June 12, 2025 • 34 mins
What makes a community truly thrive in times of rapid growth? Robert Burns, Director of Home Region Resources for the Walton Family Foundation, returns to the Four Bars Podcast to dive deep into the art of community building and regional development.
Have you ever relocated and felt that initial struggle to connect? Burns reveals that the first 30 days in a new place are critical to establishing lasting roots. "Put yourself out there," he encourages, "it's amazing just how one little conversation can lead to many more." This simple truth underpins Northwest Arkansas's remarkable ability to maintain its warm, welcoming culture despite exponential growth.
The conversation explores how intentional community design fosters belonging across diverse populations. From dedicated cricket pitches serving the growing South Asian community to accessible cycling trails, these thoughtfully created spaces break down barriers and create natural opportunities for connection. Burns emphasizes that successful communities celebrate differences while recognizing our shared humanity: "We are a whole lot more alike than we are different."
Looking ahead, Burns shares an inspiring vision for Northwest Arkansas as a model of regional collaboration. Already home to successful shared resources like the regional airport and community college system, the future promises continued development in healthcare, housing accessibility, and entrepreneurial ecosystems—all while preserving the unique culture that makes the area special.
Whether you're considering a move to a new community, looking to strengthen connections in your current location, or interested in the delicate balance between growth and cultural preservation, this episode offers invaluable wisdom about creating spaces where everyone feels they truly belong.
Subscribe to Four Bars and visit fourbarspodcast.com for additional resources from Robert's insightful conversation about building meaningful connections that strengthen communities.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I would encourage folks to find a way to put
themselves out there.
It's amazing just how onelittle conversation can lead to
many more.
I love the fact that here, asopposed to other places I've
lived, I think I'm more apt tohave someone actually randomly
speak to you or, if you'rewalking down the sidewalk, look
(00:21):
you in the eye and speak to youor say good morning or something
like that, or, less often, tobe looking directly at their
phone as they're walking downthe street.
That still happens.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome to the Four Bars podcast.
I'm Ken Lease.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And I'm Patti Lease.
We're your host for somecompelling dialogue, encouraging
our listeners to strengthentheir connections.
And build strong communities,lifting each other up and
connecting in ways that matterconnections and build strong
communities, lifting each otherup and connecting in ways that
matter.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
We named the podcast Four Bars as a reference to how
hard we work to find a Four Barsconnection on our devices and
we wondered what could happenwith relationships if we worked
as hard at connecting.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Let's find out.
Welcome back to Four Bars.
I'm your co-host, Patti Leith.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I'm your other co-host, Ken Leith.
Pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And here with us we have Robert Burns.
He is the Director of HomeRegion Resources for the Walton
Family Foundation.
If you haven't picked up hisfirst episode with us, please
feel free to take a look.
Some powerful stuff in thereabout how he ended up in this
role and really what thisresource is for the communities
it serves.
Resource is for the communitiesit serves.
(01:27):
We're going to start againtoday to dig deeper into
community building and reallydig into the things that are
necessary to consider as you'redoing it.
So thank you for being herewith us.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, thank you for the invite back.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so if you could tell us a little bit about
watchouts that you've seen as acommunity grows.
I have lived here in NorthwestArkansas since 1997.
I've seen an amazing amount ofgrowth.
The biggest thing we had goingon on the food scene was Chili's
when I got here, and I've seenit go a bit further than that,
(01:58):
sure, but there are watch outs,and so if you could speak to
that a little bit as it pertainsto the work that you're doing,
yeah, and your growth is.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
We are incredibly fortunate.
The region is growing in just anumber of ways that are just
fascinating and also inspiring,yeah, and at the same time we
can look at other parts of thecountry or even the world and
say, wow, I'm not sure if wewant that to happen.
(02:29):
You could fill in the blankabout what that is, but I think
at the base of this is somethingwe touched upon briefly in
episode one, which was aroundculture.
It's hard to call out exactlywhat that is, but it is the
spirit to me of people here arewilling to be helpful to each
(02:50):
other.
They're willing to beconnectors to each other.
They want to say, oh, you havethis great idea.
You know what?
I know somebody else that youprobably should talk to about
your idea.
That spirit.
It's essential to really havethat permeate.
You can feel it.
But I also think it's incumbentthat as folks move who are new
(03:11):
to the region, part of thereason they're moving here is
often that same thing.
So how do they become engaged?
So it's really important thatas a region we do our best to
welcome newcomers, people whoare just moving here, especially
important to the person who maybe the partner or the spouse
(03:32):
that's coming along, thegirlfriend, the boyfriend, the
children.
They may not have that sameconnectivity because someone's
moving for a job.
So how do they find their place?
How do they find engagement?
What does that look like andturn into some of the resources,
the partners we support?
Another thing that I think canbe hard in a region as it grows
(03:54):
is and we're experiencing thisand you know you've got the four
biggest cities, Bentonville,Rogers, Springdale and
Fayetteville, and literallyyou're going down 49, in that
order, and increasingly we'reseeing a lot of the growth
happen in some of the smaller orone-time smaller communities
like Centerton, Bella Vista,Tonnytown, Farmington, and those
(04:17):
communities are growing at avery rapid pace.
Now they don't have the samehistory in terms of the size of
the other four and some of theworry in other areas comes from
where people get to a sense ofplace, that where can choose to
live, that fit what your need is, and that we always remember
(04:49):
that we are a region, we are acollection of communities and
not one city doesn't make oneother one better.
It's like the assets thatSpringdale has and the assets
that Rogers has, the assets thatCentered in has, or the assets
that a smaller community likeLincoln or Prairie Grove, those
(05:10):
all add up to the region, so wealways have to be mindful of
that and I think it's easy tosometimes slip into a place of
that where you feel like oneplace is better than the other.
I just think you think about,like, what makes them different,
and difference can be very good.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yes, very much so, very much so.
That's a fascinating concepttoo, and I think there in many
cases can be a thought thatbeing affiliated with or
situated in one is better orworse than another, when really
all of them make up thecollective fabric of the region?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, and absolutely could be.
And here, if you think aboutthis, I mean, we moved from
Washington DC.
Y'all have lived in other partsof the country.
A lot of people here have, butthere's also lots of folks like
my own family back in NorthCarolina.
They've lived here for multiplegenerations, which is fantastic
.
I think it's really importantand I encourage folks all the
(06:07):
time is, no matter where youlive, go explore the rest of the
region.
There's so much to see here.
I feel like still after threeand a half years, we're still
scratching the surface, and itdoesn't just mean Washington and
Benton counties, but the stateis just incredibly rich with
natural beauty.
