May 29, 2025 • 33 mins
The heartbeat of thriving communities isn't just in their development plans or economic metrics, it's in the genuine connections between people who call these places home. Robert Burns, Director of Home Region Programs at the Walton Family Foundation, brings this philosophy to life as he shares his journey from a rural North Carolina farm to leading transformative community initiatives in Northwest Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta.
What makes Northwest Arkansas special? According to Burns, it's a magical quality where people genuinely want to connect with and support one another. As the region grows rapidly, the Walton Family Foundation works strategically to preserve this essence while addressing crucial needs: affordable housing near schools and parks, innovative transportation solutions beyond the renowned Razorback Greenway, vibrant shared spaces where diverse communities can gather, and entrepreneurial ecosystems that nurture both traditional business founders and social innovators.
Burns reveals how the foundation's place-based approach differs between rapidly growing Northwest Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta, where education initiatives focus on teacher retention and quality, while economic development centers on asset building and attracting additional partners. Throughout both regions, the foundation maintains its family-led character—something increasingly rare in philanthropy—while building networks of nonprofit organizations, local governments, and intermediaries that amplify community impact.
Particularly fascinating is the foundation's commitment to entrepreneurship at all levels—from the "Yippee" program introducing school children to entrepreneurial thinking, to accelerators helping founders connect with capital that historically flows primarily to coastal startups. Burns emphasizes that entrepreneurship isn't just about business creation; it's about bringing diverse thoughts, creative solutions, and new energy that keeps communities vibrant and forward-looking.
Want to strengthen your own community? Burns suggests starting wherever feels meaningful to you: welcome new neighbors, follow local issues, volunteer with nonprofits that match your passions, join community boards, engage through faith communities, or respond to calls for action during times of need. The path to stronger communities begins with each of us finding our own way to connect and contribute.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It also goes to the really origins of the Walton
Family Foundation, which I thinkare really important, which it
is truly a family-led foundation.
There are foundations out therein the country that have a
family name associated with it,but they're no longer family-led
.
They may have been at one time.
There are definitely some thatare still very much so, but I
(00:21):
really appreciate the fact thatI get to work with such a
visionary family.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to the 4 Bars podcast.
I'm Ken Leis.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
And I'm Patti Leis.
We're your hosts for somecompelling dialogue, encouraging
our listeners to strengthentheir connections.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And build strong communities, lifting each other
up and connecting in ways thatmatter.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
We named the podcast 4 Bars as a reference to how
hard we work to find a 4BARsconnection on our devices.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And we wondered what could happen with relationships
if we worked as hard atconnecting.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Let's find out.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Welcome to 4BARs.
I'm your co-host, ken Leith,and I'm Patti Leith.
Welcome back, and we are very,very thrilled to have with us
Robert Burns as our guest thisweek.
Welcome, robert, thank you.
Robert is the Director HomeRegion Programs at the Walton
Family Foundation.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Robert, welcome.
We're so excited to hear yourstory.
It's going to be great to getto know more about you.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Thank you, I appreciate the invite.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It's good to be here.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about yourself, how you got
here, what your past has lookedlike?
Tell us your story.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, thank you.
I appreciate the chance toshare time with both of you.
I have been in NorthwestArkansas for roughly about three
and a half years.
I was fortunate to find outabout the role at the Walton
Family Foundation and my partnerand myself made the move to
Northwest Arkansas.
We absolutely love this region,the people, the place and I'll
(01:47):
touch a bit about that today.
But my background I grew up inNorth Carolina.
I grew up in rural NorthCarolina.
I grew up on a small familyfarm.
We raised beef cattle, mostlyfor family consumption.
But if you go back where I grewup, a lot of my cousins family
consumption.
But if you go back where I grewup, a lot of my cousins uncles.
(02:08):
My mom still lives in the houseI grew up in.
I find a lot of similaritiesbetween where I grew up and here
in a lot of respects.
And then I've had the privilegeof living in some other states.
I started my career in localgovernment, worked in a county,
in a few cities, working in cityplanning, city management, made
the move into the non-profitfield and worked for some
(02:30):
national and local non-profits.
So spent some time reallyfocused on workforce and
affordable housing and at onepoint, got to do a lot of work
in that across different statesin the country.
That was my first stint inphilanthropy.
I worked for an organizationthat was also a grant maker and
really found how much I enjoyedthat.
(02:50):
And then most of my career hasbeen in that nonprofit field.
Most recently, before coming tothe Walton Family Foundation, I
worked for Citigroup on thephilanthropic side of the shop,
and then we moved fromWashington DC to Northwest
Arkansas.
Like I said about three and ahalf years ago, I've served on
(03:10):
local boards in the past inprior roles.
I do serve on a couple ofnational boards.
Now it's difficult for us toserve on local boards, given
that we're a grantor to manyorganizations, but love that
spirit of giving back in termsof board service.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, fantastic.
One of the things I've come tolearn about you is your heart
for community and your passionfor making communities great
places to be.
Where do you think that comesfrom?
What brings you to the tablewith that mindset?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I've always thought that community was important and
I think part of that's theproduct of growing up rural,
where you do have to rely oftenon your own.
However, in situations wherethe community does come together
, it always left a lastingimpact on me and often that
would be disaster, which I seethat taking place in a lot of
(04:04):
cases where the community comestogether.
I also see it where folks arehelping to build things on
someone's property, like Iremember growing up, the
community would come togetherwhat people would call like a
barn raising or putting thingstogether.
The spirit of church and thefaith community played a role in
my life but I think really whenI got to college is where it
(04:27):
really started coming together.
For me is the advent of beingable to get involved in a lot of
different groups on campus andcreating that community not only
of the university but thingsthat reached out into the cities
, that were local there, helpingpeople out.
The spirit that really to me isabout each of us has an
(04:49):
obligation to give back to eachother.
So I think that was instilledat an early age and I think
that's an essential ingredientfor communities.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
We, you know, in our podcast,we are exploring good
connections in work, communitylife in general, and one of the
things that we've really beenexploring more deeply is just
this whole concept of communitybuilding and an intentional
approach to understanding what'sneeded and creating situations
(05:24):
where there are activities andplaces and things for people to
do together, and that's one ofthe things that I think is so
amazing about what the WaltonFamily Foundation does.
So what drew you to that job?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
When the recruiter initially connected to me about
the role, I read the description.
And when I read the descriptionabout what the home region
entails, the fact that homeregion includes for the
foundation Northwest Arkansasand the Mississippi Delta, the
fact that we, in that role theindividual will be working with
cities and nonprofits, and thework really appealed to me and
(06:07):
then that sold it in the way ofreading about the job.
But I remember distinctly andthis was in the time of COVID,
so a lot of the initialconversations were over Zoom.
You're trying to kind of get asense of people.
That's a different era that wewere all familiar with.
