to do, like reports and different grant programs we get to be a part of. I really love it. We've got a good team here, so it makes it easy to help them out.
Clint O’Neal:
Thanks, Bethany. Alicia McCloria is our business development coordinator. Alicia came to us from Hendricks College by way of Oklahoma, so she has been welcomed to Arkansas and to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. We appreciate all that she does to help the team, stay organized, and running smoothly. Alicia, what's your experience been like at AEDC since joining the agency?
Alicia McCloria:
It's been really great. Everyone here has been super nice and welcoming and helpful. I came at kind of a crazy time, starting in June, right before the Farnborough Airshow, so it was like, "Ah," that's what I felt when I started. But everyone's been great. It's been amazing. I've learned so much about economic development thus far, and I still have a lot more to learn, but I've really loved working for the agency and getting to see how things work.
Clint O’Neal:
Great. Okay. We're going to talk about some projects from 2024, some behind the scenes stories. Raven Johnson, also from Hendricks College, also from Oklahoma as first up. So Raven, tell us about Tate Manufacturing, a project that you helped lead for us, that located in Pocahontas.
Raven Johnson:
Yeah, I would love to. Tate, Inc. is a steel manufacturing or fabrication company. They are based in Jessup, Maryland, and they were looking to locate a facility in multiple places in the country. And so they were doing a site selection search, and it actually came to me from Graycen Bigger, who is the economic developer with the Northeast Arkansas Intermodal. And she was first, just, "Have you heard of this company?" And so, initially, it was a due diligence search of who is Tate, what is the company, and then from there, we identified the building, which is formerly known as the Waterloo Building, which Steve really helped with. He helped with the drawings of the buildings and helping to provide some confidence of the area and the building itself.
Some unique aspects of the company in general is, just that they have a huge push for being planet positive, so they really want to have a green and positive impact on the world and on the earth specifically. And so they're actually going to be putting in some solar panels to offset a lot of their carbon emissions.
When it comes to projects, this one is very, very special to me, because we got to do some unique things. For example, when the company came in for a site visit, we hosted them at a duck lodge, which the area that they're in, which is Pocahontas, is kind of known that area for duck hunting. And so we hosted them at a duck lodge, and we had the mayor come and do a barbecue, and he cooked them dinner and it was just really, really special. We got to host them for dinner and spend some one-on-one time with everyone, and they absolutely loved it. And now call Pocahontas home, and they're doing very well, and hopefully we'll have a groundbreaking soon.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, one of my favorite stories from 2024 is to tell, when I had a chance to go to Kings Court, Ireland and sit in a boardroom with two executives from Tate's parent company, Kingspan Group, who oversee 210 manufacturing facilities in 80 countries. They had themselves not been to Pocahontas, but had been well-briefed on the project.
And one of the first questions they asked was, "Tell us about that dinner at the duck lodge, because our colleagues, that's what they want to talk about. Everything else checks out. This is a great building. It's next door to Black River Technical Community College. The numbers work, great business cost, but this dinner, that's what my colleagues want to talk about." And so of all the things that they had on their mind, that certainly stood out. So that level of customer service greatly helps with projects like this.
Okay, next up, Richard Eberle, a project manager on our business development team. Richard, you led a project for us with Weyerhaeuser that recently announced a $500 million investment project in Southeast Arkansas. Give us the background on that one.
Richard Eberle:
Yeah, no, it was an exciting project. It was a long project. We worked at it for over a year. I think one of the cool things about that was overcoming several different challenges, competing against another state, seeing how the local team in Southeast Arkansas work together to overcome some of those, as well as the electrical co-op coming together, working together, everybody from the state, local, electrical side of that, just putting our brains together, to put together not only a good package for them, but allow them to get into business quicker and speed to market quicker than they could somewhere else.