And the thing that I love and Ithink you hear a lot of people
(06:31):
talk about this is access tonature, to outdoor rec.
It's literally, in many cases,five minutes away.
There are not many places youcan have that, where you leave a
downtown area and you're on ahiking trail or a cycle trail
and you feel like you've leftthe city.
That is a gift that I don't seeus losing in the future, but we
(06:54):
have to do everything we can touphold it and we need to make
it approachable.
Someone may not feel ascomfortable on a trail.
Maybe they grew up in anenvironment where trails just
weren't something that were evenpossibilities.
So how do you introduce folksto even the idea of getting out
there?
Or for someone who's never beenin a canoe or a kayak before I
(07:20):
think folks who have more ofthat background people are very
kind here in so many ways likeintroducing someone that hasn't
had that opportunity before, youmay find you've got a passion
for that that was undiscoveredin the past.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, I like that.
I think about some of whatyou're saying.
There is that if people comehere they can really experience
it, but sometimes it still canbe a little bit difficult making
that connection, making thatdecision on where you want to be
From the work that you've donewith the Walton Family
Foundation.
Is there a time frame typically, where people will say yes or
(07:57):
no, this is permanent for me orthis is not, and what could they
do about that if they're notfeeling connected yet?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
That's a really good question.
I don't have any scientificevidence, so this is only from
experience and really thatfeeling.
I think that first 30 days isreally critical, like how are
you feeling?
And that, look, I do.
Everybody's got a personalresponsibility around this.
You can decide andstylistically this could also be
(08:28):
a fit for the individual thatyou're just going to stay on
your own and that's not going tobe something you're going to do
the outreach for.
But I would encourage folks tofind a way to put themselves out
there and it's amazing just howone little conversation can
lead to many more.
I love the fact that here, asopposed to other places I've
(08:49):
lived, I think I'm more apt tohave someone actually randomly
speak to you or, if you'rewalking down the sidewalk, look
you in the eye and speak to youor say good morning or something
like that, or, less often, tobe looking directly at their
phone as they're walking downthe street.
That still happens, I mean, andthat's just human as well.
(09:10):
But I think that human to humanconnectivity we are meant to
interact with each other.
I also think that first year isreally important and one piece
of advice I would give to folksit's really easy to say OK, I
know I can go back to place Xwhere I move from and the
(09:31):
flights are direct to get there.
I'm not going to spend as muchtime here.
That just kind of creates asplit for you and I think you
have to make a decision and somepeople are torn by family or
other job obligations like that.
But when you're here is justtrying to find some ways that
appeal to you to go out the.
(09:51):
The number of things that happenhere every weekend is like
mind-boggling to me for a regionand like even keeping up, but I
I feel like folks could findsomething that really resonates
with them and that to me isvitally important.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, we, you know, again, we have the internet and
the way that people areconnected today is really good.
And you mentioned phones andbeing able to give data out
there.
I don't know.
I think I figured about fivedifferent sites a day that let
me know what's going on today,tomorrow, but not just in
Bentonville.
They tell me what's going on inAsylum and Springdale and
(10:31):
Fayetteville, all these otherareas, which is fabulous.
And then, to your point, youhave to make okay, I've got all
these choices, what am I goingto do?
Um, the other thing is, when wedo walk around town, often some
you'll get a question every nowand then it's could be looked
at as odd, but people will walkup and go.
Are people truly always thisfriendly?
And?
And because they are, andthat's a, that is a thing that,
(10:52):
coming from washington dc whichI love, washington dc, and
there's some wonderful people itis not what happens here and
any other place.
I think the closest I've everbeen to this is santa fe, new
mexico, oh, okay it's anothergreat city.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Another great city, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, I moved here in 97, as I've mentioned a couple
times but to me the change hasbeen substantial.
But that friendliness was therethen.
For me it was a move that Ithought would not be super hard
to do.
And then when I got here andcouldn't find someone to you
know, do my hair or pet sit oryou know all those things that
(11:30):
are in your, in your fabric, ofthat you sort of take for
granted.
Your whole network when youmove is no longer there.
But people were extremelyfriendly then and and I I really
do think that that a lot ofthat is is attributed to the
work that that is associatedwith the Walton family in some
(11:52):
ways, whether it be from Walmartto the foundation, that there
is a sense of respect, a senseof community, a sense of
belonging, that that the peopleare taught in those ecosystems
and and it's and it spreads.
I will still hear phrases Ilearned that are respectful to
(12:15):
use with customers and employeesat Walmart.
I still hear people you knowsay it 20 years later, the same
kind of phrases, and I know thatwe you know, kind of all.
I think that also impacted thecommunity because that friendly,
supportive.
There were less resources then,but it was very much.
You know, I didn't feel aloneyeah and uh, and I could have
(12:36):
very well yeah felt alone andnot stayed absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, I think that's that feeling of being alone.
Going back to your question islike that no matter where you
live, that's a feeling that mostpeople don't want.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Don't want, and for many of us it creates stress and
then causes us to withdrawfurther, sure.
So then we don't put ourselvesout there, right, and we teach a
series called Full Signal, andone of the things that we
highlight in that is the need toget comfortable saying hi, I'm
Patty, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, and I also say something to y'all's question
earlier that I meant to mentionI think it's always incumbent to
be curious, be curious aboutthe other person, be curious
about the other place.
Don't let things.
This to me is a societalchallenge.
I'm not speaking just about inthe Swiss Arkansas just because
somebody, may you find out, hasa different belief from you in
(13:31):
something.
Now, I respect people havecertain boundaries and beliefs,
but I think you get very curious, like my.
Fundamental is that we are awhole lot more alike than we are
different.
Appreciate the differences butalso find out ways that we are a
whole lot more alike than weare different.
Appreciate the differences butalso find out ways that we can
work together and I thinkthere's a craving for that, just
generally.
(13:52):
But try to seek that out andand don't let some of the more
traditional obstacles kind ofbecomes something that allows
you not to get to know thatperson.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Now, that's very well said and it plays itself out,
unfortunately, in a lot ofdifferent places in our lives,
whether it be in our workplace,where we worship, or in our city
or sometimes in our schools.
But we do a lot in ourbusinesses and we've done it
also for community, where wehelp people.
To see, some of thosedifferences are just the way you
(14:25):
prefer to go about certainthings, like how do I create my
ideas, how do I influence people?
And our styles sometimes aredifferent.
We see one or two things and weapply a whole bunch of things,
because one or two things thatwe see versus digging deeper,
(14:47):
having that curiosity tounderstand more.
Um, we hosted during thepandemic, remotely, uh, the
series called shock talks, whichstands for um, stop hatred and
opera caring and kindness.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
He's not real good with acronyms Not good acronyms.