But when I started having theconversations with team members
(06:30):
that were on the interview panel, I just remember being struck
by how just relatable the folkswere on the other side and I
kept getting more and moreexcited about the role and when
I eventually was brought out forthe first face-to-face
interview, just brought it home.
I mean it was really a role thatexcited me, the variety of
things that I get to be exposedto, but as much as anything it's
(06:53):
about the people, the peoplethat we get to work with, the
people that are of thiscommunity.
I find this to be anextraordinary place when it
comes to the way people do seekto be connected to each other.
It's embedded in the culturehere, and one hope that I have
that I think we have to alwaysbe cognizant of is as we grow as
(07:16):
a region, which we are growingtremendously I don't want to
lose sight of that.
I think areas in other parts ofthe country have lost that
essence and I don't wantNorthwest Arkansas to lose that
essence, and people may compareus to other cities, which in
many ways I think there's acompliment there, but I want
(07:37):
Northwest Arkansas to beNorthwest Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
It's kind of a magical place.
I think, and it offers thingsthat we have not seen in other
communities that we've lived inand there is a sense of
everybody just really wants tosupport and help one another and
I love that.
I don't think that existseverywhere, no.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I think it permeates and you know we, we, the Family
Foundation, we work a lot with,as an example entrepreneurs and
if you think about the historyof this region and think about
the families that are here,those are some of the most
creative entrepreneurs in thecountry the Hunts, the Waltons,
(08:20):
the Tysons, the Simmons, I meanand we're seeing that growth
continue.
That legacy, that culture liveson.
I love seeing the growth in theentrepreneurial community, the
fact that people are discoveringit, the fact that local talent
whether they be graduating fromthe University of Arkansas and
they're already in some of theentrepreneurial programs there,
(08:41):
or they've got a career here andthey've decided they want to
become part of one of thecycling accelerators or one of
the outdoor rec programs thatability to take that courageous
leap and become an entrepreneurthat also, I think, really feeds
into the culture.
But what I hear entrepreneurssay when they're visiting the
(09:01):
region is they find thatcontagious spirit People want to
help them out which they'vedecided to move their businesses
in some cases because of that.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
And we have definitely met some of those
folks that come into town and,to your point, you can't go out
anywhere around town generallyand not run into someone you
have never met before and have aconversation.
It's a place where people doslow down, stop and have the
conversation, which I really doappreciate.
But you mentioned the families,the early entrepreneurs and
(09:30):
what they brought in, and thefact that they are still
investing in the communities andthey have a heart for the
community, for the entire regionitself.
How does that connect in withthe work that you do and what
you see happening as far asfuture expansion and their role
on it too?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, and I'll focus on the work we're doing, but I
think it's important what youjust said.
These are families that havechosen to build the companies
here and invest in the region.
We can go to other parts of thecountry, the world, and see
lots of cases where that hasn'thappened, so that is a testament
to those families and theindividuals that created that
(10:10):
initial vision of what some ofthese organizations could be.
The fact that folks havecontinued to be here and embed,
I think, is an importantstatement.
It also goes to the reallyorigins of the Walton Family
Foundation, which I think arereally important, which it is
truly a family-led foundation.
There are foundations out therein the country that have a
(10:32):
family name associated with it,but they're no longer family-led
.
They may have been at one timethere are definitely some that
are still very much so but Ireally appreciate the fact that
I get to work with such avisionary family who are highly
engaged and very passionateabout the work.
We also, in addition to HomeRegion, the foundation, has two
(10:56):
additional programs.
One is our education program,which I have a peer that leads
that, and that's national, andthen our environment program I
have a peer that leads that, andthat is actually international.
It's our only internationalprogram, so the three programs
make up the overall compositelargely of the foundation.
What I love about home region isthat we are hyper-invested
(11:18):
locally.
We are place-based.
Not only are we focused inNorthwest Arkansas, we're
focused on Benton and Washingtoncounties.
Those are the two counties thatare home region.
And then when you think aboutor northwest Arkansas, I mean
you think about the Delta.
We focus on two counties in theMississippi Delta, both in
(11:38):
Arkansas Phillips and Jefferson.
And then we cross the river.
The only county we're workingin in Mississippi is Cahoma.
Cahoma is right across theriver from Phillips County.
So these, these place-basedefforts really magnify the kind
of impact you can have right,right.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Can you tell us a little bit about the types of
things you're doing in thedifferent areas?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
that, to me, is so fascinating yeah, and I'll just
say up front, we develop astrategy for each part of excuse
me, part of home region, andNorthwest Arkansas is one of
those plans, and in that Itouched upon one already which
is really development andcultivation of the
(12:19):
entrepreneurial ecosystem, andthat's, I think, really taken
off.
We also think a lot about,holistically, what makes this
region stay as welcoming, asvibrant as it can be.
That's an essential componentwhen it comes to quality of life
.
So we've been making additionalinvestment into things like
(12:39):
workforce housing.
Housing prices have gone updemonstrably here in Northwest
Arkansas.
It's really important thatfolks that come here for a job
or to start a business can alsofind a home that is close to
schools, close to parks, havethe ability to live a quality of
(13:00):
life that they want to.
So this housing element iscritically important and we're
doing more of that of life thatthey want to.
So this housing element iscritically important and we're
doing more of that.
Transportation is vitallyimportant.
As the region grows, morepeople are here, More people are
going to drive, they're goingto take a bicycle, they're going
to walk somewhere.
How do we enhance additionalforms of mobility?
We're blessed with this amazingRazorback Greenway that roughly
(13:22):
goes 40 miles Bella Vista toFayetteville.
It's a pretty unique creationin any part of the country.
We've got an effort going onright now to just think about,
like what's the next stage ofthat?
How do you build upon thesuccess of the Greenway, what
that looks like in the future?
We think a lot about sharedspaces, whether they be
(13:42):
parklands or areas where peoplecan gather together.
That's a really quintessentialpart of a community and where
people can find their space andalso meet other people.
That's an additional area wethink a lot about.
And one other one and I won'ttouch upon them all is our
career pathways work.
We are a fortunate region inthat we have companies that are
(14:06):
growing, entrepreneurs that areexpanding.
We have a huge growth in thehealthcare sector taking place,
but we need folks to fill thoseroles.
So it's incumbent that maybe wehave folks out there that are
working in another job.
How could they be upskilled,Maybe how they could embark on
an apprenticeship.
And we invest in, along withother partners, into the schools
(14:30):
and we are fortunate to have anumber of very high quality
schools here in NorthwestArkansas to help students
discover their career pathways.
You know, it doesn't mean thatyou at any point have to go to
college.
You could find a track that'smeant for you in a very
fulfilling career that reallyhas meaning to you and affords
(14:50):
you the ability to stay inNorthwest Arkansas and have a
career that you can call on yourown.
So these are things that wefocus on In the Delta.
It's a different strategy,different needs, different
strategy, but largely we focuson education for the students in
the Delta teacher quality,teacher retention.