And so that was what was really so memorable of, really kind of being in the trenches with Nita, and the team at CNL, and so many others, every single day, as well as working with the consultants and the Weyerhaeuser team. I mean, we spent a lot of time on the phone with each other, a lot of problem-solving, but at the end of the day, to see everybody put it together for a win, for a great meal, a great product, and in a great area, is pretty cool.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, what a great success for Southeast Arkansas. And these things don't just happen. They take a lot of work, so many months of background, competing with other states, and to ultimately get that day, comes around where the press release is made and they announce that they're investing so much capital, investing their confidence in the state of Arkansas. It's very rewarding. So thank you for your work there.
Richard Eberle:
There's just a lot of buzz around that area. I've spent time down in south Arkansas for school and I've got friends who are in the timber industry, forest industry, and they're excited about it. What it means for, just I guess the loggers and the trucks as well as the foresters who are out there cutting down the trees, it's really exciting for them. There's a lot of great buzz and I think it's going to be very beneficial for that area.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, for sure. Okay, next. Regan Pugh, project manager on our business development team who led a big project for us with Faymonville, a $100 million investment, 500 jobs. Give us the background on this one.
Regan Pugh:
Yeah, definitely. So Faymonville Group, they make specialty trailers, and they're currently based out of Europe, so they were looking to set up their first US manufacturing facility, and kind of found Arkansas through Hale Trailer who's in North Little Rock. They're their primary distributor in the US, currently. And so had good relationships, new good people in Arkansas through them. And so we're interested in looking at what it would take to set up their first manufacturing here in the state, manufacturing facility here in the state.
Several people on this team I'm sure could speak to what a great experience it was. They are a family-owned company, and made several trips to Arkansas while they were checking out several different states in the process. We have a lot of fun stories, but I'll say when they first came, they met with the governor, and kind of got to exchange stories on what it's like being part of a sort of family business, but talked a little bit about their love for cars.
And so when Alain Faymonville, one of the founding family, came back with his brother Yves for the second visit, the governor had worked with Chris Caldwell and Tom Brown to set up a specialty old car car ride for them to be picked up for dinner. And I was just kind of on the back end coordinating this, but Tom and I had been texting during the day and it was about, I'd say it was a hundred degrees at least it felt that hot.
And we'd been sweating all day, checking out sites all over Arkansas, and Tom was like, "Hey, you think I have a really nice old car that's different than the one that I showed you, but it has AC and I would hate for them to go take a shower and then come back and sweat on the way to dinner." And so I was like, "Great call." I'm like on the phone, it's loud. I'm like, "Yeah, that sounds great, as long as you think it's a cool car." Me and Jack Thomas, who I was currently with that time, we didn't know old cars. We were like, "Sounds great."
So I go to meet Tom prior to dinner, before he goes to dinner with Clint and Hugh and I think the mayor that night, I meet him at a gas station, and he pulls up in, what I would say, is a pink car. It's a classic car. I think it's pretty cool, but I'm a little bit concerned about what Jack and also Alain and Yves will think about a pink car, not being a classic car guru. So I call Jack on my way back to the hotel, and I'm like, "Jack, I'm not sure if you're going to kill me or not, but the car is not brown, it's pink," and all I hear is him just chuckling into the phone and shaking his head, and I'm like, "Oh, this is not going to be good, like he's going to lose it."
But we pulled off. And I'm like, "Alain, Yves, I have to tell you that the governor really wanted you guys to have a really nice car ride to dinner in. And I think the car is pink, but I think it's awesome, but if you guys just want to take it for a ride around the parking lot, that's fine, but if you want to ride to dinner," he's like, stops me. And he's like, "Elvis had a pink car. We will ride in a pink car." And I was like, "Okay, awesome. This is great." And I learned later, Tom informed me that it was, I wrote it down, Sunset Mist, not pink. It was a 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire, which he was like, "If you're a car person, you know. And it's Sunset Mist, it's not pink."
So I would say, that had a pretty pivotal role in us winning this 500-job project, but a lot of it was also how well the community worked with the company, to make sure that they had a soft landing here in the US.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, thanks for it, again. One of my favorite quotes from Mr. Faymonville is, he was explaining this project and the decision that they made for Arkansas... Again, similar to Tate, everything has to be there, the real estate, the workforce, the business cost. But he said, "As a family-owned business, we don't have to report to a board of directors. We make decisions from the gut." And it felt right here in Arkansas, and a lot of that was because of the customer service from the governor, from our team, from the local team, the great work at the Little Rock Regional Chamber, so very proud to have them here.