It's all right, I love him.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But one of the things we would hear in this were
people that didn't know eachother came in.
It was open and people couldjust sign up and come in, but
they would start talking and wesaw people from vastly different
areas of the world.
They came together on the factthat they were having similar
problems and similar challengesand then they started the other
things.
(15:28):
They thought they maybe wereconcerned about the other person
.
They weren't, because, oh,we're all going through a lot of
similarities and that was oneof the things that we think when
communities come together iswhen people are willing to have
that dialogue, share a story,and storytelling is one of the
beautiful things in the worldbecause that would change so
many things.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
The bias is what we fill in when we don't know the
story.
But we've done also a lot ofwork in just this concept of
judgment and exclusion.
Like when I see this different,I judge it as something that I
don't want to interact with.
When you can intentionallychoose a different approach, you
can choose to learn.
It doesn't have to change you,but it absolutely opens up the
(16:13):
door to be more collaborativeregardless of these differences.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, I think you have to really be conscious.
You do it's an intention,understand and ask yourself.
Yes, challenge yourself incertain cases.
One of my favorite parts of theyear is something that happens
here that actually has gottenextended, called Welcoming Week.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
And.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I think it's something we kind of do all year
long but it's a real focus onthat.
But it's become a morewelcoming month now and that's
done through the NorthwestArkansas Council and that has
really, I think, been a way forthe communities and all the
communities to put on somethingthat has that ability, but that
(16:59):
should be all year long and Ithink it is.
But that's a way to upliftelements of that.
I think a lot of people wouldbe surprised if you found out
and many people don't know thiswe're home to the second largest
Marshallese population outsideof the Marshall Islands and
that's a real gift to have thatlarge a group of Marshallese in
(17:20):
the region in terms of whatthose individuals bring here,
but also being like curiosityabout what makes Marshallese
culture the region, in terms ofwhat those individuals bring
here, but also being likecuriosity about like what makes
Marshallese culture differentand getting to know some of the
organizations that work with theMarshallese.
So those like small examples ofpart of that curiosity.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, I would agree, I love them.
I love them.
Well, so, as we think aboutbelonging in a community, what
are some of the things that areimportant for a community to do
to build that sense of?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
belonging.
Sure, I think you know part ofit is this feeling of being
comfortable.
Do they, does an individualfeel that they can find what it
is they need here and can theyfind the people, the services?
And I go back to the quality oflife survey I mentioned and,
granted, we do that we're tryingto do it more every three years
(18:07):
but I was really heartened byhow people felt that they were
in this region and welcomegenerally and felt like they're
here and they're finding a wayto be a part of the community.
So that aspect is really keyand it's being open to what
(18:27):
makes people different andtrying to also find ways to
celebrate that.
And there may be things goingback to curiosity, that maybe
culturally there's things thatyou may not have been exposed to
.
I think the fact that we have,as an example, another example
(18:47):
is a very large and growingSouth Asian community that's
here in Northwest Arkansas, somuch so that when I was at a
recent opening in Bentonvillefrom one of the parks and found
out how large the cricket leagueis here, it's impressive that
we have that and found out howlarge the cricket league is here
, it's impressive that we havethat.
Now, that's not exclusivelySouth Asian, but there's a large
(19:09):
South Asian population.
It's a beautiful sport.
I have to admit I still don'tcompletely understand it all,
but I think it's a beautifulsport and the fact that
Bentonville invested intocreating its first publicly
owned cricket pitch is atestament to the growth.
But I think that's a goodexample of the community, the
fact that now they have playedin some other areas but now
(19:33):
their own dedicated cricketpitch that's built to spec.
That is for that.
But these things can make a realdifference the fact that
someone who may be disabled canfind a cycling trail here that
works for them on a bike thathas hand cranks and these things
make a difference in how youfeel welcome.
(19:55):
And these things make adifference in how you feel
welcome.
We've just got to always makingsure, as things are built,
created like, is that space?
Is this a place where peoplewill have that feeling?
One thing I appreciate aboutNorthwest Arkansas is a really
(20:21):
strong sense of design, verypurposeful in many cases, that
really lasting impact of natureand art and how it impacts us as
individuals and that creationof the space makes that
welcoming, even possible, andthat's contagious in this region
.
We see some world-classexamples of it here, but it's
been responsible for it reallypermeating more of what all the
communities are now thinkingabout when it comes to that.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yeah, yeah, interesting, yeah, fascinating.
So, as you tie that back intoculture, what are some of the
things that you think areimportant for communities to
consider when building culture?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
The big culture is what is your history?
Where does that come from?
That part of the culture isreally important and what
historically has been the case?
How has the, the region, builtupon that?
Uh, one very positive aspect tome is that northwest arkansas
(21:23):
has what I would think and whenI when I listen to folks a very
uh culture that seems to be veryopen to new ideas and people
coming in from other places.
I know there are folks that havenot had that experience, but
you've got other regions thatwould love to have a culture
where they could describe it.
(21:43):
And it's the building of that,it's the reinforcement of it,
it's the idea that, as folks arenew to the area, that they
really try to embrace thingsthat that could make them part
of the community.
And you have to do it in a waythat both is right for you
(22:03):
timing-wise, but also findingthe organization that makes
sense for you, or organizationsor a way that you give back, or
the friend that you meet, or theperson that you're starting to
get to know, that you end uphaving coffee with and get to
know they've been in front ofyou.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
We do a lot of work in the organizational culture
building side of things, and Ithink that a lot of the
fundamentals apply to community.
Culture is what people do whenno one's looking, and people do
more of the things they'rerewarded for.
So if you think about that, youcan intentionally build a
culture versus just letting ithappen.
(22:41):
And I think that's important tokeep in mind in all aspects of
culture, because we all want tofeel a part of something that is
nurturing us, and if you justlet it happen, it doesn't always
happen that way.
So we get into kind of threestages of it.
(23:01):
We're mentioning it, so youstart talking about it.
It's trending, a lot of peopleare starting to talk about it,
or it's leading.
We're doing it, we're living it, we're teaching people how to
do it, we're hiring for it,we're training for it.
That's kind of the evolution ofculture, and I think
communities can do it verysimilarly.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, and I think you know I said something earlier
about the focus that we've hadon creating spaces that are
welcoming.
Yes, those spaces have a reallyimportant role because those
are the spaces, uh, the kind oforiginal model of the square you
know squares we.
we have a lot of those areaslike a square or a park in a lot
(23:46):
of our cities.
The, even where the greenwaysare coming through and it
replaces they've actually becomemore de facto parks and those
spaces are just wherecommunities congregate.
