Stockman resigns post as Fort Smith area entrepreneurship director

Michelle Stockman has resigned her post as executive director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center-Fort Smith effective Nov. 30.

Stockman will begin work for the Little Rock-based Arkansas Capital Corp. on Dec. 1. Her roles at ACC will include marketing, community relations and implementing entrepreneurial programs statewide. She expects to work from her home in Fort Smith and from the ACC office at the Genesis Incubator/Technology Park in Fayetteville. Founded in 1957, ACC provides innovative financing and other startup and expansion tools for new and existing businesses.

Stockman was named the first IEC director in April 2007. The IEC was formed in early 2007 and funded by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, the city of Fort Smith and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce. However, the chamber has had difficulties maintaining its funding obligations.

Prior to the IEC, Stockman worked for the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center in Raleigh, where she managed the state’s Entrepreneurship Development System Project. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University.

Craig Pair, president of Fort Smith-based Control Technologies Inc. and an IEC board member, credited Stockman with getting the IEC up and running in quick fashion.
“I think Michelle has done a great job. She’s very knowledgeable and I really hate to lose her,” Pair said. “Don’t get me wrong, this is a great opportunity for Michelle, but it’s a loss for Fort Smith.”

The City Wire will update this story later today.