Arkansas Inc. Podcast: AEDC Year in Review - 2023

Olivia Womack:

This is Olivia Womack, director of business development at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission here with the AEDC business development team.

All:

And you are listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast.

Clint O'Neal:

Welcome to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. This is Clint O'Neal. I serve as executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. This is our final Arkansas Inc. Podcast episode of 2023. It's been a great year, and we're here with the business development team to talk about projects, talk about office life, talk about the hobbies. There's a lot of people in the room. How's everybody doing?

Bethany Duncan:

Good.

Richard Eberle:

Doing good, Clint.

Clint O'Neal:

Too many people to name right now, but we did all ride in one car over here to the Lucky Dog Studio together.

Olivia Womack:

Looked like a clown car when we pulled up.

Clint O'Neal:

That's right. A lot has happened in 2023 in economic development. It's been a great year thanks in large part to the dedication of this team in the room, the business development team. We've generated leads. We've worked projects. We've worked with community partners all over Arkansas. When it's all said and done and we tally up the results for 2023, it's going to be very encouraging. It's going to be one of the best years we've had in a long time. The economy is good. We have good leadership with Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Secretary Hugh McDonald, and so it's an honor to work in the field of economic development.

What we're going to do today with the podcast is we're going to get to know the business development team, share some stories, and so we're ready to dive in. I'm going to start with Olivia Womack, our director of business development. Olivia, other than driving my daughter the wrong way down a one-way road last night-

Olivia Womack:

We talked about this. We weren't going to discuss this on the podcast.

Clint O'Neal:

... what else have you been up to this year?

Olivia Womack:

Well, this has been a really exciting year. In March, I became director of business development. Started out as business development coordinator, then project manager, and now leading the business development team, and it's been a great year getting to work alongside both the business development team and AEDC as a whole. I think we've done some very exciting projects in a wide variety of industries and also gotten to travel around the state and around the country, just representing Arkansas and the great things that our state has to offer.

So, I'm excited to dive in a little more today to talk about some of those specific projects and share a little bit more about the team and the great people that we have working in economic development in Arkansas.

Clint O'Neal:

Well, congratulations on your move to director of business development. You've done a great job in that spot.

Olivia Womack:

Thank you.

Raven Johnson:

Congrats to us. We got the good one.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay. Steve Jones, earlier this year, Steve was the recipient of the Maria Haley Lifetime Leadership Award at the AEDCE Annual Conference. Well-deserved, Steve. Steve, tell us about your career in economic development. When did you start at AEDC?

Steve Jones:

I started in 1987, so I'm the old guy in the group, and I've been around for a while, but it's been an amazing job.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay, that's great to hear. Tell us about the early days of Steve Jones' career at AEDC. What was AEDC like In the 1980s?

Steve Jones:

Of course, we didn't have cell phones. We had pagers, and if somebody wanted you, basically, they would put 911 on it, and you'd have to find a pay phone. We went high-tech when we got a calling card from the Southwestern Bell at the time, so it was a challenge. We get a lot more work done now, even on the road.

Clint O'Neal:

Well, I'm sure over that time there's been a lot of stories that would be worth sharing. What's one of your favorites?

Steve Jones:

Well, I was going to tell my snake story, but I'm going to back off of that. Several years ago ... If you see me out, let me know-

Bethany Duncan:

Got a story for everything.

Steve Jones:

... and I'll tell you the snake story. Basically, several years ago I got a call from Beebe ... the city of Beebe, not Governor Beebe, which I would've panicked on. So, they called and said, "Look, we need you to be a chamber banquet speaker." So, I said, "Okay." Bob Robbins had been hurt in a car wreck, and they needed somebody to fill in the last minute. And I said, "That'd be great," because I teach a lot of sites in community meetings and stuff. And they said, "But we want you to talk about being southern."