It's where the festivals happen, the farmer's market, a lot of
pop-up music festivals andcommunities, the cities, the
groups that are working in thecities.
(24:06):
Like, how do you activate thosespaces?
They can be passive and stillbe great spaces to meet people,
but if you introduce, like, aperformance of some sort or you
have a farmer's market andyou're taking that space or an
art market or a festival, that'scoming, those spaces form to
(24:29):
areas where people can actuallymeet each other.
It's lowering that boundary.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
No, I think that's very, very true, and we again.
There are many more that arebeing developed even today and
that will continue to be able tobring people together and
that's so important.
On this topic, I'll share astory really quickly that last
year, after the tornado lastyear, we were helping out
because we had done work at ourhouse and stuff and we just
(24:55):
wanted to go do some work atsome other places.
So we went to kohler, where thethe cycling park is there, and
we were working all day talkingto different people who never
met before, side by side,everyone with a common cause,
which is to help clean up, helpbring the region back and make
it as vibrant as it was.
And when we were done, therewas this young gentleman, maybe
(25:17):
30ish or so, who I was workingnext to down on this gully.
So he walked out with patty andI and as we're walking out,
we're talking to him and askingquestions.
Curiosity, yeah, uh, you knowwhere is and you could tell his
didn't sound like he'd been fromhere, he'd been from another
part of the world and he saidwell, he came from chicago, but
he originally was from lithuania.
His mom moved in when he wasabout 13, he and his brother and
(25:41):
uh but he had since grown up,got married, was living in
chicago and he and his wife madea plan, which they, I think.
They went to charlotte, theywent to austin and one other
place and they came here andthey decided to this would be
the place where they wouldrelocate to.
The interesting thing aboutwhat he said to us as we're
walking out I forget how it cameup, but it's like so what keeps
(26:03):
you here and what do you likeabout it and what is it that
really, you know, is somethingyou would want to see other
people do?
And he brought up one thing hegoes.
I came here because I liked theculture.
I fell in love with what I sawand what I heard and then, the
important part, he goes.
But what I came here for was tointegrate into this culture
(26:27):
community, because I've seenpeople already since I've been
here, who sometimes want andI've seen another place, they
want to move somewhere, but thenthey want to change it to what
they would like it to be,because I'm here to be a member
of the community and I was like,wow, that.
I was kind of yeah, it waspretty.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
It's pretty insightful yeah, yeah, pretty
distinctive way to to thinkabout it.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Yeah, right and I think if we go into change with
the understanding that it's agive and take and we can be very
positively impacted by what isdifferent and not necessarily
try to change it, and then,because we're a part of it,
(27:09):
things also elevate, becausethere's this whole
entrepreneurial spirit thattakes place with different ideas
that come from differentbackgrounds and a lot of times
the new ideas, the newexperiences, the new folks can
introduce a lot of wonderfulelements into the culture.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
So I was thinking it's important we're not closed.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
I don't think we are Agreed and the areas of what you
were just speaking about inyourself, like even the story is
like, folks will bring theirgifts, their talents, their
treasure here.
Embrace the variety of foodthat's present here now in terms
of restaurants, how you can goall over the region and find
amazing possibilities just achoice and the fact that there's
(28:07):
a lot of restaurants here.
I would put up against bigcities around the country.
I love the increasing focus onlocal food systems.
That and the young farmers andfarmers that have been here for
generations and trying to figureout more ways to get their
agriculture into the foodpipeline.
(28:27):
That's exciting.
That's very local, but it alsoties you back into the land and
the culture.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
And supports the economy, which is really why a
community cannot thrive withoutthat.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Right, exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Well, as we wrap up, would you share what you see for
this region in the next five toten years?
What are your dreams for it?
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, the region, I believe, is going to continue to
grow in a number of ways andfor me that brings about a lot
of positive outlook for thefuture and also brings about
some of the challenges we havetouched on before.
But I think to me a few thingsthat would come out.
(29:12):
That excite me is we have somereally wonderful regional
examples of things that workwell as a region.
Think about our airport, xna.
You think about the fact thatwe have a regional community
college.
We have actually a regionalwater system that I think most
people may not know as muchabout as we think about.
Our infrastructure.
(29:32):
Challenges is how do wefunction more as a region In
many cases to solve those, andwe have some really good
examples to build upon.
But that growth is offering usa healthy challenge when it
comes to our infrastructure.
Housing excites me in terms ofwhere I see the possibility for
more and different forms ofworkforce housing, both on the
(29:54):
renter and the ownership side,so that's important.
I keep hoping we see much moreinvestment from capital, venture
capital and other forms to cometo this region to support the
entrepreneurial ecosystem andthe companies that are here.
We're seeing amazing growth inhealthcare and what that is
(30:14):
going to afford the.
The whole conversation aroundwhole health and what that means
not not only from whattypically we think of as health,
but what does that mean for thefuture of the region very much
excites me.
Um, I believe we're becoming amuch more connected region in
terms of our our networks oftrails and the advents coming to
(30:38):
some of the road improvementsthat are happening, that once
upon a time it would have beenhard to imagine going down the
side of a particular road, butnow you can actually do that.
You can do that feeling safeand you can actually be able to
do that in a really encouragingway.
And this is going to continueto be a job creation region and
(31:01):
that's outstanding.
I'm excited about thepossibility of growing out
greater talent of the schoolsand thinking about what I think
is really important how dopeople find the career pathway
that's right for them?
Introducing at an early age,helping in the middle school,
(31:21):
junior high, high school levelto kind of figure out like where
do you want to go, andcultivating that.
And that also provides someroom for ways for people to
engage, because one thing Iforgot to mention in one of our
conversations was the importanceof mentorship.
Lots of people can be a mentor.
But that excites me about thefuture of the region.
(31:44):
I just see all this wonderfulpossibility.
You look at the investmentthat's occurring, the growth
throughout all of the cities.
I think we have a goodcompetitive spirit here too.
That also affords us a lot ofadvantages.
So I find like multiple reasonsto be excited.
I'm very bullish on the future.
(32:05):
Oh, that's awesome, andthinking about like what it
means and the people thatcontinue to be a part of the
region and the people thatcontinue to move here, excite me
too, and I just think it goesback to both our conversations
is how do folks continue to bepart of the community and the
way that makes the most sensefor them.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
And taps into the things that matter.
Yeah, impact the ability tomake an impact is critical.
Yeah, right, for all of us, andit feels so good to be able to
do it.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Robert, thank you so much.
This has been an amazing coupleof sessions to talk through the
things that make this greatcommunity as great as it is, and
ways that it's going to evenget better.
