Sabin Takes on Another Role, Another Challenge

Editor’s note: This article appears in the latest magazine edition of Talk Business & Politics, which you can read here.

There’s been many a story written about bright kids leaving the rural South hoping to find fame and fortune in the bright lights and big cities to the East and West. Yet, one of Arkansas’ “most interesting men” – a Clinton protégé and former New Yorker – came to his current station in life by starting down a more unconventional path that began 20 years ago.

Born and raised in New York City, Warwick Baron Reid Sabin left the comforts of the nation’s largest metropolis in 1994 to come to Arkansas as a 17-year-old college student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, partly because of the influence of his boyhood hero, then-President Bill Clinton.

Now, at 37 years old, Sabin probably could not have imagined even a few years ago that he would be sitting where he is today. On the second floor of his Main Street office in the Argenta Arts District in downtown North Little Rock, the smartly dressed Democratic lawmaker, businessman, scholar and converted Southern gentleman took time recently from his busy schedule to talk as he nears his first full year as the executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub.

“I have spent more years in Arkansas now that I have in New York. It will be exactly 20 years (this month) that I came to Arkansas. This is where I chose to come as soon as I had anything to say about it,” Sabin reflected, laughing about first telling his parents on his decision to come to Arkansas. “This is where life is. I married a girl from El Dorado, and I love living in Arkansas and I don’t expect that to ever change.”

According to Sabin’s bio, he first met Bill Clinton at the White House Rose Garden after he was chosen to represent New York State at Boys Nation. Leaving the urban surroundings of New York City to attend college in Fayetteville, he quickly adapted to life in Arkansas and went on to add a long list of academic, student government and public service accomplishments to his resume – including leading a successful campaign to have all schools in the University of Arkansas System officially observe the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While in college, Sabin was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and was named to the USA Today Academic All-Star Team. He also won the Marshall Scholarship for study at the University of Oxford. While in England, Sabin was the speechwriter to U.S. Ambassador Philip Lader. He also was an intern at Foreign Affairs magazine and left Oxford with an M.A. in philosophy, politics and economics.

Then the Arkansas grad went from Oxford to Washington, D.C., where he was press secretary for former Arkansas Congressman Marion Berry. In March 2002, he was named director of development for the William J. Clinton Foundation in Little Rock. Two years later, he became associate editor of the Arkansas Times, where he wrote cover stories and a weekly opinion column. During this time, he co-hosted a program on Arkansas public television called “Unconventional Wisdom” with friend and political rival David Sanders, who is now a Republican state senator.

Then in 2008, Sabin’s career took an unusual detour when he took over as publisher of the Oxford American at a time when the magazine was in bankruptcy and flailing from an embezzlement scandal. Under his helm, Sabin said he guided the monthly literary publication into the digital world, grew its circulation and brought some stability to the magazine that is dedicated to documenting the sights, sounds, food and culture of the American South. The publication, which was founded in Oxford, Miss., in 1992, also expanded its offerings to include a new restaurant and nightclub in the old Juanita’s building on Main Street in Little Rock.

Sabin said after spending five years at the prestigious publication, he found himself at a crucial crossroads in his professional, private and public life. A Democrat, he was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012 for District 33, a political hotbed that includes the Hillcrest, Leawood, Briarwood, Hall High and Capitol View/Stifft Station neighborhoods as well as many of the oldest downtown neighborhoods of Little Rock.

Sabin also joined the 89th Arkansas General Assembly during a historic moment when the Republican Party took control of the state House and Senate for the first time since post-Civil War Reconstruction. Add to that, he was winding down a troubling and public period at the magazine that the Little Rock lawmaker admits taxed him personally after he replaced founding editor Marc Smirnoff in August 2012, following accusations of sexual harassment against Smirnoff.

Despite the lows, there also came some highs. Sabin married longtime girlfriend Jessica Deloach in October of that year. “She is amazing, by the way,” he adds. Not long after becoming a newlywed, Sabin said he became familiar with the planned Argenta Innovation Center in his role as a state lawmaker. When plans for the center were announced in February 2013, Sabin spoke at the center’s unveiling and joined a long list of public and private officials to throw their support behind the unfamiliar nonprofit.

Shortly after, Sabin said he was approached by a few board members who were involved in the development of the new Argenta venture, and they asked him if he would be interested in taking over the unfilled leadership post.