Olivia Womack serves as our director of business development, but also a player coach, very involved in projects. Olivia, you were involved in the recent expansion project with Welspun. Tell us more about that one.
Olivia Womack:
Sure. I think this was a really rewarding and fulfilling project to get to work on, first, because it's an expansion project, so a company that's already here in Arkansas, finding success and wants to keep growing. I think that really speaks volumes to the business climate that we have here within the state, and the work that we do to support our existing businesses. And it also related to our trip to India.
So Welspun company that is a large Indian company that is mostly known internationally for their work in the textiles' industry. One in every four towels that you can buy at Walmart or different stores, is made by Welspun, but here in Arkansas, they actually produce steel pipes for the oil and gas industry, at their facility at the Port of Little Rock. And they approached us about an expansion project in the Port of Little Rock to expand into a new diameter-sized pipe.
And this was a really exciting opportunity for us, and we met with their leadership while we were over in India earlier this year, and just a really exciting project to see a company that has continued to find success here in Arkansas, and wants to continue to grow their workforce here, and helping us build that strong relationship with India, and helping share the good news of Arkansas to other Indian companies as well. It was a really special opportunity to get to meet with their leadership in India, and never thought I'd be talking about Star of India, the restaurant here in Little Rock. Over in India, but everyone was saying that when they visit the facility in Little Rock, that's always where they want to go and have a nice meal, at Star of India, little taste of home, back here in Little Rock. So very exciting project, 175 new jobs, and a $100 million in investment to expand their facility, and really excited to see their growth and their continued success here in Arkansas.
Clint O’Neal:
Thanks, Olivia. Yeah, a really neat part about that story is, I didn't realize this until the other day, Welspun started their original site search in Arkansas during Governor Mike Huckabee's administration. So our governor's father, Governor Mike Huckabee, was instrumental in that project, ended up announcing and constructing and opening up in Governor Mike Beebe's administration, has continued to do very well for the company at the Port of Little Rock. And fast-forward to Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' administration on this significant investment decision, very proud to have them and to see them grow here in Arkansas.
Well, Cam Napier is our international business development manager. This time next year, Cam's going to be telling all kinds of stories of projects that he has helped land. But for now, Cam, what are some observations that you've had joining the team just for a couple months?
Cam Napier:
Yeah. Well, yeah, fingers crossed. I hope that's the case, in a year from now. But yeah, I think I'd like to have a tally on how many times we've said, "international," so far in this podcast. It's probably, maybe up in the twenties, but I think that just points to that. It's an exciting time for international business in Arkansas, the state's putting on its boxing gloves, punching above its weight, definitely winning projects in the international sphere, from a variety of countries, and a diverse range of sectors. I like to say, I kind of tell people, Arkansas is this world-class economy and I really mean that, it punches above its weight, not only in the region, in the Southeast, but in the country. And we're doing business across the globe. And I think all these projects that we've discussed today, we've got Welspun, Faymonville, these are great examples of that.
Arkansas is also kind of expanding. It's what I call commercial diplomacy. Clint and I just finished up a trip to Houston. We talked to a lot of consul generals. They've been placed in the US by their governments, to kind of help promote their country, but we're meeting with them to help promote Arkansas and kind of bridge that gap, create business relationships between the two entities.
Also, a great news, former governor Mike Huckabee was appointed as ambassador to Israel, and Warren Stephens of Stephens Inc., appointed ambassador of the United Kingdom. I think that's just kind of the results that come from Arkansas, kind of punching above its weight, getting some notoriety for itself in the business sphere, around the globe. We also have finished up a Q4 deck meeting. Arkansas has really been proving itself as a great exporter of a lot of innovative products, Game Composites being one of them. I did not know Arkansas produced so many cool things, but I think stunt airplanes might be up there as one of the coolest ones.