But I also think we left theviewers and listeners with some
great touch points about how youcan get more involved, how to
shape culture, how to partnerand really just how to become
(33:03):
better.
So thank you Great.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Thank you both Thank you, and we'll look forward to
the future.
Definitely Excellent, and thankyou everyone for joining and
we'd love if you could followand subscribe and learn more
here at Four Bars.
We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, and one of the things we'll encourage you to do
is go to fourbarspodcastcomwhere we have resources from our
speakers' talks that can helpyou learn more.
So you'll see some resourcesfrom Robert's talks in that site
pretty soon after the episodedrops.
So we'll see you soon.
Bye, the Four Bars podcast hasbeen brought to you by Edges Inc
(33:41):
.
A growth advisory firm based inBentonville, Arkansas.
I founded the company in 2001.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
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 2 (33:59):
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.
I would encourage folks to find a way to put
themselves out there.
It's amazing just how onelittle conversation can lead to
many more.
I love the fact that here, asopposed to other places I've
lived, I think I'm more apt tohave someone actually randomly
speak to you or, if you'rewalking down the sidewalk, look
(00:21):
you in the eye and speak to youor say good morning or something
like that, or, less often, tobe looking directly at their
phone as they're walking downthe street.
That still happens.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Welcome to the Four Bars podcast.
I'm Ken Lease.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And I'm Patti Lease.
We're your host for somecompelling dialogue, encouraging
our listeners to strengthentheir connections.
And build strong communities,lifting each other up and
connecting in ways that matterconnections and build strong
communities, lifting each otherup and connecting in ways that
matter.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
We named the podcast Four Bars as a reference to how
hard we work to find a Four Barsconnection on our devices and
we wondered what could happenwith relationships if we worked
as hard at connecting.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Let's find out.
Welcome back to Four Bars.
I'm your co-host, Patti Leith.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
And I'm your other co-host, Ken Leith.
Pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And here with us we have Robert Burns.
He is the Director of HomeRegion Resources for the Walton
Family Foundation.
If you haven't picked up hisfirst episode with us, please
feel free to take a look.
Some powerful stuff in thereabout how he ended up in this
role and really what thisresource is for the communities
it serves.
Resource is for the communitiesit serves.
(01:27):
We're going to start againtoday to dig deeper into
community building and reallydig into the things that are
necessary to consider as you'redoing it.
So thank you for being herewith us.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, thank you for the invite back.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so if you could tell us a little bit about
watchouts that you've seen as acommunity grows.
I have lived here in NorthwestArkansas since 1997.
I've seen an amazing amount ofgrowth.
The biggest thing we had goingon on the food scene was Chili's
when I got here, and I've seenit go a bit further than that,
(01:58):
sure, but there are watch outs,and so if you could speak to
that a little bit as it pertainsto the work that you're doing,
yeah, and your growth is.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
We are incredibly fortunate.
The region is growing in just anumber of ways that are just
fascinating and also inspiring,yeah, and at the same time we
can look at other parts of thecountry or even the world and
say, wow, I'm not sure if wewant that to happen.
(02:29):
You could fill in the blankabout what that is, but I think
at the base of this is somethingwe touched upon briefly in
episode one, which was aroundculture.
It's hard to call out exactlywhat that is, but it is the
spirit to me of people here arewilling to be helpful to each
(02:50):
other.
They're willing to beconnectors to each other.
They want to say, oh, you havethis great idea.
You know what?
I know somebody else that youprobably should talk to about
your idea.
That spirit.
It's essential to really havethat permeate.
You can feel it.
But I also think it's incumbentthat as folks move who are new
(03:11):
to the region, part of thereason they're moving here is
often that same thing.
So how do they become engaged?
So it's really important thatas a region we do our best to
welcome newcomers, people whoare just moving here, especially
important to the person who maybe the partner or the spouse
(03:32):
that's coming along, thegirlfriend, the boyfriend, the
children.
They may not have that sameconnectivity because someone's
moving for a job.
So how do they find their place?
How do they find engagement?
What does that look like andturn into some of the resources,
the partners we support?
Another thing that I think canbe hard in a region as it grows
(03:54):
is and we're experiencing thisand you know you've got the four
biggest cities, Bentonville,Rogers, Springdale and
Fayetteville, and literallyyou're going down 49, in that
order, and increasingly we'reseeing a lot of the growth
happen in some of the smaller orone-time smaller communities
like Centerton, Bella Vista,Tonnytown, Farmington, and those
(04:17):
communities are growing at avery rapid pace.
Now they don't have the samehistory in terms of the size of
the other four and some of theworry in other areas comes from
where people get to a sense ofplace, that where can choose to
live, that fit what your need is, and that we always remember
(04:49):
that we are a region, we are acollection of communities and
not one city doesn't make oneother one better.
It's like the assets thatSpringdale has and the assets
that Rogers has, the assets thatCentered in has, or the assets
that a smaller community likeLincoln or Prairie Grove, those
(05:10):
all add up to the region, so wealways have to be mindful of
that and I think it's easy tosometimes slip into a place of
that where you feel like oneplace is better than the other.
I just think you think about,like, what makes them different,
and difference can be very good.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yes, very much so, very much so.
That's a fascinating concepttoo, and I think there in many
cases can be a thought thatbeing affiliated with or
situated in one is better orworse than another, when really
all of them make up thecollective fabric of the region?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, and absolutely could be.
And here, if you think aboutthis, I mean, we moved from
Washington DC.
Y'all have lived in other partsof the country.
A lot of people here have, butthere's also lots of folks like
my own family back in NorthCarolina.
They've lived here for multiplegenerations, which is fantastic
.
I think it's really importantand I encourage folks all the
(06:07):
time is, no matter where youlive, go explore the rest of the
region.
There's so much to see here.
I feel like still after threeand a half years, we're still
scratching the surface, and itdoesn't just mean Washington and
Benton counties, but the stateis just incredibly rich with
natural beauty.
And the thing that I love and Ithink you hear a lot of people
(06:31):
talk about this is access tonature, to outdoor rec.
It's literally, in many cases,five minutes away.
There are not many places youcan have that, where you leave a
downtown area and you're on ahiking trail or a cycle trail
and you feel like you've leftthe city.
That is a gift that I don't seeus losing in the future, but we
(06:54):
have to do everything we can touphold it and we need to make
it approachable.
Someone may not feel ascomfortable on a trail.
Maybe they grew up in anenvironment where trails just
weren't something that were evenpossibilities.
So how do you introduce folksto even the idea of getting out
there?
Or for someone who's never beenin a canoe or a kayak before I
(07:20):
think folks who have more ofthat background people are very
kind here in so many ways likeintroducing someone that hasn't
had that opportunity before, youmay find you've got a passion
for that that was undiscoveredin the past.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, I like that.