(15:15):
We do a lot of work around assetbuilding, whether that be
credit building, first-time homeownership, small business
creation, entrepreneurship.
And then the other is bringingmore partners to the Delta, the
Delta.
We've been invested there for avery long time.
We are trying to draw otherfunders, other corporations who
want to share in that vision.
That's been very fun to watchbecause we've had some real
success stories there wherepeople maybe have thought about
(15:39):
the Delta but weren't quite sureon the approach, and we've
created some mechanisms to makethose introductions.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, fantastic, fantastic.
That's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, I think about the opportunities that the
Walton Family Foundation bringshere.
As you described, some of themwe knew about.
Some, quite honestly, we don'tis people.
There's an opportunity here foreveryone who wants to be here.
It sounds like to find a pathif you would spoken to some
(16:17):
young people that we meet andthey'll tell us their story
about.
Oh, I went around the countryand I looked at three different
areas that I thought I mightwant to go.
But then they start to rattleoff the differences of what they
found here that they werecomfortable with, which includes
what they believe wasopportunity, what they believed
was an openness to people whoweren't from here.
Sometimes small towns have thata little bit of a stigma, but
that does not exist here.
In fact, I share with friendsof mine if in Washington DC,
(16:41):
that Northwest Arkansas itselfreminds me a tiny bit of a small
Washington DC people fromaround the world, amenities that
are very high quality, jobopportunities and good education
, all those, and one thing thatyou don't necessarily get in a
larger town sometimes thatfeeling of safety.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
How does that?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
play an impact in people coming to Northwest
Arkansas and feeling safe andbeing a part of the community.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, I think it's something in many ways, no
matter where you live, you maytake for granted.
However, we are largelybenefited from that and that's
something people will talk aboutto some extent.
But when you're in a place thatyou don't feel it, you know it
immediately or you're constantlybarraged by the fact that the
(17:28):
news or people talk about it.
It's not something you hearhere.
If something that may createthat feeling that you are not
safe is much more of a rarityhere, and I think part of it is
the culture, part of it is thatwe're still growing as a region.
That's certainly part of whatmakes it unique, but it's a it.
(17:51):
To me, it's an underpinning ofquality of life.
That feeling of kind, of thebasic human need, is an
important part.
If you're going to make a placeand continue to have it be
vibrant, that's going to be anessential part.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
As you taught.
I was struck by the number oftimes you used the word partners
.
You can't do this work alone.
You're bringing in a lot ofpeople, a lot of partnerships,
nonprofits, community leadership.
You mentioned faith leadership.
Can you speak to that a littlebit and how you're doing that?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, and our work is through partners and we are
part of that picture and Ibelieve in the power of that.
I've never been in a role, thisbeing one, where you can do the
work without others.
I haven't either.
It's a really hard thing tokind of think about, like how do
(18:49):
you do that?
But our partners we arefortunate.
We're very fortunate.
We have some outstandingorganizations here in northwest
arkansas that have great leaders, boards which are critically
important, that are focused onwhat the mission is and very
proud to support those.
So we typically work mostly withnon-profits, specifically what
(19:13):
the irs will call a1c3.
It's part of the code.
I think a lot of people willknow that designation.
We also work directly withlocal governments, in some cases
school districts, and thensometimes we will work with
what's called an intermediary, agroup that's working in other
parts of the country doingspecific work, and they come to
(19:35):
the region in partnership with alocal organization or maybe
they're bringing somethingunique that we don't necessarily
have but that could be abenefit to the local community.
So that's exciting in terms ofwho we work with and we're an
invite only foundation.
Some foundations are byapplication.
(19:57):
That's a competitiveapplication, but we are invite
only and therefore we're oftenalways on the outlook for other
partners or just trying todiscern.
Now they have to fit strategy.
That's like a key ingredientand we try to always on our
website just speak about thoseareas that we're focused on and
there's consistency because wethink about that from five-year
(20:20):
strategic plans.
But I always think it'sincumbent on myself and the
organization to always belistening to what's going on in
the community.
So getting out there, beingpresent at events, listening to
folks like what are thechallenges they're facing?
For someone who's new here,what are they seeking?
(20:42):
Are folks that have been herefor generations like what are
they seeing that's worrying themabout the region?
These are good indicators.
We also do something everythree to five years called a
quality of life survey and thatsurvey goes across both
Washington and Benton counties,basically evenly represented.
I'm proud to say they use cellphones, not just reliance on
(21:05):
landlines.
I know that can be an issuesometimes, but it's really
encouraging to see how high thequality of life here but also
gives you indications of what'son people's minds, like what's
the thing that they're worriedabout or what they think could
affect quality of life inNorthwest Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
And you mentioned.
Strategies are very differentfor Northwest Arkansas and the
Delta, but the cornerstones ofthose strategies are similar.
So can you speak a little bitto the differences between them?
So education is a cornerstone,as an example, but you're doing
different things in both areasof the region.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Yeah, and education is underpinnings, a cornerstone
in both strategies.
I like that word.
Cornerstone in both strategies,I like that word.
Cornerstone is thinking abouteducation.
Here we have very dynamicschool districts.
I mean we have school districtsthat are quite large, largest
in the state of Arkansas to someof the smaller rural districts.
(22:08):
Most really have high qualityprogramming for the students and
really relying on what they cando as a school district to
benefit those students.
We also have a lot of charterschools, private schools, a good
variety.
If you're looking to find theplace for your kid, we offer a
(22:29):
good variety around that.
In the Delta there's morelimited choices and because of
some of the long-term economicfactors, the Delta schools may
have more of a challenge.
So there have been a lot ofchanges going on in terms of the
status of education there.
The other challenge is gettingteachers who will come from the
(22:53):
area and really stay.
So retention is another issueand trying to make sure that
teachers receive thecertification they need.
It's not unique to the Delta,but in a lot of rural counties
in particular you find teachersthat haven't reached their
certification.
Doesn't mean they're a badteacher, it just means they may
have not got the certification.
(23:13):
So how do you work withteachers to get certified?
Asset building is anothercornerstone.
How do you work with teachersto get certified Asset building
is another cornerstone.
Entrepreneurship is a goodexample here, or the efforts
around housing, particularlywhen it comes to ownership of
houses In the Delta.
It's similar, but what you findthere is often a person that
may have never thought that theycould be a homebuyer but
(23:35):
through some of the programmingthere they may be able to do
that.
The opportunity to actuallyopen a small business and
sometimes in the Delta actuallyis more advantageous because you
often have a lower cost ofgetting into operation but you
may have a much more limitedcustomer pool.
So you're trying to balancethat.
So we try to think about thosethings that come across.
(23:58):
And then, as we supportorganizations, whether that be
their boards or parts of theirgrowth, that's very similar
Because often in a nonprofit theneed related to, like board
governance or financialmanagement is going to be
similar, especially as anorganization grows.