Well, my first thought when I started writing everything out was, "You might be a redneck if," and I tried to stay away from that the best I could. So, I get up on the stage, and the chamber director's husband had made this frame with a really good picture of a deer in it. Well, the problem is I'm deadly allergic to cedar, so the whole time I'm on the stage, I'm getting to where I can't breathe. Luckily, they'd given me a wireless mic, so down in the crowd I went, and I just walked like I do in most of my classes. I'm teaching the class from wherever I'm at. It was a challenge, but they thought I was just like, "These are my people," and I walked out into the group.

Clint O'Neal:

Good stuff. Okay, Bethany Duncan. Bethany, you've been waiting for this moment, a breakthrough in your podcast career, right?

Bethany Duncan:

Yeah, if there's any podcast agents out there looking for a new voice, just let me know. I'm ready.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay. If you don't mind, if you go big with that, do it part-time. Keep your day job at AEDC. Bethany, you're our business development coordinator. You do a lot around the office, way more than the old job description outlines for us. Thank you for all the duties you pick up.

Bethany Duncan:

Thanks.

Clint O'Neal:

One of those was pretty much single-handedly planning and executing our trip to Europe to the Paris Air Show. Give us some of the backstory and your experience there.

Bethany Duncan:

Yeah. Oh, there's so much, too many tales to tell, but I'm obviously so, so incredibly honored and thankful to have that experience. Taught me a lot and just being able to head up logistics for our team, for Governor Sanders' team. Being able to go abroad was really, really awesome. I think I totally underestimated how huge of an event the air show is. I know we had some ... Clint, you've been before, and it is the world's largest air show, in fact, and aerospace and defense event, and it was, I think, really cool to see Arkansas making such an impact on a global scale.

I knew that that was our number one export. I knew we did some really impressive work in the aerospace and defense industry, but being able to watch people from all over the world walk up to our booth and see the map that we put on the back that just has all of the companies that have a presence in this industry, in our state, and having people be blown away by the impact we're making there was really, really incredible. Made all the planning and the running through the rain the day before trying to find our way there to the air show, all the long hours, totally, totally worth it. And just getting to make really cool relationships with some of the companies that came as co-sponsors with us, I would say lifelong friendships with some of these company owners and people. So, it was a really, really awesome experience.

Clint O'Neal:

Well, thanks to your work there we had a lot of good Arkansas-based businesses with us that made connections, helping to grow their business, and that's what it's all about. Also, had the opportunity to meet with R2S, the Raytheon Rafael expansion that happened that was announced earlier this year in Camden, as well as the significant expansion project with Dassault Falcon Jet that dates back to a meeting there at the Paris Air Show, so great work there.

Okay, Brittany Lutz is our research manager. When she is not out on the professional tour figure skating, she's helping us stay on top of reports, stats, company information, pulling a lot together to make us successful. Brittany, tell us about your experience not only at AEDC but what has this past year been like for you?

Brittany Lutz:

This past year has been really, really busy. I think the air show really just hit us all, and since then we've been running. Yeah, we've had so many projects that it's really cool to see materialize over the years. We've had a lot that don't materialize, and then this year I feel like we've just had project after project after project. It's been really cool to see and really cool to see since I've started projects that have come out of the SHOT Show and the air show and stuff materialize, so it's a full circle moment. Then also getting out into the communities more, doing a lot of trainings. I've really been enjoying that, really helping out Arkansas to be more competitive.

Clint O'Neal:

Great. Okay. We're going behind the scenes with some projects. A few of our project managers here, Raven Johnson, Richard Eberle, and Ben Walters. Raven, we're going to start with you. Most memorable project at AEDC this year.

Raven Johnson:

There are a lot of good projects, so I don't mean to pick any favorites, but certainly, one that I would speak to would be Central States Manufacturing. They did an expansion project in Springdale. It's a 100% employee-owned company. It's just a really cool story. They are really trying to, with this expansion, support, their pre-engineered metal framing business. It's just kind of exploded. It'll be about 140 jobs over the next five years, and so it's really exciting.

Clint O'Neal:

Well, great work leading that project for us. Okay, Richard, how about you? Most memorable project from 2023.

