Arkansas Capital Corp. Pushing Entrepreneurship At Multiple Levels

Arkansas Capital Corp., the Little Rock-based financial lending and consulting shop, is pushing entrepreneurship at multiple levels.

This spring, the company completed its 13th annual business plan competition, the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, which brought 47 different student teams from 13 different Arkansas college campuses to Little Rock for the well-attended awards luncheon.

This year’s competition winners at the undergraduate and graduate level will compete for more cash prizes, but they will also look to become successful start-up ventures.

“All combined, it’s one of the largest business plan competitions in the country,” said Valerie Erkman, vice-president for marketing for Arkansas Capital Corp., in an appearance on this week’s Talk Business Arkansas television program.

ACC also successfully launched a new competition this year – the “Battle of the Brands.”  This year’s winner, The Twisted Purl, successfully used social media to promote its Arkansas brand worldwide. The Conway-based company makes custom yarn products and sells them online internationally.

For ACC, the “March Madness”-style tournament business bracket battle helped raise awareness for the company’s web site, ArkSourceLink.com, which contains a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs looking for resources.

“The whole competition was intended to promote and let people know about ArkSourceLink.com,” said Erkman. “It’s also really intended to self-educate for these small businesses… It’s been wildly successful.”

You can watch Erkman’s complete interview below.