So there's some similaritiesthere.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Right yeah, and we've done a lot of work in that
space and I do see a lot ofsimilarities across that.
Entrepreneurship is anotherelement you've mentioned several
times.
Ken and I well, I moved here in97.
So I've been here for a longtime.
I've seen a lot of change andmy only regret is that I didn't
invest in property earlier, butKen and I incubated our software
(24:46):
company in Colorado back in2012.
Because we really couldn't findthose resources 13 years later.
We would not make that decisionbecause there is so much here
to support entrepreneurship herein northwest arkansas I'm glad
to hear that yeah, and so it's.
(25:07):
It's been really exciting to seeI.
I think it is not only acornerstone, but also um the.
The presence of that effort toplant seeds for small businesses
and build them leads to jobsand stability for the region.
They are the future of wherethe kids are going to work.
(25:32):
Can you speak to that a littlebit in terms of how that fits
into your strategy.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Well, you actually said like one of the big
elements, like entrepreneurism,is one of the still one of the
biggest job creators in thecountry.
That's why the spirit of, it isimportant to catalyze.
I there's a program that we'veintroduced here locally in
partnership with a number of ourschool district partners.
I love the name it's calledYippee and what Yippee does.
(26:02):
But I think this is reallyimportant is you think about
what point in life did youactually hear the first time the
word entrepreneur?
I mean probably for a lot ofpeople it's later in life.
You might have heard about itin college or you might not have
been exposed to it at all.
This program is really designedto give kids their first taste
at it, and not in a way thatthere's other programs that I
think try to do this.
(26:23):
But we piloted it one year andthe uptake was so tremendous
that we extended that through anadditional period of time.
So I think you want tointroduce people to that concept
and make it one of thosepossibilities.
So, like I said, college isn'tfor everybody, and nor should it
be.
Entrepreneurism could be aroute.
(26:44):
You don't have to go to collegeto be an entrepreneur.
There's a lot of wonderfultrades out there.
So how do you expose kids at anearly age to what all these
possibilities are?
That's a challenge, but alsoone that I think is going to be
key to growing the region.
Entrepreneurism.
Also, like a lot of parts ofthe heartland, we do not receive
(27:05):
the same type of capitalinfusion from the coast.
If you go east or west, that'swhere so much of the capital VC
investors, etc.
However, we have definitelyseen momentum and I credit a lot
of organizations across theregion that we have helped
support to being a part of thatthe work that the Northwest
(27:26):
Arkansas Council is doing now tobring other capital
organizations together fordiscovery visits where they can
meet entrepreneurs here theymake it pretty easy, almost like
speed dating, to meetentrepreneurs and the fact that
we've helped, along with thestate of Arkansas fund, a number
(27:47):
of accelerators to helpbusinesses do exactly that to
grow their business, to helpthem meet others that are out
there in the field.
So those are a couple ofexamples, but the bottom line to
me is job creation and also thefact that entrepreneurs are
often bringing their own senseof vibrancy, that creative
(28:07):
ideation that occurs in tryingto figure out like what this
business is going to look likeyeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
And to overcome challenges and barriers, which
is the biggest thing that acommunity needs to come together
around is how can we do that?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
right, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
So fascinating.
I agree, and I just think.
I think about what you'resaying about entrepreneurs there
.
One of the things is they dobring that diversity of thought.
They do bring new ideas.
They will again continue toinvigorate the region.
I think, the more we have comein here and it's that diversity
of thought that when we lookacross different places where
(28:43):
we've worked with differentcities, with different companies
, it's when you stop having thatthat you have to worry as a
community.
And I think we are really juston the tip of starting to really
feel the actual benefit of that, of these new ideas.
People coming in who want tonot necessarily sit in an office
(29:04):
, but they want to make impactin one way or another.
Some of it civic, some of it isjust going to be into the
business world and some will befor the government, municipality
Sure Example.
But I like what you said too,because there are a lot of
successful people who don'teither have the means or don't
want to invest in going througha four-year degree or more, but
(29:25):
they can still have greatsuccess, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, and a lot of jobs.
Satisfaction like satisfactionin what they're helping create.
That's a key part, and I'd beremiss if I didn't mention it's
not just about privateentrepreneurs.
We have a lot of socialentrepreneurs here.
People that are trying to comeup with solutions that are more
nonprofit based are figuring outlike these interesting areas of
(29:48):
social impact.
So that's also an area that,both domestically and
internationally, you get to seea lot of that happening here,
yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
As we wrap up today with this episode, can you share
some information with ourviewers and listeners about what
they can do if they're reallypassionate about building
community and making theircommunities better?
What are some of the thingsthat people with a passion for
community building can do andproceed with to make their
(30:20):
communities better?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Certainly, Part of it is figuring out what works for
you to engage.
Admittedly, everybody'sdifferent, different time
constraints, different familyrestraints work et cetera, but
what might be a fit for you.
So it can be as small.
As a new neighbor moves in inyour apartment building or down
(30:41):
the street, do something towelcome them into the
neighborhood.
They may be even moving locally, but they're new to your
neighborhood.
So that simple outreach canmake a big difference.
You're making a point-to-pointconnection to somebody.
Get involved locally and thatcould look any number of ways.
Pay attention to what's goingon at the city level or the
(31:02):
county level.
Just knowing what's going on.
If you really want to getinvolved in a nonprofit a number
of local nonprofits wantvolunteers.
Figure out if there's anorganization or organizations
you're passionate about.
See if they may need yourvolunteer assistance If you
really want to get involved.
A lot of organizations areoften looking for board members
(31:23):
and that may be a little harderto discern.
But reaching out to thatorganization especially you're
like I want to get involved insomething with children and
families Lots of organizationsdo that.
Maybe that's a role that youcould play is being on the board
.
The other is thinking aboutengagement If you're a business
or organization that is anonprofit or any kind of
(31:45):
organization, getting involvedin your local chamber and
understanding what's going onthere.
There's lots of civic clubsthat are here locally.
You may decide that through yourchurch or your place of faith,
that there's a way you could getinvolved.
A number of congregations havethat as an ability to take place
.
And the last I would add iswhen there's a call to action,
(32:08):
something happens in the area, Ithink a lot of places will
respond is just trying to findthe place that makes sense for
you, right, and that may besomething different for each
person, but finding that realmatch.
We are also fortunate.
We have a lot of resources thatyou can subscribe to, both on
(32:30):
the web or otherwise, that folkscan find out, like where can
you get involved in differentthings or what's going on?
Can you get involved indifferent things or what's going
on?
And I think the more you canactually subscribe to some of
those and figure out like what'sthe right fit in terms of your
information level, those couldbe great resources for you,
fantastic Well, thank you somuch for sharing in this episode
(32:52):
.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
We really look forward to the next episode.
Ken, do you want to wrap it up?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah, again, we would love it if you would follow and
subscribe.