And I'd be remiss, if I didn't mention that we just opened an office in South Korea, and we're really happy to be hosting those folks and Arkansas for their first time, coming up in January. So really, really, really looking forward to that.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, great. Thanks, Cam. I have our whole international team here in January. That'll be nice. So hopefully, a lot of you listening will be able to interact with Dennis, and Botra, as well as Neil, and Cornelius, and Cam, and Olivia, and everybody here. Okay. We're going to move on talking about some trends in 2024. So I'll throw out a topic and ask somebody to address it.
Bethany, we're going to start with you, the first of its kind, Arkansas Site Development Program. Tell us about the program and why it's important.
Bethany Duncan:
Yeah, this was a very, very exciting thing for the state, for communities all across Arkansas this year. Being able to launch our very first kind of grant cycle for the site development program. We had a ton of communities that applied. We all know that you can have a really great community, great people ready to work, but if you don't have a site that's ready to show, then you can't market your community. And so we have a lot of great communities across the state that just needed a little bit of help to get their site there, to make them competitive to some of these great communities that are looking to locate a new facility or expand.
And so it was really awesome. We had a great committee, a review committee, that spent hours and hours, poring over all the applications that we got. Shout-out to Drew and Matt and Steve here, our very own Steve Jones, who spent a long time looking into that, trying to steward this special funding that we received. Well, and I think it's going to be really instrumental in changing the game for Arkansas' competitiveness for some projects, and hopefully we get to keep doing it. So it was great to be part of that process. Got to know a lot of our local economic developers better through that. And so yeah, it was great.
Clint O’Neal:
Very good. $10 million deployed to help make industrial sites more attractive across the state of Arkansas. A big trend that we're very proud of is rural economic development and the wins that we've had in all corners of the state with so many communities, that in any given year may not typically see a big business recruitment project ended up winning projects in 2024.
Olivia, we've talked about some of these projects. Can you give us a bit of an overview of some rural economic development wins in 2024?
Olivia Womack:
Sure. This is a really exciting trend that we've seen in companies, selecting rural communities within Arkansas to either expand their operations or to locate new operations. I think this really speaks to the strength of those communities and the welcoming hospitality that they have, and companies really buy into that and see that and want to be a part of that community atmosphere. And I think that's really special. So we've had wins.
We actually started in January of 2024 with an announcement in Hope with Hope Baking Company. So 260 new jobs in Hope, Arkansas. Very exciting. We have also had wins in Walnut Ridge with Provalus, Pocahontas with Tate that we mentioned. In Corning, Arkansas, G&H Decoys expanded their operations. We also had an announcement with White River Energetics, a ammunition primer company that expanded in Des Arc.
And so all these stories, the companies really fell in love with that small town charm, and got to know wonderful people in those communities, and wanted to be a part of that. So I'm excited to see the continued success of our rural communities in Arkansas, and a big shout-out to all those companies for their work and their exciting success.
Clint O’Neal:
Thanks, Olivia. Earlier this year, we completed a strategic action plan, where we did an evaluation of our state's economic development efforts, including our target industries. We won't go through all of them, but just to highlight a few that were on there, starting with timber and AgTech, as it's been mentioned, a couple of big wins, but Richard, tell us more about this industry.
Richard Eberle:
Yeah, I mean, Arkansas is set up to win in that. I mean, 19 million acres of Arkansas is covered in forest land, and so that's over 50, that's 56.6% of the state of Arkansas. So we have the resource, but not only do we have the resource, we have the workforce that's ready and available. Several companies throughout decades have had success. The people are there, they know how to get the job done. But not only that, there's been some recent announcements with the education side of it.
UAM has had some announcements with their Forestry Health Research Center that was new just this year. Governor Sanders announced with UAM, millions of dollars going to that, that's going to continue to help with the research for not only forest health, but also other things that's going to make the timber industry successful in the state of Arkansas.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, thanks, Richard. Another one of those key industries that we'll continue to focus on is, firearms and ammunition. Regan, give us your thoughts on the industry.