I think about some of whatyou're saying.
There is that if people comehere they can really experience
it, but sometimes it still canbe a little bit difficult making
that connection, making thatdecision on where you want to be
From the work that you've donewith the Walton Family
Foundation.
Is there a time frame typically, where people will say yes or
(07:57):
no, this is permanent for me orthis is not, and what could they
do about that if they're notfeeling connected yet?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
That's a really good question.
I don't have any scientificevidence, so this is only from
experience and really thatfeeling.
I think that first 30 days isreally critical, like how are
you feeling?
And that, look, I do.
Everybody's got a personalresponsibility around this.
You can decide andstylistically this could also be
(08:28):
a fit for the individual thatyou're just going to stay on
your own and that's not going tobe something you're going to do
the outreach for.
But I would encourage folks tofind a way to put themselves out
there and it's amazing just howone little conversation can
lead to many more.
I love the fact that here, asopposed to other places I've
(08:49):
lived, I think I'm more apt tohave someone actually randomly
speak to you or, if you'rewalking down the sidewalk, look
you in the eye and speak to youor say good morning or something
like that, or, less often, tobe looking directly at their
phone as they're walking downthe street.
That still happens, I mean, andthat's just human as well.
(09:10):
But I think that human to humanconnectivity we are meant to
interact with each other.
I also think that first year isreally important and one piece
of advice I would give to folksit's really easy to say OK, I
know I can go back to place Xwhere I move from and the
(09:31):
flights are direct to get there.
I'm not going to spend as muchtime here.
That just kind of creates asplit for you and I think you
have to make a decision and somepeople are torn by family or
other job obligations like that.
But when you're here is justtrying to find some ways that
appeal to you to go out the.
(09:51):
The number of things that happenhere every weekend is like
mind-boggling to me for a regionand like even keeping up, but I
I feel like folks could findsomething that really resonates
with them and that to me isvitally important.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, we, you know, again, we have the internet and
the way that people areconnected today is really good.
And you mentioned phones andbeing able to give data out
there.
I don't know.
I think I figured about fivedifferent sites a day that let
me know what's going on today,tomorrow, but not just in
Bentonville.
They tell me what's going on inAsylum and Springdale and
(10:31):
Fayetteville, all these otherareas, which is fabulous.
And then, to your point, youhave to make okay, I've got all
these choices, what am I goingto do?
Um, the other thing is, when wedo walk around town, often some
you'll get a question every nowand then it's could be looked
at as odd, but people will walkup and go.
Are people truly always thisfriendly?
And?
And because they are, andthat's a, that is a thing that,
(10:52):
coming from washington dc whichI love, washington dc, and
there's some wonderful people itis not what happens here and
any other place.
I think the closest I've everbeen to this is santa fe, new
mexico, oh, okay it's anothergreat city.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Another great city, yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, I moved here in 97, as I've mentioned a couple
times but to me the change hasbeen substantial.
But that friendliness was therethen.
For me it was a move that Ithought would not be super hard
to do.
And then when I got here andcouldn't find someone to you
know, do my hair or pet sit oryou know all those things that
(11:30):
are in your, in your fabric, ofthat you sort of take for
granted.
Your whole network when youmove is no longer there.
But people were extremelyfriendly then and and I I really
do think that that a lot ofthat is is attributed to the
work that that is associatedwith the Walton family in some
(11:52):
ways, whether it be from Walmartto the foundation, that there
is a sense of respect, a senseof community, a sense of
belonging, that that the peopleare taught in those ecosystems
and and it's and it spreads.
I will still hear phrases Ilearned that are respectful to
(12:15):
use with customers and employeesat Walmart.
I still hear people you knowsay it 20 years later, the same
kind of phrases, and I know thatwe you know, kind of all.
I think that also impacted thecommunity because that friendly,
supportive.
There were less resources then,but it was very much.
You know, I didn't feel aloneyeah and uh, and I could have
(12:36):
very well yeah felt alone andnot stayed absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, I think that's that feeling of being alone.
Going back to your question islike that no matter where you
live, that's a feeling that mostpeople don't want.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Don't want, and for many of us it creates stress and
then causes us to withdrawfurther, sure.
So then we don't put ourselvesout there, right, and we teach a
series called Full Signal, andone of the things that we
highlight in that is the need toget comfortable saying hi, I'm
Patty, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, and I also say something to y'all's question
earlier that I meant to mentionI think it's always incumbent to
be curious, be curious aboutthe other person, be curious
about the other place.
Don't let things.
This to me is a societalchallenge.
I'm not speaking just about inthe Swiss Arkansas just because
somebody, may you find out, hasa different belief from you in
(13:31):
something.
Now, I respect people havecertain boundaries and beliefs,
but I think you get very curious, like my.
Fundamental is that we are awhole lot more alike than we are
different.
Appreciate the differences butalso find out ways that we are a
whole lot more alike than weare different.
Appreciate the differences butalso find out ways that we can
work together and I thinkthere's a craving for that, just
generally.
(13:52):
But try to seek that out andand don't let some of the more
traditional obstacles kind ofbecomes something that allows
you not to get to know thatperson.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Now, that's very well said and it plays itself out,
unfortunately, in a lot ofdifferent places in our lives,
whether it be in our workplace,where we worship, or in our city
or sometimes in our schools.
But we do a lot in ourbusinesses and we've done it
also for community, where wehelp people.
To see, some of thosedifferences are just the way you
(14:25):
prefer to go about certainthings, like how do I create my
ideas, how do I influence people?
And our styles sometimes aredifferent.
We see one or two things and weapply a whole bunch of things,
because one or two things thatwe see versus digging deeper,
(14:47):
having that curiosity tounderstand more.
Um, we hosted during thepandemic, remotely, uh, the
series called shock talks, whichstands for um, stop hatred and
opera caring and kindness.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
He's not real good with acronyms Not good acronyms.
It's all right, I love him.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But one of the things we would hear in this were
people that didn't know eachother came in.
It was open and people couldjust sign up and come in, but
they would start talking and wesaw people from vastly different
areas of the world.
They came together on the factthat they were having similar
problems and similar challengesand then they started the other
things.
(15:28):
They thought they maybe wereconcerned about the other person
.
They weren't, because, oh,we're all going through a lot of
similarities and that was oneof the things that we think when
communities come together iswhen people are willing to have
that dialogue, share a story,and storytelling is one of the
beautiful things in the worldbecause that would change so
many things.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
The bias is what we fill in when we don't know the
story.
But we've done also a lot ofwork in just this concept of
judgment and exclusion.
Like when I see this different,I judge it as something that I
don't want to interact with.
