Growing Your Own (EDITORS NOTE)

With college football season fast approaching, John Palmour is like most everyone else around here: interested in information about the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Palmour, though, is not limiting himself to football. If it has to do with the Razorbacks, he said he’s trying to learn it.

Palmour is a co-founder and the chief technical officer of Cree Inc., which announced July 9 it had acquired Fayetteville technology company Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc. (See cover story on page 1).

Post-merger, the APEI team, now Cree Fayetteville Inc., will continue to be based in south Fayetteville at the University of Arkansas-affiliated Arkansas Research & Technology Park, operating as part of Cree’s Power and RF business.

As such, Palmour is now invested in Northwest Arkansas. Which, of course, means he’ll need to invest in the Hogs.

“We’re trying to convince [Cree] we need to buy some box seats [at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium] for the company,” joked Alex Lostetter, the former president and CEO of APEI, now vice president of Cree Fayetteville Inc.

If that particular investment doesn’t materialize, Cree’s decision to invest in the diverse economy of Northwest Arkansas will be sufficient. And we can thank APEI for it.

As one observer explained to me, there are two ways to build a diverse economy: grow your own, or hire them from somewhere else.

The APEI story is a wonderful example of growing your own. Lostetter and his team deserve the credit, but don’t overlook the support in the form of seed capital financing and tax incentives from entities like the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, who recognized APEI’s potential early on.

The payoff for Northwest Arkansas? APEI created the type of professional jobs that are needed in a diverse economy.

And it created a company that ultimately attracted a global innovator like Cree to Fayetteville.