With strong financial support from Tyson Foods and Walmart Foundation, EngageNWA launched its strategic plan with the goal to enhance the region’s ability to ensure an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone who makes Northwest Arkansas home.
Input Needed for Relaunch of Diversity Resource Guide
The Northwest Arkansas Council is working on the relaunch of the Diversity Resource Guide, an online centralized resource directory of amenities and services for diverse individuals relocating to, moving to, and living in the area.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey to help guide the update, redesign, and relaunch of this platform!
Springdale Receives All-America Award for Civic Engagement
A Northwest Arkansas community for the second year in a row received the All-America City Award.
The award went to Springdale, one of just 10 cities in the country to receive the distinction in 2018 from the National Civic League. The award was announced June 24 at the National Civic League’s All-America City Awards Conference in Denver.
Resolution passes for Welcoming Fayetteville Plan
On April 3, 2018, the Fayetteville City Council voted unanimously (7-0) to approve and adopt the Welcoming Fayetteville Plan.
Augusta Branham from the city's Communication Department gave a presentation about highlights from the plan including recommendations to increase access to public transportation through multilingual route maps and a civic academy to help residents learn more about how to access city services.
We congratulate the City of Fayetteville for their leadership in developing a plan that is right for their community. The City of Fayetteville is one of many cities in the region that supports the Northwest Arkansas Council's Diversity and Inclusion efforts. Not all cities working on increasing inclusion will focus on the same efforts as Fayetteville, but we hope that parts of this plan can serve as a roadmap for what can be accomplished in other cities.
Here is an article from the Democrat Gazette about Fayetteville's plan.
NWA Ranked 2nd in Nation for Minority Entrepreneurs
In 2016 Fast Company published the results of NerdWallet's analysis of the best places for minority owned businesses. They found the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA to be the 2nd best place in the country for minority entrepreneurs to start and run their own businesses.
The ranking was determined based on factors such as business climate, health of the local economy and access to small-business loans.
Region Must Harness Talent of Everyone, Northwest Arkansas Leader Says
Ethnic and racial diversity in Northwest Arkansas will continue its steady increase over the next five years, demonstrating that the region must embrace the long-term transition to continue its stellar economic performance.
The region’s changing population is just one of the notable facts that can be gleaned from “Diversity: A Look at How Northwest Arkansas’ Population is Changing.” The new report was made public this week by the Northwest Arkansas Council and its WelcomeNWA and EngageNWA initiatives.
City of Springdale Takes Steps to be More Inclusive
Stakeholders Identify Top Priorities
Stakeholders from a cross section of the Northwest Arkansas region participated in a strategy session November 9, 2017, at the JBU Center in Rogers. Led by facilitators from Mitchell Communications, the session was designed to identify top priorities for key focus areas which will then be used to design and draft a strategic plan. The focus areas are Government Leadership and Equitable Access, Community Civic Engagement, Economic Development, Education and Safe and Connected Communities.