When you can intentionallychoose a different approach, you
can choose to learn.
It doesn't have to change you,but it absolutely opens up the
(16:13):
door to be more collaborativeregardless of these differences.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, I think you have to really be conscious.
You do it's an intention,understand and ask yourself.
Yes, challenge yourself incertain cases.
One of my favorite parts of theyear is something that happens
here that actually has gottenextended, called Welcoming Week.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
And.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I think it's something we kind of do all year
long but it's a real focus onthat.
But it's become a morewelcoming month now and that's
done through the NorthwestArkansas Council and that has
really, I think, been a way forthe communities and all the
communities to put on somethingthat has that ability, but that
(16:59):
should be all year long and Ithink it is.
But that's a way to upliftelements of that.
I think a lot of people wouldbe surprised if you found out
and many people don't know thiswe're home to the second largest
Marshallese population outsideof the Marshall Islands and
that's a real gift to have thatlarge a group of Marshallese in
(17:20):
the region in terms of whatthose individuals bring here,
but also being like curiosityabout what makes Marshallese
culture the region, in terms ofwhat those individuals bring
here, but also being likecuriosity about like what makes
Marshallese culture differentand getting to know some of the
organizations that work with theMarshallese.
So those like small examples ofpart of that curiosity.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Yeah, I would agree, I love them.
I love them.
Well, so, as we think aboutbelonging in a community, what
are some of the things that areimportant for a community to do
to build that sense of?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
belonging.
Sure, I think you know part ofit is this feeling of being
comfortable.
Do they, does an individualfeel that they can find what it
is they need here and can theyfind the people, the services?
And I go back to the quality oflife survey I mentioned and,
granted, we do that we're tryingto do it more every three years
(18:07):
but I was really heartened byhow people felt that they were
in this region and welcomegenerally and felt like they're
here and they're finding a wayto be a part of the community.
So that aspect is really keyand it's being open to what
(18:27):
makes people different andtrying to also find ways to
celebrate that.
And there may be things goingback to curiosity, that maybe
culturally there's things thatyou may not have been exposed to
.
I think the fact that we have,as an example, another example
(18:47):
is a very large and growingSouth Asian community that's
here in Northwest Arkansas, somuch so that when I was at a
recent opening in Bentonvillefrom one of the parks and found
out how large the cricket leagueis here, it's impressive that
we have that and found out howlarge the cricket league is here
, it's impressive that we havethat.
Now, that's not exclusivelySouth Asian, but there's a large
(19:09):
South Asian population.
It's a beautiful sport.
I have to admit I still don'tcompletely understand it all,
but I think it's a beautifulsport and the fact that
Bentonville invested intocreating its first publicly
owned cricket pitch is atestament to the growth.
But I think that's a goodexample of the community, the
fact that now they have playedin some other areas but now
(19:33):
their own dedicated cricketpitch that's built to spec.
That is for that.
But these things can make a realdifference the fact that
someone who may be disabled canfind a cycling trail here that
works for them on a bike thathas hand cranks and these things
make a difference in how youfeel welcome.
(19:55):
And these things make adifference in how you feel
welcome.
We've just got to always makingsure, as things are built,
created like, is that space?
Is this a place where peoplewill have that feeling?
One thing I appreciate aboutNorthwest Arkansas is a really
(20:21):
strong sense of design, verypurposeful in many cases, that
really lasting impact of natureand art and how it impacts us as
individuals and that creationof the space makes that
welcoming, even possible, andthat's contagious in this region
.
We see some world-classexamples of it here, but it's
been responsible for it reallypermeating more of what all the
communities are now thinkingabout when it comes to that.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yeah, yeah, interesting, yeah, fascinating.
So, as you tie that back intoculture, what are some of the
things that you think areimportant for communities to
consider when building culture?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
The big culture is what is your history?
Where does that come from?
That part of the culture isreally important and what
historically has been the case?
How has the, the region, builtupon that?
Uh, one very positive aspect tome is that northwest arkansas
(21:23):
has what I would think and whenI when I listen to folks a very
uh culture that seems to be veryopen to new ideas and people
coming in from other places.
I know there are folks that havenot had that experience, but
you've got other regions thatwould love to have a culture
where they could describe it.
(21:43):
And it's the building of that,it's the reinforcement of it,
it's the idea that, as folks arenew to the area, that they
really try to embrace thingsthat that could make them part
of the community.
And you have to do it in a waythat both is right for you
(22:03):
timing-wise, but also findingthe organization that makes
sense for you, or organizationsor a way that you give back, or
the friend that you meet, or theperson that you're starting to
get to know, that you end uphaving coffee with and get to
know they've been in front ofyou.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
We do a lot of work in the organizational culture
building side of things, and Ithink that a lot of the
fundamentals apply to community.
Culture is what people do whenno one's looking, and people do
more of the things they'rerewarded for.
So if you think about that, youcan intentionally build a
culture versus just letting ithappen.
(22:41):
And I think that's important tokeep in mind in all aspects of
culture, because we all want tofeel a part of something that is
nurturing us, and if you justlet it happen, it doesn't always
happen that way.
So we get into kind of threestages of it.
(23:01):
We're mentioning it, so youstart talking about it.
It's trending, a lot of peopleare starting to talk about it,
or it's leading.
We're doing it, we're living it, we're teaching people how to
do it, we're hiring for it,we're training for it.
That's kind of the evolution ofculture, and I think
communities can do it verysimilarly.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, and I think you know I said something earlier
about the focus that we've hadon creating spaces that are
welcoming.
Yes, those spaces have a reallyimportant role because those
are the spaces, uh, the kind oforiginal model of the square you
know squares we.
we have a lot of those areaslike a square or a park in a lot
(23:46):
of our cities.
The, even where the greenwaysare coming through and it
replaces they've actually becomemore de facto parks and those
spaces are just wherecommunities congregate.
It's where the festivals happen, the farmer's market, a lot of
pop-up music festivals andcommunities, the cities, the
groups that are working in thecities.
(24:06):
Like, how do you activate thosespaces?
They can be passive and stillbe great spaces to meet people,
but if you introduce, like, aperformance of some sort or you
have a farmer's market andyou're taking that space or an
art market or a festival, that'scoming, those spaces form to
(24:29):
areas where people can actuallymeet each other.
It's lowering that boundary.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
No, I think that's very, very true, and we again.
There are many more that arebeing developed even today and
that will continue to be able tobring people together and
that's so important.
On this topic, I'll share astory really quickly that last
year, after the tornado lastyear, we were helping out
because we had done work at ourhouse and stuff and we just
(24:55):
wanted to go do some work atsome other places.
