Opinion

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If all goes as projected, U.S. families will spend upwards of $26 billion over the next several weeks preparing to send their K-12 students back to school, according to the…

Uniting Little Rock: One Opportunity Zone at a time

Throughout our campaign, I noted that one of the many roles of the next mayor of Little Rock would be acting as our “Chief Growth Officer.” A part of that…

Gerrymandering ruling likely benefits Republicans

Elections matter, including the presidential election. And, the biggest reason it matters is because the winner gets to pick the United States Supreme Court. On that note, five of those…

Tax law changes lead to decreased charitable giving

Whether you’re tinkering at the Scott Family Amazeum, taking in a Broadway show at the Walton Arts Center, or hiking a trail preserved by the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, it…

Equipment leasing remains a viable option

Equipment finance can be traced back more than 4,000 years, when Sumerians produced leases on tablets made of clay (not Apple) for agricultural tools and animals. Today, the industry meets…

Is state government most effectively utilizing its data to ensure cross-agency collaboration? According to the some Arkansas lawmakers, the answer may be no. On June 20, 2019, a legislative committee…

Tough talk about talent, trades, and training

About five years ago people in the business and economic development world started talking a lot more about a shortage of skilled tradespeople and the quality of America’s workforce. Since…

A hay ride to home

I was on a hay ride in the middle of a pumpkin patch in central Arkansas when my husband, Chad, called to tell me he had just accepted a job…

Do we want China to slow down or stop?

There’s an old joke about a man driving his car who rolls past a stop sign, not noticing a police car parked nearby. The officer in the squad car immediately…

Thank God for Arkansas

Remember when we Arkansans often proclaimed, “Thank God for Mississippi,” in an effort to assuage our embarrassment at being ranked next-to-last in various state-by-state rankings, particularly those dealing with education,…

Examine the (wo)man in the mirror

I have the privilege of working alongside a world-class team that happens to consist of mostly men. Twelve men to be exact, including my founding partner and trusted mentor Bill…

A preventive health screening we’re not using

Excessive alcohol use is the third leading preventable cause of death, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). About a third of U.S. adults consume alcohol…

Fort Smith city support continues after the flooding

“The water is receding and hope is rising.” – Fort Smith Mayor George McGill (June 4, 2019) Most of us have never experienced the level of devastation caused by the…

In defense of PBMs

In Arkansas, Washington, D.C. and state capitals across the country, there have been heated discussions over the role pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in today’s health care marketplace. Simply put,…

Smart contracts in blockchain explained

Blockchain. It’s persistently in the tech news. And on July 23, Arkansans can start signing electronic contracts and records using “smart contracts,” or computerized legal transactions using blockchain. But before…

It’s complicated: advertising cannabis

The Green Wave is sweeping the country. And, no, I’m not talking about Tulane University athletics. It hasn’t been newsworthy in decades. According to Pew Research Center, 62% of Americans,…

Dare to compare: finding our ‘peers’

Editor’s note: Jamie Gates, executive vice president of the Conway Development Corp., is a new monthly Talk Business & Politics contributor with his column, “Data Points.” Gates will explore data…

Cycle of foreign investment affected by forces within our control

Back in 2006, the foreign direct investment picture looked bright in the Arkansas Delta. Toyota looked at Marion for an assembly plant, and Hino Motors put a big Toyota parts…

Too much of a good thing

As if we needed confirmation, headlines around the U.S. accompanying a recent national weather story provided it. Yes, indeed, if we hadn’t figured it out already, we were told “The…

Boosting business through responsible growth

Northeast Arkansas has generated sustained economic growth during the past four decades, Talk Business & Politics noted in coverage of the City of Jonesboro’s and Craighead County’s recent tax collection…

Opinion

Wesley Brown

Wesley Brown