This morning’s Economic Issues Breakfast was the most technologically ambitious program we have attempted.  It included the integration of the video feed with slide presentations, along with interactivity from all seven sites in the network.  For the most part, it was a successful venture.

The program began with an economic briefing — and the one technology glitch of the morning.   A delayed connection of the Fayetteville campus to the network caused us to miss out on Kathy Deck’s summary of national economic conditions.  The rest of the network moved on to Michael Pakko’s overview of the Arkansas economy.  The slides from both parts of the economic update presentation are posted here:

Economic Briefing Handout (pdf)

M0ving on to the main topic for the morning’s program, Charisse Childers of Accelerate Arkansas presented the business case for why it is so important that the students and future workers of Arkansas develop skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  Slides from her presentation are here:

 Charisse Childers’ PowerPoint Presentation

Assessing the current status of Arkansas STEM educational attainment, Phyllis Ponche of the Census State Data Center presented a comparison of regions around the state.  Data from the Census Bureau and the Arkansas Department of Education were used to provide comparative maps.  The maps from her presentation are available here:

State of the State’s Education Handout (pdf)

Additional Information (pdf)

We wanted to give an opportunity for participants from around the state to share stories of success, so the next agenda item on the program was a brief report from the six locations that chose to participate.  Miraculously, the technology worked nearly flawlessly for this interactive set of reports.  Video recordings of these “success stories” will be posted here at a later date (if they are available).

It was a full morning’s agenda, packed into 90 minutes.  In the final few minutes of the allotted time, we heard from Jerry Adams of the Arkansas Research Alliance, reiterating the importance of the issue of STEM education and calling on attendees around the state to get involved in efforts to help improve Arkansas’ peformance in this critical area of economic devlopment.

Technological and economic forces are transforming the workplace of the 21^st century, with highly technical skills and a strong academic background in math and science increasingly in demand.  Are young Arkansans acquiring the skills they will need to be employed in tomorrow’s good jobs?  Will our workforce be competitive in the global economy?  How can community and business leaders be part of the solutions?  At the next Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast, we will address these questions and begin the search for strategies and actions to improve the quality of the Arkansas labor force.

The Issues Breakfast, to be held on August 18, 2010, will be conducted in partnership with Accelerate Arkansas, a statewide volunteer group dedicated to raising per capita income of Arkansas.  One of Accelerate Arkansas’s five Core Strategies is to “increase the education level of Arkansans in science, technology, engineering and math.”  These capabilities are crucial in the workplace of the future—and the present—as we move toward an increasingly knowledge-based economy.

Join us on August 18 as we discuss ways that business, community and government can contribute to a transformation of educational priorities to make sure that the students of today are acquiring the skills of tomorrow.

Registration is available HERE at ArkansasBusiness.com.

The first item on the agenda was a brief economic update from economists Kathy Deck and Michael Pakko.  Their presentation notes can be viewed here:

• Economic Briefing Notes

For her presentation about internet connectivity in Arkansas, Michelle Stockman provided some information about Connect Arkansas, along with two illustrative maps of the state:

• Wireline/Fixed-Wireless Broadband Availability
• Mobile Wireless Broadband Availability

Keesa Smith of the Governor’s Economic Recovery office also provided a fact sheet about Arkansas implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  More information can be found at the website Recovery.Arkansas.Gov.

Information from the presentations and from the participant-discussion portion of the program will be posted here shortly.

The second event of the Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series will focus on Arkansas’ infrastructure.  A panel of speakers will address some of the issues, followed by local discussion sessions. Topics will include:

• What are the goals and priorities for maintaining and building highways and bridges in Arkansas?  How do we pay for it?
• What is the status of Federal stimulus spending (ARRA) on Arkansas infrastructure projects?
• How can we improve high-tech infrastructure around the state?  What are our options for improving high-speed internet connectivity?