Regan Pugh:
Yeah. Well I think it's no secret that Arkansas is a major player in this industry. We have some of the major names in the industry for sure. Just this year, we've had announcements with well, ribbon-cutting with SIG Sauer, in the central Arkansas area. Walther Arms, at the beginning of the year, in Fort Smith. Like Olivia mentioned, White River up in Des Arc. So all over the state, we're seeing wins in the industry, and I think just talking to some of the companies in the industry that we have in the pipeline, they see a workforce here that's skilled. They see the support of the industry, from the very top, from the governor and our agency, and then also just the business climate in general.
Again, not to mention, Black River Tech, as Clint mentioned earlier, they're one of only 11 accredited gunsmithing universities in the entire US. And so having that resource in our arsenal is definitely a big deal. And then the governor went to SHOT Show with us last year, and I know a team from our agency has gone for several years. We'll be there again in January and going to be boots on the ground, trying to keep the momentum going for sure.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, it'll be hard to replicate having Governor Sanders and Don Jr. at our reception earlier this year at SHOT Show, but we'll do what we can.
Regan Pugh:
We'll work on it.
Clint O’Neal:
Another key industry for us is aerospace and defense. Very important industry for us. Raven, tell us more about that industry.
Raven Johnson:
Yeah. As all has been mentioned, aerospace and defense, we are no stranger to that at all. As it is our biggest export, nearly a billion dollars of goods per year. It is one of those industries that continues to grow, and specifically in the defense industry. But now we're at a point where we have such a healthy industry, that we have suppliers and secondary industries developing within the aerospace and defense umbrella.
And one of those we got to announce, which is Taber Extrusions out of Russellville. They expanded their facility and we got to do this at the Farnborough Airshow, which any opportunity to do that on an international scale, is wonderful and such a blessing. So yes, $60 million, 70 jobs. And Chuck Stout, in conversations with him, he's the president at Taber Extrusions... In conversations with him, he really wanted to highlight the workforce in Russellville, specifically. They looked at potentially expanding other facilities in the country that they have in their portfolio, and they could not step away from the workforce in Russellville. So that just speaks to Arkansas as a whole.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, thanks Raven. Other industries that are mentioned on the strategic action plan that we won't go too much into, technology, so much good work going on across the state. Earlier this year, we hosted the Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit. Our metals industry, the steel industry, continues to grow significantly in Arkansas, but so much great work.
One thing that I'll highlight is just the growth of our entrepreneurship initiatives. Over the course of the last year, we've added a few major initiatives. One called 75Strong, I just love the name. 75 counties strong is the plan for local leaders and economic developers, to be able to work with entrepreneurs, to scale businesses in all parts of the state. So this is a contract that Startup Junkie and the Conductor have, to help us scale up our entrepreneurship, professionalism, education, and ability to help companies, as well as ARise, the same group that has our state commercialization contract to help technology companies to scale quickly to be successful here in Arkansas.
We rolled out the Arkansas Business Resource Hub, a free online resource for small businesses to have a one-stop shop place to go for resources. But a lot of great work being done internally at AEDC, being led by Esperanza Massana-Crane, our director of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development, but so many good things coming out of the world of entrepreneurship in Arkansas, and really excited to see how that continues.
Okay, we're moving on to the lightning round. We're going to start the lightning round with the colleagues around the table who are not from Arkansas. So that is Cam, Raven, and Alicia, and Regan. We are a little worried that Oklahoma's trying to take over, as well as Tennessee from Cam, but starting in Oklahoma, Regan, what's one thing that has surprised you most about living in the natural state?
Regan Pugh:
Yeah. Well, I don't want to say it surprised me. I came to college in Arkansas, and I lived in Searcy for, I guess, three years. But the most surprising thing was, how open they were to embracing someone, an outsider like me from Oklahoma, if you will. It's been really easy to call Arkansas home ever since I decided to stay here after college, just because I found a great community of people who are passionate about the state, and almost make it their mission to be like, "You are going to love Arkansas." And I do, and it's exciting to join that coalition. I won't ever renounce my Oklahoma roots, but I can say that I chose to live in Arkansas, and I'm here because I love the state and I love what it stands for, and I love the people. So I would say, none of that should have been a surprise, but that's what I love about it.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah, great to see it. So Alicia, you went to Hendricks College from Oklahoma. So how long had you been in Arkansas when you knew, I think I may stick around here, after college?