But, more importantly, ifyou're hearing this and thinking
about this, how can you getinvolved and where's your
passion and where can youutilize that, as Robert's been
sharing with us, to be able tomake a difference and to get
gratification for doing that atthe same time?
Speaker 3 (33:15):
So, until next time yes, we'll see you soon.
Thanks for watching andlistening.
The 4 Bars podcast has beenbrought to you by Edges Inc.
A growth advisory firm based inBentonville, arkansas.
I founded the company in 2001.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Edges promotes growth , people, companies and ideas.
Our team collaboration tool,called Interface Methods, is a
basis for teams to work togethermore collaboratively,
understand each other and acceptdifferences and address
challenges together.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
We also started a nonprofit called Unform your
Bias.
We teach kids and their adultinfluencers how to utilize
storytelling as a means toreduce bias in the world.
We hope you'll check us out,subscribe to our podcast and
look at our website.
It also goes to the really origins of the Walton
Family Foundation, which I thinkare really important, which it
is truly a family-led foundation.
There are foundations out therein the country that have a
family name associated with it,but they're no longer family-led
.
They may have been at one time.
There are definitely some thatare still very much so, but I
(00:21):
really appreciate the fact thatI get to work with such a
visionary family.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Welcome to the 4 Bars podcast.
I'm Ken Leis.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
And I'm Patti Leis.
We're your hosts for somecompelling dialogue, encouraging
our listeners to strengthentheir connections.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And build strong communities, lifting each other
up and connecting in ways thatmatter.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
We named the podcast 4 Bars as a reference to how
hard we work to find a 4BARsconnection on our devices.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
And we wondered what could happen with relationships
if we worked as hard atconnecting.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Let's find out.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Welcome to 4BARs.
I'm your co-host, ken Leith,and I'm Patti Leith.
Welcome back, and we are very,very thrilled to have with us
Robert Burns as our guest thisweek.
Welcome, robert, thank you.
Robert is the Director HomeRegion Programs at the Walton
Family Foundation.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Robert, welcome.
We're so excited to hear yourstory.
It's going to be great to getto know more about you.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Thank you, I appreciate the invite.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It's good to be here.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about yourself, how you got
here, what your past has lookedlike?
Tell us your story.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, thank you.
I appreciate the chance toshare time with both of you.
I have been in NorthwestArkansas for roughly about three
and a half years.
I was fortunate to find outabout the role at the Walton
Family Foundation and my partnerand myself made the move to
Northwest Arkansas.
We absolutely love this region,the people, the place and I'll
(01:47):
touch a bit about that today.
But my background I grew up inNorth Carolina.
I grew up in rural NorthCarolina.
I grew up on a small familyfarm.
We raised beef cattle, mostlyfor family consumption.
But if you go back where I grewup, a lot of my cousins family
consumption.
But if you go back where I grewup, a lot of my cousins uncles.
(02:08):
My mom still lives in the houseI grew up in.
I find a lot of similaritiesbetween where I grew up and here
in a lot of respects.
And then I've had the privilegeof living in some other states.
I started my career in localgovernment, worked in a county,
in a few cities, working in cityplanning, city management, made
the move into the non-profitfield and worked for some
(02:30):
national and local non-profits.
So spent some time reallyfocused on workforce and
affordable housing and at onepoint, got to do a lot of work
in that across different statesin the country.
That was my first stint inphilanthropy.
I worked for an organizationthat was also a grant maker and
really found how much I enjoyedthat.
(02:50):
And then most of my career hasbeen in that nonprofit field.
Most recently, before coming tothe Walton Family Foundation, I
worked for Citigroup on thephilanthropic side of the shop,
and then we moved fromWashington DC to Northwest
Arkansas.
Like I said about three and ahalf years ago, I've served on
(03:10):
local boards in the past inprior roles.
I do serve on a couple ofnational boards.
Now it's difficult for us toserve on local boards, given
that we're a grantor to manyorganizations, but love that
spirit of giving back in termsof board service.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Yeah, fantastic.
One of the things I've come tolearn about you is your heart
for community and your passionfor making communities great
places to be.
Where do you think that comesfrom?
What brings you to the tablewith that mindset?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I've always thought that community was important and
I think part of that's theproduct of growing up rural,
where you do have to rely oftenon your own.
However, in situations wherethe community does come together
, it always left a lastingimpact on me and often that
would be disaster, which I seethat taking place in a lot of
(04:04):
cases where the community comestogether.
I also see it where folks arehelping to build things on
someone's property, like Iremember growing up, the
community would come togetherwhat people would call like a
barn raising or putting thingstogether.
The spirit of church and thefaith community played a role in
my life but I think really whenI got to college is where it
(04:27):
really started coming together.
For me is the advent of beingable to get involved in a lot of
different groups on campus andcreating that community not only
of the university but thingsthat reached out into the cities
, that were local there, helpingpeople out.
The spirit that really to me isabout each of us has an
(04:49):
obligation to give back to eachother.
So I think that was instilledat an early age and I think
that's an essential ingredientfor communities.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
We, you know, in our podcast,we are exploring good
connections in work, communitylife in general, and one of the
things that we've really beenexploring more deeply is just
this whole concept of communitybuilding and an intentional
approach to understanding what'sneeded and creating situations
(05:24):
where there are activities andplaces and things for people to
do together, and that's one ofthe things that I think is so
amazing about what the WaltonFamily Foundation does.
So what drew you to that job?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
When the recruiter initially connected to me about
the role, I read the description.
And when I read the descriptionabout what the home region
entails, the fact that homeregion includes for the
foundation Northwest Arkansasand the Mississippi Delta, the
fact that we, in that role theindividual will be working with
cities and nonprofits, and thework really appealed to me and
(06:07):
then that sold it in the way ofreading about the job.
But I remember distinctly andthis was in the time of COVID,
so a lot of the initialconversations were over Zoom.
You're trying to kind of get asense of people.
That's a different era that wewere all familiar with.
But when I started having theconversations with team members
(06:30):
that were on the interview panel, I just remember being struck
by how just relatable the folkswere on the other side and I
kept getting more and moreexcited about the role and when
I eventually was brought out forthe first face-to-face
interview, just brought it home.
I mean it was really a role thatexcited me, the variety of
things that I get to be exposedto, but as much as anything it's
(06:53):
about the people, the peoplethat we get to work with, the
people that are of thiscommunity.
I find this to be anextraordinary place when it
comes to the way people do seekto be connected to each other.
It's embedded in the culturehere, and one hope that I have
that I think we have to alwaysbe cognizant of is as we grow as
(07:16):
a region, which we are growingtremendously I don't want to
lose sight of that.
I think areas in other parts ofthe country have lost that
essence and I don't wantNorthwest Arkansas to lose that
essence, and people may compareus to other cities, which in
many ways I think there's acompliment there, but I want
(07:37):
Northwest Arkansas to beNorthwest Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
It's kind of a magical place.