An important aspect of the event program is public participation.  After the panel discussion, the individual events will provide time for attendees to participate in conversations about unique local and regional aspects of the issues. Feedback from participants around the state will be tabulated and summarized on the Economic Issues Breakfast webpage.

The panel discussion participants will include:  Jim McKenzie, Executive Director of Metroplan and a member of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance (Chair, New Revenue Subcommittee);  Michelle Stockman, Broadband Entrepreneurship Program Director at Arkansas Capital and Vice President of Connect Arkansas; and Keesa Smith representing the Governor’s Office of Recovery.  The program will also include a brief economic update report by Kathy Deck (Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville) and Michael Pakko (Institute for Economic Advancement, University of Arkansas at Little Rock).

Online Registration

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The Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series is designed to encourage economic development in Arkansas through the dissemination of high quality information and analysis to business, community, and government leaders. The event links people from across Arkansas via videoconferencing technology and provides an interactive setting for learning about the latest economic trends that affect businesses in Arkansas. This opportunity is the result of collaboration among higher education institutions in Arkansas and an understanding that Arkansas citizens must leverage their resources to compete successfully in the global economy.

The series is coordinated by the Institute for Economic Advancement (IEA) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in cooperation with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University, the Economic Research and Development Center at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and Southern Arkansas University.  The series is sponsored by Arkansas Business.

Participants were asked to assign a total of 10 priority points among the list of challenges, in any way they saw fit.   As a second step, they were asked to think about the extent to which the challenges they identified were issues over which there is some control, either locally, regionally, or at the state level.   Rankings for the degree of control were coded as ”H” for high control, “S” for some control, and “L” for little control.

The links below bring up our tabulation of the results for each site and for the statewide (unweighted) average.  The priority points in the summaries are renormalized to equal 100.  In some cases, participants used the “other” option to list issues or concerns that were not included on the worksheet.  In those cases where additional issues came up, they are noted on the summary reports.

Pine Bluff Challenges

Monticello Challenges

Jonesboro Challenges

Little Rock Challenges

Magnolia Challenges

Fort Smith Challenges

Fayetteville Challenges

Statewide Rating of Challenges

State-Level Summary

Fayetteville Focus Group Summary

Fort Smith Focus Group Summary

Magnolia Focus Group Summary

Little Rock Focus Group Summary

Jonesboro Focus Group Summary

Monticello Focus Group Summary

Pine Bluff Focus Group Summary

First Event: September 30, 2009, beginning at 7:00 AM and adjourning no later than 9:15 AM.
Online Registration

The Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series is designed to encourage economic development in Arkansas through the dissemination of high quality information and analysis to business, community, and government leaders. The event links people from across Arkansas via videoconferencing technology and provides an interactive setting for learning about the latest economic trends that affect businesses in Arkansas. This opportunity is the result of collaboration between seven higher education institutions in Arkansas and an understanding that Arkansas citizens must leverage their resources to compete successfully in the global economy.

The videoconference will be hosted simultaneously at venues in seven locations across the state. A panel of statewide economic experts will provide insights about the functioning of the Arkansas economy and how the regional economies within the state contribute to the overall economic picture. After the panel discussion, the individual events will provide time for attendees to participate in conversations about unique local and regional economic opportunities and challenges. The information from each event will be synthesized for all statewide participants so that common goals can be sought and common obstacles faced together.

The Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series will be held twice a year, in the fall and in the spring. Prior to the public videoconferencing events, regional economic focus group sessions will be held as a basis for the discussions that follow.

The series is coordinated by the Institute for Economic Advancement (IEA) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in cooperation with the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University, the Economic Research and Development Center at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and Southern Arkansas University.

The first event of the breakfast series will be held on September 30, 2009, beginning at 7:00 AM and adjourning no later than 9:15 AM. Please mark the time on your calendar and make plans to join the business leaders of Arkansas in promoting a prosperous future.

For more information Contact:
Neva Wayman
501-569-8551
nfwayman@ualr.edu