Cooperative Extension Service University Center launches new Labor Market Observatory tool

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — The Cooperative Extension Service has released a new data tool providing access to workforce indicators across the state.

The Labor Market Observatory provides data from each of the state’s eight economic development districts. The new tool is a product of extension’s Community, Professional and Economic Development department. In the fall of 2023, the department received funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s University Center Program to create the Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development. The center worked in partnership with Heartland Forward to develop the LMO.

“The Labor Market Observatory is a visual representation of workforce and demographic metrics for the state of Arkansas,” said Brandon L. Mathews, extension program associate for economic development for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — A new data tool, created in partnership by the Cooperative Extension Service and Heartland Forward, provides access to workforce indicators from each of Arkansas' eight economic development districts, which are funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. (Division of Agriculture graphic.) 

Mathews said the tool is designed to help development professionals, community organizations and individuals access workforce indicators from state and federal sources. These indicators include demographic information — such as the share of Hispanic, Marshallese, and rural and urban populations — as well as housing, income and employment statistics at the county, development district and state level.

Arkansas is divided into eight economic development districts that are funded in part by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. These districts offer a range of services for their communities, including grant writing, planning, and community and economic development.

“Economic development districts were the primary audience in developing the LMO tool,” Mathews said. “However, economic developers, city and county officials, chambers of commerce and the general public will be able to access the LMO. The goal of this tool is to provide workforce information to help communities make informed decisions based on key data, while also making the information easier to understand.”

Mathews said that when a development professional from one of the districts wants to calculate housing costs and income for a region and compare it to the whole state, for example, the LMO tool will retrieve the relevant data and calculate totals, rather than the individual having to compile data from several sources.

“All of that work is done for them through the LMO, automatically saving them time and resources,” he said.

Mathews said the LMO is intended to help the state’s economic and workforce practitioners make smart choices that “support workforce and human capital projects that are good for Arkansans.”

Help for Arkansans

Each economic development district is required to develop a data-driven plan that is specific to the needs and opportunities of their community. Mathews said the LMO can help these regions measure success in reaching their strategic goals.

“As LMO data and features are added over time,” Mathews said, “the hope is that the Cooperative Extension Service will become a trusted and reliable source for workforce data.”

Hunter Goodman, assistant professor and extension director of the Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development, said the LMO is key to the center’s mission.

“The data dashboards are an important component of our mission to equip Arkansans with sustainable, accessible, research-based practices and expertise to create vibrant, self-reliant communities where businesses, organizations and families thrive,” Goodman said.

The LMO was developed in partnership with Heartland Forward, a Bentonville-based organization dedicated to advancing economic success in the middle of the country, with three core impact areas: regional competitiveness, talent pipeline and health and wellness. Heartland Forward led the creation of the visualization dashboard.

“We’re excited to roll out the dashboards and honored to serve as a trusted resource for this project,” said Rodrigo Ramirez-Perez, a research analyst at Heartland Forward. “By making data more accessible and approachable for development professionals, community organizations and individuals alike, we believe they can strengthen their communities through strategies informed by data-driven insights.”

Mathews said more workforce data will be added to the LMO in the coming months, with plans to provide data at the city or zip code level where available. The University Center plans to host a series of trainings on how to use the LMO, which will soon be added to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture calendar. Event postings will also be shared on the Division of Agriculture’s Community and Economic Development Facebook page.  

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Report: Arkansas’ outdoor recreation sector provides $7.3 billion economic impact

by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)

Outdoor recreation contributes $7.3 billion to Arkansas’ GDP and supports 68,431 jobs in the state, according to a new report from Bentonville-based Heartland Forward. The numbers account for indirect and induced impacts of the sector.

On Monday (Feb. 24), Heartland Forward released the first-of-its-kind Arkansas Outdoor Recreation Impact Report at the Arkansas Outdoor Economy Summit, which is being hosted in Bentonville along with the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

According to a news release, Arkansas’ outdoors contribute significantly to the state’s $9.9 billion tourism industry. Nationwide, outdoor recreation attracts millions of tourists each year, generates $1.2 trillion in economic output, and supports 5 million jobs.

“Arkansas is home to some of the country’s most stunning natural landmarks, making the state a rich place to live and creating a thriving outdoor recreation industry that is key to economic success,” said Ross DeVol, chairman and CEO of Heartland Forward. “To maintain this momentum, we need strategic investments in infrastructure, workforce development, and policy. Heartland Forward remains committed to supporting the growth of this thriving industry and expanding Arkansas’ economic leadership throughout the heartland.”