Alicia McCloria:
Let's see. That's a good question. I really didn't know where I wanted to go after college. I'm originally from Oklahoma, which is really close to Arkansas. It's about 10 minutes from Fort Smith, Arkansas. So it's a lot of the same, in a way. But honestly, when I got to Arkansas, I feel like the people of Arkansas are just a lot nicer than they are in Oklahoma. Not to be mean to fellow Oklahomians or Okies, but when I got here, and then I got to my senior of college, applied to interview for this job, I was just like, "Oh, it makes sense to just stay here." So I would say about my senior year of Arkansas, so I'd been here for about three years at that time.
Clint O’Neal:
Okay. All right. Well, Raven was over here agreeing with you. We all know there's better ultimate frisbee and disc golf in Arkansas, but what else is it about Arkansas that kept you around, Raven?
Raven Johnson:
Oh, the nature. I mean, when I go home to Tulsa, and I love Tulsa, please know that, I just miss the trees. Every time I look around, I'm like, there's no greenery. And so that's one thing that I am so grateful, to live in a place that has so much nature around it.
Regan Pugh:
I would just say, the trees are the most shocking thing. I've never seen trees so tall in my life.
Raven Johnson:
One thing though, I will say that is very surprising, that I've experienced living at least in Little Rock, is I came from somewhere that had a grid system for roads and for getting around places, and that's been a little bit tough for me, but we're learning. So...
Cam Napier:
Roads have to go around the big, tall trees.
Raven Johnson:
Right. Yeah.
Alicia McCloria:
It's true.
Clint O’Neal:
All right, Cam, from Tennessee to D.C. to Arkansas, are there any trees in those other places?
Cam Napier:
There are tons of trees, but Clint, I married an Arkansan, and I think that's one of the most public, personal commitments you could make to the state. So I'm proud of that. But yeah, I think... I don't know.
On a more work related note, I guess I was very surprised in the first couple of weeks that I was at ADC, I took a tour of the Port of Little Rock, and as my friends and family could probably tell you that I talk about it way too much. But that's just because it was so cool to see such a variety of companies all in one place and so many resources there for them. Rail, river, road, all there, the three Rs. So that was really exciting. And I want to give a shout-out to Bryan Day for, I think they called the poor Bryan's house now, last time we were there, went out for one of the many announcements, Welspun, Faymonville, all landing the port. So that was something that I was really surprised to see.
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah. Very good. Okay, continuing on with our lightning round questions. We're going to start with Bethany on this one. Favorite vacation spot in Arkansas?
Bethany Duncan:
Ooh, this is really hard. I do love... It kind of depends on what I'm looking for. If I want to go have a really cool hip experience, I'll go to Northwest Arkansas, go to Crystal Bridges, the Museum of Art up there. Or if I want more of an outdoor experience, then I love to go, we love to get a cabin by the White River and go up there where it's really peaceful. I love that we can do both here in Arkansas. We can go try out some cool restaurants and coffee shops, or we can get a cabin, have some hiking, it's all accessible here. So...
Clint O’Neal:
Yeah. Same question, Richard.
Richard Eberle: Oh, North Central Arkansas. Just anywhere within there. Calico Rock, Jasper, Mountain View, Mountain Home, Flippin, Cotter, all those places, like we live, my wife and I live in Conway, so it's easy to hop on 65, just head north. And we're really big on being in the outdoors, so getting a cabin, going to the Buffalo River, going hiking, that's probably our favorite place to vacation in Arkansas.
Clint O’Neal:
Yep. Okay. Favorite restaurants? We're going to say it cannot be within 35 miles of your house. We're going to start with Olivia.
