Bonus Episode | NWA Tech Summit Live, Featuring Alex Howland, Craig Immel, Caleb Talley, Katie Thompson, Kirt Gill & John Wilcox

Summary

The NWA Tech Summit is the Heartland’s premier technology conference and serves to enhance, prepare, and diversify the local Northwest Arkansas economy. In its ninth year, the NWA Tech Summit came back with 1,700 registered attendees when it returned in-person to downtown Bentonville. The NWA Tech Summit is an event hosted by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and it is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, Northwest Arkansas Council, Walmart, J. B. Hunt, Tyson Foods, Salesforce, and the University of Arkansas Blockchain Center of Excellence.

Show Notes

(0:52) Introduction to Alex Howland

(13:26) Introduction to Craig Immel

(30:44) Introduction to Caleb Talley

(36:05) Introduction to Katie Thompson

(44:32) Introduction to Kirt Gill

(59:15) Introduction to John Wilcox

(1:06:33) Closing Thoughts

Links

James Bell

Bentonville Economic Development

Kris Adams

Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit

Alex Howland

Alex Victtoria Events

Craig Immel

GoKey Network

The Momentary

Freshgrass | Bentonville

FORMAT Festival

Blockchain NWA

OZDAO

Caleb Talley

Startup Junkie

Jeff Amerine

Startup Junkies Podcast

Katie Thompson

Science Venture Studio

Winrock International

Fuel Accelerator

Aayush Thakur

FR8Relay

Pressroom

The Preacher’s Son

Scott Family Amazeum

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Kirt Gill

NeuraStasis

VIC Technology Venture Development

Whole Health Institute

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine

John Wilcox

Diatech Diabetes

Walmart (new home office)

Ledger

Table Mesa Bistro

Museum of Native American History

21c Museum Hotel

Quotes

“We’re in a place where people care about the future of our built environment, and that’s so powerful. I think they’re building the right way. I think there’s some important people here doing the right type of work in figuring out what’s next and how we’re going to plan for the impacts of what we build now and what it’s going to mean for future generations.” - Alex Howland, (8:03)

“I’m happy to be here in Northwest Arkansas and blown away by all the changes I’ve seen…the changes have been significant, but they’ve also been really nice. I see a lot of quality development, and it’s cool to see quality of growth and not just quantity.” - Craig Immel, (13:37)

“I think it’s a testament to how much the community’s grown and the effort of the Chamber and other stakeholders in Northwest Arkansas, Bentonville specifically, to develop what is here, add onto it and do the things that are enticing the talent and culture to put down roots.” - Caleb Talley, (35:17)

“I have a six and an eight year old, and we love coming up to Bentonville…I grew up in a small town in Texas and didn’t have the opportunities to see artwork, so to be able to take them to places like Crystal Bridges at no cost to me is always amazing.” - Katie Thompson, (42:36)

“It’s my first time coming to Northwest Arkansas, and it’s really beautiful…I went to Crystal Bridges, and there’s certain art pieces that really spoke to me…It’s hard to imagine what America looked like before all this development, and how beautiful this country is from a natural perspective, and you get to imagine it through some of the artwork that’s there, and I think that’s special.” - Kirt Gill, (53:43)

“We were able to see the Walmart campus being built and that total bikeable building, everything is so modern…Bentonville is beautiful, and I’ve been very impressed with the urban planning and the restaurants…The infrastructure is incredible, and I saw the bike pass too, so that’s been awesome. I want to come back and do some more riding.” - John Wilcox, (1:03:29)