Export leader sees opportunity for Arkansas agriculture, aircraft

Jonathan Bricker, a banker with Arvest Bank, began his finance career working as an international business development representative. The economic development side of the business stuck with him and now he handles commercial business with a focus on export opportunities.

As the new chairman of the Arkansas District Export Council, Bricker hopes to bring on new members and help new and long-time partners grow their business overseas. He sees more opportunities everywhere, but two areas need more attention from his group.

“We need to focus on bringing in some agricultural representation, seeing, as that’s one of our top exports, as well as aircrafts. Those are the top two exports out of the state of Arkansas,” he said.

The Arkansas District Export Council is a private, nonprofit organization and that brings together international business people who provide support, advice and assistance to Arkansas-based companies interested in exports.

“We consist of 29 members right now, and we have each been appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. We work closely with the Department of Commerce, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the Arkansas World Trade Center, and just a handful of government entities to pool our resources to help Arkansas,” Bricker said.

For more information on the ADEC, visit their website at this link. You can watch Bricker’s full interview in the video below.