I think, and it offers thingsthat we have not seen in other
communities that we've lived inand there is a sense of
everybody just really wants tosupport and help one another and
I love that.
I don't think that existseverywhere, no.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I think it permeates and you know we, we, the Family
Foundation, we work a lot with,as an example entrepreneurs and
if you think about the historyof this region and think about
the families that are here,those are some of the most
creative entrepreneurs in thecountry the Hunts, the Waltons,
(08:20):
the Tysons, the Simmons, I meanand we're seeing that growth
continue.
That legacy, that culture liveson.
I love seeing the growth in theentrepreneurial community, the
fact that people are discoveringit, the fact that local talent
whether they be graduating fromthe University of Arkansas and
they're already in some of theentrepreneurial programs there,
(08:41):
or they've got a career here andthey've decided they want to
become part of one of thecycling accelerators or one of
the outdoor rec programs thatability to take that courageous
leap and become an entrepreneurthat also, I think, really feeds
into the culture.
But what I hear entrepreneurssay when they're visiting the
(09:01):
region is they find thatcontagious spirit People want to
help them out which they'vedecided to move their businesses
in some cases because of that.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
And we have definitely met some of those
folks that come into town and,to your point, you can't go out
anywhere around town generallyand not run into someone you
have never met before and have aconversation.
It's a place where people doslow down, stop and have the
conversation, which I really doappreciate.
But you mentioned the families,the early entrepreneurs and
(09:30):
what they brought in, and thefact that they are still
investing in the communities andthey have a heart for the
community, for the entire regionitself.
How does that connect in withthe work that you do and what
you see happening as far asfuture expansion and their role
on it too?
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, and I'll focus on the work we're doing, but I
think it's important what youjust said.
These are families that havechosen to build the companies
here and invest in the region.
We can go to other parts of thecountry, the world, and see
lots of cases where that hasn'thappened, so that is a testament
to those families and theindividuals that created that
(10:10):
initial vision of what some ofthese organizations could be.
The fact that folks havecontinued to be here and embed,
I think, is an importantstatement.
It also goes to the reallyorigins of the Walton Family
Foundation, which I think arereally important, which it is
truly a family-led foundation.
There are foundations out therein the country that have a
(10:32):
family name associated with it,but they're no longer family-led
.
They may have been at one timethere are definitely some that
are still very much so but Ireally appreciate the fact that
I get to work with such avisionary family who are highly
engaged and very passionateabout the work.
We also, in addition to HomeRegion, the foundation, has two
(10:56):
additional programs.
One is our education program,which I have a peer that leads
that, and that's national, andthen our environment program I
have a peer that leads that, andthat is actually international.
It's our only internationalprogram, so the three programs
make up the overall compositelargely of the foundation.
What I love about home region isthat we are hyper-invested
(11:18):
locally.
We are place-based.
Not only are we focused inNorthwest Arkansas, we're
focused on Benton and Washingtoncounties.
Those are the two counties thatare home region.
And then when you think aboutor northwest Arkansas, I mean
you think about the Delta.
We focus on two counties in theMississippi Delta, both in
(11:38):
Arkansas Phillips and Jefferson.
And then we cross the river.
The only county we're workingin in Mississippi is Cahoma.
Cahoma is right across theriver from Phillips County.
So these, these place-basedefforts really magnify the kind
of impact you can have right,right.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Can you tell us a little bit about the types of
things you're doing in thedifferent areas?
Speaker 1 (11:59):
that, to me, is so fascinating yeah, and I'll just
say up front, we develop astrategy for each part of excuse
me, part of home region, andNorthwest Arkansas is one of
those plans, and in that Itouched upon one already which
is really development andcultivation of the
(12:19):
entrepreneurial ecosystem, andthat's, I think, really taken
off.
We also think a lot about,holistically, what makes this
region stay as welcoming, asvibrant as it can be.
That's an essential componentwhen it comes to quality of life
.
So we've been making additionalinvestment into things like
(12:39):
workforce housing.
Housing prices have gone updemonstrably here in Northwest
Arkansas.
It's really important thatfolks that come here for a job
or to start a business can alsofind a home that is close to
schools, close to parks, havethe ability to live a quality of
(13:00):
life that they want to.
So this housing element iscritically important and we're
doing more of that of life thatthey want to.
So this housing element iscritically important and we're
doing more of that.
Transportation is vitallyimportant.
As the region grows, morepeople are here, More people are
going to drive, they're goingto take a bicycle, they're going
to walk somewhere.
How do we enhance additionalforms of mobility?
We're blessed with this amazingRazorback Greenway that roughly
(13:22):
goes 40 miles Bella Vista toFayetteville.
It's a pretty unique creationin any part of the country.
We've got an effort going onright now to just think about,
like what's the next stage ofthat?
How do you build upon thesuccess of the Greenway, what
that looks like in the future?
We think a lot about sharedspaces, whether they be
(13:42):
parklands or areas where peoplecan gather together.
That's a really quintessentialpart of a community and where
people can find their space andalso meet other people.
That's an additional area wethink a lot about.
And one other one and I won'ttouch upon them all is our
career pathways work.
We are a fortunate region inthat we have companies that are
(14:06):
growing, entrepreneurs that areexpanding.
We have a huge growth in thehealthcare sector taking place,
but we need folks to fill thoseroles.
So it's incumbent that maybe wehave folks out there that are
working in another job.
How could they be upskilled,Maybe how they could embark on
an apprenticeship.
And we invest in, along withother partners, into the schools
(14:30):
and we are fortunate to have anumber of very high quality
schools here in NorthwestArkansas to help students
discover their career pathways.
You know, it doesn't mean thatyou at any point have to go to
college.
You could find a track that'smeant for you in a very
fulfilling career that reallyhas meaning to you and affords
(14:50):
you the ability to stay inNorthwest Arkansas and have a
career that you can call on yourown.
So these are things that wefocus on In the Delta.
It's a different strategy,different needs, different
strategy, but largely we focuson education for the students in
the Delta teacher quality,teacher retention.
(15:15):
We do a lot of work around assetbuilding, whether that be
credit building, first-time homeownership, small business
creation, entrepreneurship.
And then the other is bringingmore partners to the Delta, the
Delta.
We've been invested there for avery long time.
We are trying to draw otherfunders, other corporations who
want to share in that vision.
That's been very fun to watchbecause we've had some real
success stories there wherepeople maybe have thought about
(15:39):
the Delta but weren't quite sureon the approach, and we've
created some mechanisms to makethose introductions.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah, fantastic, fantastic.
That's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, I think about the opportunities that the
Walton Family Foundation bringshere.
As you described, some of themwe knew about.
Some, quite honestly, we don'tis people.
There's an opportunity here foreveryone who wants to be here.
It sounds like to find a pathif you would spoken to some
(16:17):
young people that we meet andthey'll tell us their story
about.