Olivia Womack:
Ooh, this is a tough one. I would say Skylark Cafe in Leslie. Delicious food, their pies and cakes are to die for. And then also Beech St. Bistro in Crossett. If you've never been to those places, definitely check it out.
Clint O’Neal:
Okay. And you also can't say one that's already been mentioned. Regan, you're next.
Regan Pugh:
Okay. Mine is Two Crumbs in Hope, Arkansas. Great pies, great just like home cooking, good fried food. But you can also just get a meatloaf at 11 AM, so it's great.
Clint O’Neal:
Okay. Steve Jones.
Steve Jones:
I probably have to say my favorite in the state is going to be Old Washington, but I've got to give a shout-out this year to a new one that I went to, on the square in Magnolia, and it was the Magnolia Coffee House down there. It really had a really good panini, and it really surprised me because it's not what you expect in a coffee house, but...
Clint O’Neal:
Okay. Last lightning round question. What is your favorite business development whiteboard poll from 2024? So for those of you that need a brief explanation, the business development team likes to put up polls around the area. And so this is a lightning round, it's got to be quick. We're going to start with Cam.
Cam Napier:
Okay. Well, I'm going to ask you kind of a question in my answer here, but my favorite poll was, "What is Clint's karaoke song?" And I think we need a resolution to that poll from you.
Clint O’Neal:
That'd be, Take me Home, Country Roads, John Denver.
Cam Napier:
Beautiful.
Clint O’Neal:
All right, Raven.
Raven Johnson:
Nothing.
Olivia Womack:
I have one.
Raven Johnson:
Absolutely nothing is coming to my brain.
Olivia Womack:
Worst Christmas song?
Raven Johnson:
Oh, well, if the podcast listeners would like to contact me personally, I am getting a dog, and I'm having a bit of trouble determining what name it should be. In the list that we have currently, is Murphy, Tommy, and Jimmy. So...
Bethany Duncan:
Jimmy did win in the polls.
Raven Johnson:
Yes. Awesome.
Bethany Duncan:
We also voted on the prom king and queen of ADC. So that was a good one on the poll.
Clint O’Neal:
Do we want our listeners to know how that worked out? I don't think so.
Bethany Duncan:
We just submitted names in the poll.
Clint O’Neal:
Okay. All right. Same question, Alicia.
Alicia McCloria:
My favorite question that has been asked, we had an Olympic cycle this past year, so I wanted to know, and my favorite question was, "What Olympic sport we thought should be added that is not currently an Olympic sport?" I love sports, so I wanted to know.
Bethany Duncan:
Do you remember what one?
Alicia McCloria:
No, I don't think there was like a clear winner, but I do know ultimate frisbee was the one that was talked about the office the most.
Bethany Duncan:
Immediately yes.
Group:
There's dodgeball, pickleball, tag, rock, paper, scissors.
Alicia McCloria:
Rock, paper, scissors was a good one too.
Clint O’Neal:
All right, great episode guys. In 2024, we have had a solar eclipse. We've had some members of our business development team be an extra and a movie. And along the way, we have picked up a few wins in economic development, rolled out many new initiatives. It's been a very successful year. Really enjoy working with you guys. Good work.
I've been talking today with the AEDC Business Development team, Olivia Womack, Raven Johnson, Richard Eberle, Regan Pugh, Cam Napier, Alicia McCloria, Steve Jones, and Bethany Duncan. Normally as the host, I would be the one to close out the podcast. However, today I'm going to give the honor to the newest member of the AEDC Business Development team, Cam Napier.
Cam Napier:
Well, thanks Clint. And as the new guy, I just want to give a shout-out to not only the AEDC team, but to all the economic developers across the state, utilities partners, everybody out there listening for making a great transition onto the team. They're great people in Arkansas and that is super evident. And for all you out there listening, you can subscribe to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast apps.
For more information about AEDC and a sign-up for our monthly newsletter, visit arkansasedc.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Thanks for listening to us in 2024, and you don't want to miss what we have in store for 2025. And as Secretary Hugh McDonald says, let's keep our foot on the gas, baby.
Clint O’Neal:
All right.