Report: Arkansas’ outdoor recreation sector provides $7.3 billion economic impact

Cooperative Extension Service receives $650,000 grant to fund University Center

By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Economic Development Administration recently awarded a $650,000, five-year grant to the Cooperative Extension Service’s Community, Professional and Economic Development department to establish and operate a University Center. The center will serve extension’s mission to strengthen Arkansans and their communities by connecting them with research-based resources throughout the state.

MAKING AN IMPACT — The Cooperative Extension Service will work with Arkansas's eight Planning and Development Districts to serve as a resource for the state's economic development system as part of a new, five-year grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (U.S. Economic Development Administration graphic.) 

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Extension Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development will not be a physical location, but rather a resource serving the state’s “economic development ecosystem,” with a particular focus on rural marginalized populations, including Hispanic and Marshallese communities.

Hunter Goodman, extension director of the University Center for the Division of Agriculture, said an economic development ecosystem “includes all of the organizations and groups that focus on improving local economies, which might include chambers of commerce, business consulting organizations, cities, counties, regional nonprofits and lenders, as well as county extension offices.”

Goodman said this work will be done in partnership with Arkansas’ eight Planning and Development Districts, or PDDs, which are funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. PDDs are multi-jurisdictional entities, commonly composed of multiple counties and sometimes across state borders. Goodman said PDDs develop local and regional strategies for comprehensive economic development, and they partner with public, private and non-profit sectors to implement these strategies.

Working with these PDDs, extension will offer training and workshops for their staff and community partners — such as municipalities, council members, chambers of commerce or quorum courts — on strategic planning and facilitation, grant writing, data literacy and more. This training will also involve teaching staff how to develop culturally relevant outreach opportunities for marginalized communities.

Brandon L. Mathews, extension program manager for the University Center, said staff from the PDDs “expressed a desire to connect to rural, Hispanic and Marshallese communities, but needed assistance developing the right resources, personnel, and networks.”

“There are organizations that support these three populations, and extension wants to be a statewide resource that brings these organizations together to provide workshops and training to communities who need them,” Mathews said. “Across the state, these organizations provide business consulting to entrepreneurs and small business owners, and they have a vested interest in the same three communities.”

Mathews said that by creating better communication among these organizations and the populations they seek to assist, more opportunities for economic development can be made available — such as county or regional job fairs with information about small business support, employee trainings, financing and capital, and mentoring opportunities.

Tracking workforce data

Extension’s University Center will also develop a data resource center focusing on workforce data. The University Center will partner with Heartland Forward, a Bentonville-based nonprofit that studies “broad economic trends and builds data-driven and community-tested partnerships, programs and policies to address local needs,” Mathews said.

“Heartland Forward is excited to partner with extension to deliver data tools and build capacity at the local and regional levels in Arkansas around workforce development,” said Dave Shideler, chief research officer for Heartland Forward.

“Heartland Forward will create interactive data dashboards called ‘labor market observatories’ for the eight PDDs, which will focus on workforce data primarily for rural, Hispanic and Marshallese populations,” Mathews said.

These dashboards will be used to identify and analyze labor market trends and opportunities for future programming — workshops, trainings and other extension outreach.

Goodman said Heartland Forward staff will coach extension county agents through a curriculum that teaches them workforce development skills, helps them identify and address the needs of workers and employers in rural communities, and equips them as trainers to then share these resources within their Planning and Development Districts.

The University Center began work on Oct. 1, 2023, and Goodman said an official announcement of program activities will be released later this year. Members of the Division of Agriculture’s University Center team include the center’s director and principal investigator, Hunter P. Goodman; Brandon L. Mathews, extension program associate for economic development; Tabatha Duvall, extension program associate for community workforce and economic development; and Julie Robinson, extension associate professor of leadership development.

To learn more about the Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development, contact Goodman at hgoodman@uada.edu or Mathews at bmathews@uada.edu.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. 

Bentonville welcomes notable speakers, including Boris Johnson and Matthew McConaughey, to kick off Heartland Summit

by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com)

Boris Johnson may not be the person who comes to mind when discussing the American Heartland.

But the former London mayor (2008-2016) and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2019-2022) did make an appearance in downtown Bentonville on Wednesday (Nov. 8) at the opening session of the Heartland Summit.

Approximately 350 policymakers, investors, business and thought leaders and entrepreneurs from across the country are in Bentonville for the two-day, invitation-only gathering. It is the signature annual event of Heartland Forward, a nonpartisan “think-and-do” tank in Bentonville.

Bentonville welcomes notable speakers, including Boris Johnson and Matthew McConaughey, to kick off Heartland Summit

Steuart Walton, left, and Boris Johnson discussed several topics during Wednesday's Heartland Summit in downtown Bentonville.