Oh, I went around the countryand I looked at three different
areas that I thought I mightwant to go.
But then they start to rattleoff the differences of what they
found here that they werecomfortable with, which includes
what they believe wasopportunity, what they believed
was an openness to people whoweren't from here.
Sometimes small towns have thata little bit of a stigma, but
that does not exist here.
In fact, I share with friendsof mine if in Washington DC,
(16:41):
that Northwest Arkansas itselfreminds me a tiny bit of a small
Washington DC people fromaround the world, amenities that
are very high quality, jobopportunities and good education
, all those, and one thing thatyou don't necessarily get in a
larger town sometimes thatfeeling of safety.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
How does that?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
play an impact in people coming to Northwest
Arkansas and feeling safe andbeing a part of the community.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, I think it's something in many ways, no
matter where you live, you maytake for granted.
However, we are largelybenefited from that and that's
something people will talk aboutto some extent.
But when you're in a place thatyou don't feel it, you know it
immediately or you're constantlybarraged by the fact that the
(17:28):
news or people talk about it.
It's not something you hearhere.
If something that may createthat feeling that you are not
safe is much more of a rarityhere, and I think part of it is
the culture, part of it is thatwe're still growing as a region.
That's certainly part of whatmakes it unique, but it's a it.
(17:51):
To me, it's an underpinning ofquality of life.
That feeling of kind, of thebasic human need, is an
important part.
If you're going to make a placeand continue to have it be
vibrant, that's going to be anessential part.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
As you taught.
I was struck by the number oftimes you used the word partners
.
You can't do this work alone.
You're bringing in a lot ofpeople, a lot of partnerships,
nonprofits, community leadership.
You mentioned faith leadership.
Can you speak to that a littlebit and how you're doing that?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, and our work is through partners and we are
part of that picture and Ibelieve in the power of that.
I've never been in a role, thisbeing one, where you can do the
work without others.
I haven't either.
It's a really hard thing tokind of think about, like how do
(18:49):
you do that?
But our partners we arefortunate.
We're very fortunate.
We have some outstandingorganizations here in northwest
arkansas that have great leaders, boards which are critically
important, that are focused onwhat the mission is and very
proud to support those.
So we typically work mostly withnon-profits, specifically what
(19:13):
the irs will call a1c3.
It's part of the code.
I think a lot of people willknow that designation.
We also work directly withlocal governments, in some cases
school districts, and thensometimes we will work with
what's called an intermediary, agroup that's working in other
parts of the country doingspecific work, and they come to
(19:35):
the region in partnership with alocal organization or maybe
they're bringing somethingunique that we don't necessarily
have but that could be abenefit to the local community.
So that's exciting in terms ofwho we work with and we're an
invite only foundation.
Some foundations are byapplication.
(19:57):
That's a competitiveapplication, but we are invite
only and therefore we're oftenalways on the outlook for other
partners or just trying todiscern.
Now they have to fit strategy.
That's like a key ingredientand we try to always on our
website just speak about thoseareas that we're focused on and
there's consistency because wethink about that from five-year
(20:20):
strategic plans.
But I always think it'sincumbent on myself and the
organization to always belistening to what's going on in
the community.
So getting out there, beingpresent at events, listening to
folks like what are thechallenges they're facing?
For someone who's new here,what are they seeking?
(20:42):
Are folks that have been herefor generations like what are
they seeing that's worrying themabout the region?
These are good indicators.
We also do something everythree to five years called a
quality of life survey and thatsurvey goes across both
Washington and Benton counties,basically evenly represented.
I'm proud to say they use cellphones, not just reliance on
(21:05):
landlines.
I know that can be an issuesometimes, but it's really
encouraging to see how high thequality of life here but also
gives you indications of what'son people's minds, like what's
the thing that they're worriedabout or what they think could
affect quality of life inNorthwest Arkansas.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
And you mentioned.
Strategies are very differentfor Northwest Arkansas and the
Delta, but the cornerstones ofthose strategies are similar.
So can you speak a little bitto the differences between them?
So education is a cornerstone,as an example, but you're doing
different things in both areasof the region.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Yeah, and education is underpinnings, a cornerstone
in both strategies.
I like that word.
Cornerstone in both strategies,I like that word.
Cornerstone is thinking abouteducation.
Here we have very dynamicschool districts.
I mean we have school districtsthat are quite large, largest
in the state of Arkansas to someof the smaller rural districts.
(22:08):
Most really have high qualityprogramming for the students and
really relying on what they cando as a school district to
benefit those students.
We also have a lot of charterschools, private schools, a good
variety.
If you're looking to find theplace for your kid, we offer a
(22:29):
good variety around that.
In the Delta there's morelimited choices and because of
some of the long-term economicfactors, the Delta schools may
have more of a challenge.
So there have been a lot ofchanges going on in terms of the
status of education there.
The other challenge is gettingteachers who will come from the
(22:53):
area and really stay.
So retention is another issueand trying to make sure that
teachers receive thecertification they need.
It's not unique to the Delta,but in a lot of rural counties
in particular you find teachersthat haven't reached their
certification.
Doesn't mean they're a badteacher, it just means they may
have not got the certification.
(23:13):
So how do you work withteachers to get certified?
Asset building is anothercornerstone.
How do you work with teachersto get certified Asset building
is another cornerstone.
Entrepreneurship is a goodexample here, or the efforts
around housing, particularlywhen it comes to ownership of
houses In the Delta.
It's similar, but what you findthere is often a person that
may have never thought that theycould be a homebuyer but
(23:35):
through some of the programmingthere they may be able to do
that.
The opportunity to actuallyopen a small business and
sometimes in the Delta actuallyis more advantageous because you
often have a lower cost ofgetting into operation but you
may have a much more limitedcustomer pool.
So you're trying to balancethat.
So we try to think about thosethings that come across.
(23:58):
And then, as we supportorganizations, whether that be
their boards or parts of theirgrowth, that's very similar
Because often in a nonprofit theneed related to, like board
governance or financialmanagement is going to be
similar, especially as anorganization grows.
So there's some similaritiesthere.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Right yeah, and we've done a lot of work in that
space and I do see a lot ofsimilarities across that.
Entrepreneurship is anotherelement you've mentioned several
times.
Ken and I well, I moved here in97.
So I've been here for a longtime.
I've seen a lot of change andmy only regret is that I didn't
invest in property earlier, butKen and I incubated our software
(24:46):
company in Colorado back in2012.
Because we really couldn't findthose resources 13 years later.
We would not make that decisionbecause there is so much here
to support entrepreneurship herein northwest arkansas I'm glad
to hear that yeah, and so it's.
(25:07):
It's been really exciting to seeI.
I think it is not only acornerstone, but also um the.
The presence of that effort toplant seeds for small businesses
and build them leads to jobsand stability for the region.
They are the future of wherethe kids are going to work.
