Focus in PB on rural economies
Hutchinson to speak at event
PINE BLUFF — Some 200 policymakers from 37 states have converged in Pine Bluff this week for the second annual Rural Rise Summit, a conference where entrepreneurs and policymakers share techniques for rural areas seeking ways to jump-start their economies.
The event began Tuesday with an ecosystem builder workshop, a threehour session designed to help community leaders learn what ecosystem building is and to provide tools to better understand themselves, their communities and ways to grow in their work.
Today, participants are scheduled to attend a number of sessions, discussions and quick-pitch presentations designed to explore strategies that work for rural economic developers and build networking groups to assist one another after the event concludes.
“What we realized is that there is a need for this type of conference that is specifically focused on entrepreneurship,” said Joe Kapp, chief executive officer of Behavioral Business in Wardensville, W.Va., and one of the organizers of the event. “That specifically focuses on some of the positive aspects in how communities can empower themselves.”
Also today, Gov. Asa Hutchinson is scheduled to address the event, and attendees will receive information from officials from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the International Trade Administration, the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration, along with numerous other policymakers and entrepreneurs.
Mildred Franco, director of The Generator, an Innovation Hub, powered by Go Forward Pine Bluff, said the selection of Pine Bluff to host the second annual event came as a surprise.
“Last fall, we got an email from the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, saying one of our partner organizations, Communities Unlimited, which is headquartered in Fayetteville, kind of suggested that we come to Pine Bluff next year,” Franco said. “I said, ‘oh, well, OK I guess, we’ll do it.’ As you know, we are a team of three.”
Franco said she called Ines Polonius, chief executive officer of Communities Unlimited, who told her that Pine Bluff was a perfect choice for the event.
“She told me that Pine Bluff is an example of a rural community on the move, a community that is working hard to put all of these things together, to create all of these ecosystems.” Franco said.