“At the time it felt right, and I can’t necessarily put my finger on it, but the opportunity seemed unique and interesting,” the well-traveled Arkansas lawmaker said. “I think a lot of life is identifying those opportunities that are put in front of you. And this one was risky because I was basically being charged with creating a new organization from scratch.”

Meanwhile, Sabin said he also struggled with the decision to leave the Oxford American, but felt he left it in better financial position, adding “there really was not a lot left there that I felt I needed to do.” In hindsight, Sabin said once he settled into his new job at the Innovation Hub he found it to be a perfect match for both his professional and public service experience and talents. He said he has always felt a debt of obligation to the state of Arkansas for giving him a scholarship 20 years ago to attend college in Fayetteville, and now he feels he has a perfect vehicle to further the development of the state – especially through education and economic development.

“I don’t consider the path that I have taken very linear or very conventional, but looking back I feel very lucky for the opportunities I had,” the youthful lawmaker said. “And a lot of it is starting to make sense now as my professional and public life dovetail to some degree. There are things [at the Innovation Hub] that I am very interested in and passionate about that center around creating opportunity for everyone in our community.”

WHAT IS ALL THE HUB ABOUT?
Today, Sabin said part of his job at the Innovation Hub is explaining the newly created organization’s mission and vision to the public. For example, the North Little Rock nonprofit’s formal name will be called the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, yet the actual renovated building that will house the organization’s offices and programs will be known as the Argenta Regional Center. Sabin and others who are involved in the ongoing activities at the North Little Rock nonprofit now commonly refer to the neophyte Argenta venture as “The Hub.”

“When I took the job, I don’t think it was very well defined to the general public, so it seemed very amorphous, and I even had to explain what exactly I was doing to my parents,” Sabin joked. “But it is also not the first time I have done that. When I was asked to take over the Oxford American after it was bankrupt and dead, I had to figure out how to correct that organization when I was never a publisher of a magazine before. It was both a challenge and an opportunity, and that is how I saw this.”

However, Sabin won’t have to deal with budget woes and some of the dysfunction he ran into at the literary magazine. The center’s 16-person board, which is organized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, has also reached nearly half of its $2.5 million fund-raising goal from private sources. This will go toward completing the first phase of the renovated 17,000-square foot meeting space. The renovated urban center will house three inter-connected ventures that will work together to provide education, training, prototyping and startup and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Also, at its formal “wall-breaking” ceremony in February announcing the center’s new headquarters, the nonprofit received the support of Gov. Mike Beebe and received a $575,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission to help kick-start renovations at the former North Little Rock police substation at Broadway and Poplar – located right across the street from Verizon Arena.

“We strongly believe that by creating the Argenta Innovation Center, we are taking a significant step toward creating cutting-edge jobs that not only attract new talent to the area but also help us keep our brightest and most inventive entrepreneurs right here in Central Arkansas,” Barry Hyde, the campaign committee chairman, said earlier this summer.

Established as a board-governed nonprofit to increase entrepreneurial and startup activity in Central Arkansas, the so-called “Hub” is modeled after New Orleans’ Idea Village, which has provided direct support to more than 3,000 entrepreneurs, generated more than $100 million in annual revenue, and created more than 2,000 jobs in New Orleans since its inception in 2000.

Sabin said when the Hub moves into the new location later this summer, the renovated center will have four key components. They include:

· The Launch Pad, a “makerspace” that will provide cutting-edge tools and technology for professionals and amateur tinkerers alike. There will be 3-D printers, laser-cutting machines and other equipment that can be used to prototype inventions and refine products. Educational opportunities will be provided for people of all ages as well as support for local manufacturers and corporations that want to solve problems or provide additional training.

· The STEAM Lab, which will be operated in partnership with the EAST Initiative to offer STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education across a variety of ages and disciplines. Expertise in these areas is critical for Arkansas’ workforce to be prepared for jobs in the 21st century. The “A” will signify the arts, because design and aesthetic expression are important parts of this mix. This classroom and laboratory will have advanced equipment and technology along with the nationally recognized training in computer coding, programming and computer-aided design (CAD) that EAST has provided to Arkansas students for the last 20 years.

· The Silver Mine, a co-working space for entrepreneurs and small business owners looking for networking and enrichment activities. It will also be the home to vertical business acceleration programs that will seed and mentor promising new enterprises from Arkansas and around the world. Through events and education programs, and by providing a venue where ideas can connect with capital and other resources, the Silver Mine will be able to incubate and give birth to a steady stream of new businesses.