So we went to kohler, where thethe cycling park is there, and
we were working all day talkingto different people who never
met before, side by side,everyone with a common cause,
which is to help clean up, helpbring the region back and make
it as vibrant as it was.
And when we were done, therewas this young gentleman, maybe
(25:17):
30ish or so, who I was workingnext to down on this gully.
So he walked out with patty andI and as we're walking out,
we're talking to him and askingquestions.
Curiosity, yeah, uh, you knowwhere is and you could tell his
didn't sound like he'd been fromhere, he'd been from another
part of the world and he saidwell, he came from chicago, but
he originally was from lithuania.
His mom moved in when he wasabout 13, he and his brother and
(25:41):
uh but he had since grown up,got married, was living in
chicago and he and his wife madea plan, which they, I think.
They went to charlotte, theywent to austin and one other
place and they came here andthey decided to this would be
the place where they wouldrelocate to.
The interesting thing aboutwhat he said to us as we're
walking out I forget how it cameup, but it's like so what keeps
(26:03):
you here and what do you likeabout it and what is it that
really, you know, is somethingyou would want to see other
people do?
And he brought up one thing hegoes.
I came here because I liked theculture.
I fell in love with what I sawand what I heard and then, the
important part, he goes.
But what I came here for was tointegrate into this culture
(26:27):
community, because I've seenpeople already since I've been
here, who sometimes want andI've seen another place, they
want to move somewhere, but thenthey want to change it to what
they would like it to be,because I'm here to be a member
of the community and I was like,wow, that.
I was kind of yeah, it waspretty.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
It's pretty insightful yeah, yeah, pretty
distinctive way to to thinkabout it.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Yeah, right and I think if we go into change with
the understanding that it's agive and take and we can be very
positively impacted by what isdifferent and not necessarily
try to change it, and then,because we're a part of it,
(27:09):
things also elevate, becausethere's this whole
entrepreneurial spirit thattakes place with different ideas
that come from differentbackgrounds and a lot of times
the new ideas, the newexperiences, the new folks can
introduce a lot of wonderfulelements into the culture.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
So I was thinking it's important we're not closed.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
I don't think we are Agreed and the areas of what you
were just speaking about inyourself, like even the story is
like, folks will bring theirgifts, their talents, their
treasure here.
Embrace the variety of foodthat's present here now in terms
of restaurants, how you can goall over the region and find
amazing possibilities just achoice and the fact that there's
(28:07):
a lot of restaurants here.
I would put up against bigcities around the country.
I love the increasing focus onlocal food systems.
That and the young farmers andfarmers that have been here for
generations and trying to figureout more ways to get their
agriculture into the foodpipeline.
(28:27):
That's exciting.
That's very local, but it alsoties you back into the land and
the culture.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
And supports the economy, which is really why a
community cannot thrive withoutthat.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Right, exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Well, as we wrap up, would you share what you see for
this region in the next five toten years?
What are your dreams for it?
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, the region, I believe, is going to continue to
grow in a number of ways andfor me that brings about a lot
of positive outlook for thefuture and also brings about
some of the challenges we havetouched on before.
But I think to me a few thingsthat would come out.
(29:12):
That excite me is we have somereally wonderful regional
examples of things that workwell as a region.
Think about our airport, xna.
You think about the fact thatwe have a regional community
college.
We have actually a regionalwater system that I think most
people may not know as muchabout as we think about.
Our infrastructure.
(29:32):
Challenges is how do wefunction more as a region In
many cases to solve those, andwe have some really good
examples to build upon.
But that growth is offering usa healthy challenge when it
comes to our infrastructure.
Housing excites me in terms ofwhere I see the possibility for
more and different forms ofworkforce housing, both on the
(29:54):
renter and the ownership side,so that's important.
I keep hoping we see much moreinvestment from capital, venture
capital and other forms to cometo this region to support the
entrepreneurial ecosystem andthe companies that are here.
We're seeing amazing growth inhealthcare and what that is
(30:14):
going to afford the.
The whole conversation aroundwhole health and what that means
not not only from whattypically we think of as health,
but what does that mean for thefuture of the region very much
excites me.
Um, I believe we're becoming amuch more connected region in
terms of our our networks oftrails and the advents coming to
(30:38):
some of the road improvementsthat are happening, that once
upon a time it would have beenhard to imagine going down the
side of a particular road, butnow you can actually do that.
You can do that feeling safeand you can actually be able to
do that in a really encouragingway.
And this is going to continueto be a job creation region and
(31:01):
that's outstanding.
I'm excited about thepossibility of growing out
greater talent of the schoolsand thinking about what I think
is really important how dopeople find the career pathway
that's right for them?
Introducing at an early age,helping in the middle school,
(31:21):
junior high, high school levelto kind of figure out like where
do you want to go, andcultivating that.
And that also provides someroom for ways for people to
engage, because one thing Iforgot to mention in one of our
conversations was the importanceof mentorship.
Lots of people can be a mentor.
But that excites me about thefuture of the region.
(31:44):
I just see all this wonderfulpossibility.
You look at the investmentthat's occurring, the growth
throughout all of the cities.
I think we have a goodcompetitive spirit here too.
That also affords us a lot ofadvantages.
So I find like multiple reasonsto be excited.
I'm very bullish on the future.
(32:05):
Oh, that's awesome, andthinking about like what it
means and the people thatcontinue to be a part of the
region and the people thatcontinue to move here, excite me
too, and I just think it goesback to both our conversations
is how do folks continue to bepart of the community and the
way that makes the most sensefor them.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
And taps into the things that matter.
Yeah, impact the ability tomake an impact is critical.
Yeah, right, for all of us, andit feels so good to be able to
do it.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Robert, thank you so much.
This has been an amazing coupleof sessions to talk through the
things that make this greatcommunity as great as it is, and
ways that it's going to evenget better.
But I also think we left theviewers and listeners with some
great touch points about how youcan get more involved, how to
shape culture, how to partnerand really just how to become
(33:03):
better.
So thank you Great.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Thank you both Thank you, and we'll look forward to
the future.
Definitely Excellent, and thankyou everyone for joining and
we'd love if you could followand subscribe and learn more
here at Four Bars.
We appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, and one of the things we'll encourage you to do
is go to fourbarspodcastcomwhere we have resources from our
speakers' talks that can helpyou learn more.
So you'll see some resourcesfrom Robert's talks in that site
pretty soon after the episodedrops.
So we'll see you soon.
Bye, the Four Bars podcast hasbeen brought to you by Edges Inc
(33:41):
.
A growth advisory firm based inBentonville, Arkansas.
I founded the company in 2001.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
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 2 (33:59):
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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