Heartland Forward launches AI caucus, business investment center

Bentonville-based think-and-do tank Heartland Forward announced Tuesday (Nov. 4) that it has established a first-of-its-kind Heartland AI Caucus and a Center for Investment and Readiness.

The announcements for the business investment center and the artificial intelligence caucus were made at the Big Bets for America event in Oklahoma City.

The Center for Investment Readiness (CIR) is a hub for research and program development “to enhance investor confidence and support new and thriving businesses in the heartland,” according to a news release. The heartland comprises 20 central U.S. states, including Arkansas.

The new center will be housed within Heartland Forward, and its programs and research teams will collaborate to support the center.

The center’s key initiative, 30 by 2030, will create a model for investment readiness across the heartland. It is anchored by Heartland Forward’s Secret Sauce framework, and combined with its entrepreneurship and placemaking research, the center will advise 30 micropolitans and small metropolitans over the next five years to improve their competitiveness and “demonstrate pathways for capital deployment that can be replicated throughout communities in the heartland,” the release shows.

“The goal of CIR is to supercharge economic growth for heartland communities,” said Angie Cooper, president of Heartland Forward. “By equipping communities with data and tailored support needed for each individual community — centered around education and training enhancements that lead directly to jobs, creating and growing small businesses, harnessing the power of AI and providing health access and economic investments — CIR will empower communities to write their own success stories and ensure the 20 states in the heartland remain the third largest economy in the world.”

The center will focus on optimizing local development and strategy, supporting new and existing businesses, knowledge sharing and investor engagement, and delivering solutions across Heartland Forward’s impact areas of regional competitiveness, talent pipeline, and health and wellness.

The center’s data-driven approach includes building community profiles that capture workforce quality, capital flows, infrastructure and quality of life metrics. The center will convene public and private partners, and release entrepreneurship, education and workforce development models. It also will work to align regulatory action and state strategies to reduce barriers to growth providing access to public and private capital. Following are the first cities the center will support: Enid and Perry in Oklahoma and Hutchinson, Kan.

AI CAUCUS
The Heartland AI Caucus is a bipartisan group of state leaders “committed to creating and accelerating smart AI policy and actionable outcomes to advance economic opportunity across the heartland,” according to a news release.

Google.org provided funding for the Heartland AI Caucus, aligning with the organization’s efforts to expand access to AI knowledge and skills. Heartland Forward declined to release the funding amount.

Caucus members include state legislators and chief innovation officers in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Additional heartland states will continue to be added. Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, will lead the caucus.

“The Heartland AI Caucus will position the heartland as the national leader in AI-powered economic development and ensure heartland states are driving policy aligned with state goals to drive innovation and economic success,” Hester said. “The Heartland AI Caucus represents a shared, bipartisan commitment by heartland leaders to create smart, effective AI solutions so our region thrives in an AI-driven world.”

The caucus’ goals include promoting the heartland’s leadership in AI at the state and local levels to fuel innovation, strengthen the talent pipeline and drive regional economic growth and success; convening bipartisan leaders from across the heartland to share ideas, challenges and opportunities related to AI’s transformative capabilities; and identifying AI policy priorities and developing model legislation that supports and promotes “responsible AI adoption and regional economic growth with a focus on innovation, small businesses, education, workforce and health,” the release shows.

Caucus members are expected to promote policies and initiatives to prepare heartland students, workers and small businesses, and Heartland Forward will support decision-making by sharing policy insights and research.

Recent polling by Heartland Forward shows that AI interest is rising across the heartland, but a readiness gap exists in workforce and education. While 71% of heartland respondents believe employers should offer AI training, fewer than 1% report feeling proficient with AI tools in the workplace. Also, a survey by Heartland Forward, Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation showed similar gaps among Generation Z in the heartland. Though 77% of Gen Z residents in the heartland use generative AI tools, only 10% of students say teachers have prepared them to use AI in future jobs or education.

“Heartland Forward is committed to being a resource for states and local communities,” Cooper said. “We believe convening heartland leadership and providing the research and insights policymakers need will advance smart AI policy while helping to drive economic growth in the middle of the country.”

The new caucus is expected to build on the success of Heartland Forward’s Heartland Health Caucus, which brings together decision makers in eight heartland states, including Arkansas. This year, it successfully advocated for the passage of two state laws improving access to health care and accelerating job growth across the heartland.