· The Art Connection, an after-school and summer work program for high school students designed to develop leadership and innovation through hands-on training in the visual arts industry. Modeled after the successful Artists for Humanity program in Boston, the Art Connection works with arts organizations, local artists, business owners, city government and others in the community to provide practical skills for under-resourced youth.

And to make sure all these ventures have the necessary support to grow, Sabin and the Innovation Hub board have brought together an A-list of partners and collaborators from both the public and private sector. They include the Delta Regional Authority, East initiative, Arkansas Stem Coalition, Kiva Zip, the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority and Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions.

Sabin also said the Argenta nonprofit networks with other like-minded organizations in Arkansas and across the nation, including Southern culture online retailer Bourbon & Boots, The Seal Corporation and Noble Impact – a local nonprofit that teaches youth to pursue public service through entrepreneurship.

Still, even before Sabin celebrates his first year as executive director in September, the Argenta center will have already launched a number of successful events in its short history.

In June, Gov. Beebe hosted an invitation-only event for a new program called the Arkansas Fellowship. Like other planned Innovation Hub programs, it is modeled after a successful program in Indiana called the Orr Fellowship.

Sabin said the Arkansas Fellowship offers a two-year fellowship program to a select group of graduating college seniors and focuses on developing the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders in Arkansas. He said it will help to keep some of the best and brightest college graduates from leaving Arkansas for better opportunities and higher-paying jobs out of state.

“By pairing them with some of Arkansas’ top companies, Arkansas Fellows will have the opportunity to build a reliable and meaningful network of business leaders, co-workers and peers for the future,” said the Hub director, who will oversee the program.

And late in July, the nonprofit hosted the Young Makers Camp – a week-long summer camp for budding entrepreneurs and whiz kids in Arkansas held at a location on Main Street in downtown North Little Rock. Led by Launch Pad director Joel Gordon, the camp for kids ages 8 through 12 introduced the “young makers” to electronics, 3-D printing, programming, coding, laser cutting and the Raspberry Pi computer – a low-cost, credit-card-sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV and uses a standard size keyboard and mouse.

Sabin said he is excited about bringing all these varied people, business partners, mentors, venture capitalists and organizations from both the public and private sector together into the Hub’s “collaborative ecosystem of innovation” to create something that has never been done before in Arkansas.

Along with the other major developments and entrepreneurial activity under way in Central Arkansas, including the unveiling of the Arkansas Venture Center at The Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and the recent hiring of a new director at the Little Rock Tech Park Authority, Sabin envisions Central Arkansas becoming a place where new companies and innovations will boost the local economy.

“Right now, I know there are a lot of entrepreneurs with startup ventures that are starting to get traction here,” he said. “And I definitely think we are going to see more success stories, specifically in the startup technology realm here in Arkansas because there has been an organized and concerted effort to support that sector of the economy.”

PROGRESS, NOT POLITICS
The progressive Democrat also said that even though his politics may not be the same as many of the people he works with, as the Hub’s spokesman he tries to make sure that he doesn’t come across as promoting his work at the State Capitol.

“Basically, I find that through my work at the Innovation Hub I am able to find a lot of common ground with people that may not share my political outlook,” Sabin said of being one of the few “progressives” in the Arkansas Legislature. “But I think that, in general, we as Arkansans prefer to work together, like to find common ground and judge people on who they are and their actions.”

Sabin continued, “And as a student of political history in the state of Arkansas, there is just a lot of evidence that [Arkansans] look for opportunities to build bridges rather than find divisions. I try not to bring politics into my work, to put it very simply and bluntly, because I would rather not create any doubt what my intentions are.”

Still, the always-positive lawmaker admits that both his political and professional goals are the same. “The relationship that politics have to my work is that in those broad goals of increasing opportunity and improving education and economic development in the state, I am achieving those things through my job.”

Sabin added that just as voters judge politicians on their work through the ballot box, his work at the Innovation Hub likewise will be measured by how well he enables and helps to accelerate the area’s mushrooming startup activity and whether or not he hits the forward-thinking targets he has for the fledgling nonprofit.

“I believe you prove yourself through your actions,” Sabin said, choosing his words carefully. “I can tell anyone all day long how great my intentions are – but in the end I am going to be judged on what I actually do.

“I like to think in the relationships I have and the work that I have done so far, at least people know that I am coming at this work honestly with the best of intentions without regard to having a political agenda, one way or other.”

And, he added, “If I don’t do a good job of that,” he said, “I am sure someone will let me know.”