(25:32):
Can you speak to that a littlebit in terms of how that fits
into your strategy.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Well, you actually said like one of the big
elements, like entrepreneurism,is one of the still one of the
biggest job creators in thecountry.
That's why the spirit of, it isimportant to catalyze.
I there's a program that we'veintroduced here locally in
partnership with a number of ourschool district partners.
I love the name it's calledYippee and what Yippee does.
(26:02):
But I think this is reallyimportant is you think about
what point in life did youactually hear the first time the
word entrepreneur?
I mean probably for a lot ofpeople it's later in life.
You might have heard about itin college or you might not have
been exposed to it at all.
This program is really designedto give kids their first taste
at it, and not in a way thatthere's other programs that I
think try to do this.
(26:23):
But we piloted it one year andthe uptake was so tremendous
that we extended that through anadditional period of time.
So I think you want tointroduce people to that concept
and make it one of thosepossibilities.
So, like I said, college isn'tfor everybody, and nor should it
be.
Entrepreneurism could be aroute.
(26:44):
You don't have to go to collegeto be an entrepreneur.
There's a lot of wonderfultrades out there.
So how do you expose kids at anearly age to what all these
possibilities are?
That's a challenge, but alsoone that I think is going to be
key to growing the region.
Entrepreneurism.
Also, like a lot of parts ofthe heartland, we do not receive
(27:05):
the same type of capitalinfusion from the coast.
If you go east or west, that'swhere so much of the capital VC
investors, etc.
However, we have definitelyseen momentum and I credit a lot
of organizations across theregion that we have helped
support to being a part of thatthe work that the Northwest
(27:26):
Arkansas Council is doing now tobring other capital
organizations together fordiscovery visits where they can
meet entrepreneurs here theymake it pretty easy, almost like
speed dating, to meetentrepreneurs and the fact that
we've helped, along with thestate of Arkansas fund, a number
(27:47):
of accelerators to helpbusinesses do exactly that to
grow their business, to helpthem meet others that are out
there in the field.
So those are a couple ofexamples, but the bottom line to
me is job creation and also thefact that entrepreneurs are
often bringing their own senseof vibrancy, that creative
(28:07):
ideation that occurs in tryingto figure out like what this
business is going to look likeyeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
And to overcome challenges and barriers, which
is the biggest thing that acommunity needs to come together
around is how can we do that?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
right, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
So fascinating.
I agree, and I just think.
I think about what you'resaying about entrepreneurs there
.
One of the things is they dobring that diversity of thought.
They do bring new ideas.
They will again continue toinvigorate the region.
I think, the more we have comein here and it's that diversity
of thought that when we lookacross different places where
(28:43):
we've worked with differentcities, with different companies
, it's when you stop having thatthat you have to worry as a
community.
And I think we are really juston the tip of starting to really
feel the actual benefit of that, of these new ideas.
People coming in who want tonot necessarily sit in an office
(29:04):
, but they want to make impactin one way or another.
Some of it civic, some of it isjust going to be into the
business world and some will befor the government, municipality
Sure Example.
But I like what you said too,because there are a lot of
successful people who don'teither have the means or don't
want to invest in going througha four-year degree or more, but
(29:25):
they can still have greatsuccess, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, and a lot of jobs.
Satisfaction like satisfactionin what they're helping create.
That's a key part, and I'd beremiss if I didn't mention it's
not just about privateentrepreneurs.
We have a lot of socialentrepreneurs here.
People that are trying to comeup with solutions that are more
nonprofit based are figuring outlike these interesting areas of
(29:48):
social impact.
So that's also an area that,both domestically and
internationally, you get to seea lot of that happening here,
yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
As we wrap up today with this episode, can you share
some information with ourviewers and listeners about what
they can do if they're reallypassionate about building
community and making theircommunities better?
What are some of the thingsthat people with a passion for
community building can do andproceed with to make their
(30:20):
communities better?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Certainly, Part of it is figuring out what works for
you to engage.
Admittedly, everybody'sdifferent, different time
constraints, different familyrestraints work et cetera, but
what might be a fit for you.
So it can be as small.
As a new neighbor moves in inyour apartment building or down
(30:41):
the street, do something towelcome them into the
neighborhood.
They may be even moving locally, but they're new to your
neighborhood.
So that simple outreach canmake a big difference.
You're making a point-to-pointconnection to somebody.
Get involved locally and thatcould look any number of ways.
Pay attention to what's goingon at the city level or the
(31:02):
county level.
Just knowing what's going on.
If you really want to getinvolved in a nonprofit a number
of local nonprofits wantvolunteers.
Figure out if there's anorganization or organizations
you're passionate about.
See if they may need yourvolunteer assistance If you
really want to get involved.
A lot of organizations areoften looking for board members
(31:23):
and that may be a little harderto discern.
But reaching out to thatorganization especially you're
like I want to get involved insomething with children and
families Lots of organizationsdo that.
Maybe that's a role that youcould play is being on the board
.
The other is thinking aboutengagement If you're a business
or organization that is anonprofit or any kind of
(31:45):
organization, getting involvedin your local chamber and
understanding what's going onthere.
There's lots of civic clubsthat are here locally.
You may decide that through yourchurch or your place of faith,
that there's a way you could getinvolved.
A number of congregations havethat as an ability to take place
.
And the last I would add iswhen there's a call to action,
(32:08):
something happens in the area, Ithink a lot of places will
respond is just trying to findthe place that makes sense for
you, right, and that may besomething different for each
person, but finding that realmatch.
We are also fortunate.
We have a lot of resources thatyou can subscribe to, both on
(32:30):
the web or otherwise, that folkscan find out, like where can
you get involved in differentthings or what's going on?
Can you get involved indifferent things or what's going
on?
And I think the more you canactually subscribe to some of
those and figure out like what'sthe right fit in terms of your
information level, those couldbe great resources for you,
fantastic Well, thank you somuch for sharing in this episode
(32:52):
.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
We really look forward to the next episode.
Ken, do you want to wrap it up?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah, again, we would love it if you would follow and
subscribe.
But, more importantly, ifyou're hearing this and thinking
about this, how can you getinvolved and where's your
passion and where can youutilize that, as Robert's been
sharing with us, to be able tomake a difference and to get
gratification for doing that atthe same time?
Speaker 3 (33:15):
So, until next time yes, we'll see you soon.
Thanks for watching andlistening.
The 4 Bars podcast has beenbrought to you by Edges Inc.
A growth advisory firm based inBentonville, arkansas.
I founded the company in 2001.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Edges promotes growth , people, companies and ideas.
Our team collaboration tool,called Interface Methods, is a
basis for teams to work togethermore collaboratively,
understand each other and acceptdifferences and address
challenges together.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
We also started a nonprofit called Unform your
Bias.
We teach kids and their adultinfluencers how to utilize
storytelling as a means toreduce bias in the world.
We hope you'll check us out,subscribe to our podcast and
look at our website.
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