Richard Eberle:

I thought a lot about that, and I might take this a little different approach. I would say-

Clint O'Neal:

You got the mic.

Richard Eberle:

... every project that I've gotten to work on has been awesome. I think it's more about the people that I'm getting to work with in the state of Arkansas, especially spending a lot of time in South Arkansas. What's honestly made those most memorable is working with those local economic developers, local community partners, partnering with them to help see these projects come to fruition in their communities because again, it's like I spent a lot of time in South Arkansas growing up. So, it means a lot to work with these people, and then also just seeing jobs develop and growth happen in some of those areas and the potential for things that are coming down there.

Clint O'Neal:

Well, you're becoming a legend in South Arkansas with sitting on the woodworker's couch there, a lot of work in the timber industry. Good work, and I know some big things will come from your work there.

Okay, Olivia, the player coach, the director of business development, and also leading a lot of projects yourself, memorable project from this year.

Olivia Womack:

Sure, I think one project that's most memorable to me is probably the Elopak project that was recently announced early December. Elopak is a great example of the partnerships that we have all across the state with various stakeholders such as the Little Rock Regional Chamber, real estate partners like James Isom, utility partners like Entergy Arkansas, and just the work that all of us have done on the team here, especially calling out Brittany Lutz and the work that she did to pull together some data for the company to help show that we can meet their workforce needs.

Clint O'Neal:

That's great. A company from Norway like Elopak choosing Arkansas, the gentleman leading the project was from Montreal, and so when he told the story of coming here from Montreal and then trying to convince his CEO sitting in Norway, I loved what he said about that conversation. He said, "I thought I was going to sell this, have to sell this hard. Arkansas is a small state. You may have never heard of this too much, but it's really great." He said, "My CEO stopped me and said, 'No, I get it. There's something special about Arkansas. No need to convince us any further. They look great on the spreadsheet, favorable business climate, everything looks good compared to the competition, but that soft side is even more.'"

The people are great, and they had the confidence that they can be successful here, so it was very good to see that announced recently as well as a few other projects across the board are important to us from entrepreneurs that start businesses in Arkansas to companies. I'll name a few. We had a 2023 highlight video where we played this clip of Ron Cohen, CEO of SIG Sauer, in 2018 said, "We're just getting started," and then you fast forward to a couple months ago, and they announced 625 new jobs here in Jacksonville. Everything from the small ones to the Six Hour, The Westrock Coffee with their announcement this year and last year, 850 jobs in Conway to the recent announcement with Dassault Falcon Jet, 800 jobs, a company from France, so companies all around the world recognizing that there's something special about Arkansas and working to hire more Arkansans, which is great for our economic development efforts.

Brittany Lutz:

Can I jump in real quick?

Clint O'Neal:

Please do.

Brittany Lutz:

Actually, last night, I was at one of my book clubs, and I met somebody who works at Westrock. She's a financial analyst, I believe, and she was saying she just started there pretty recently. She used to work for FedEx from home in Little Rock, and they wanted to make them all go back to the office. And she was like, "Well, I want to stay here," so she ended up finding the job at Westrock and just loves it. Their story is really interesting, and then it's a good place to work.

I just thought that was a really cool full-circle moment. The work that we do helps to A, retain people here in Little Rock or in this whole state, of course. Yeah, it was a really cool moment there.

Clint O'Neal:

Yeah, it's really neat when you have the opportunity to meet someone who's impacted by a company that is adding jobs and taking advantage of programs through AEDC. Brittany, you said one of your book clubs. How many book clubs do you have?

Brittany Lutz:

I'm in three.

Raven Johnson:

How many books have you read this year? What number are you on right now?

Brittany Lutz:

I just finished 293 this morning, and I'm going to hit my 300 goal probably in the next week or two. Yeah, I'll say about 75% of those are audiobooks. I do a lot when driving and getting ready for work in the morning. when I'm going through those spreadsheets, sometimes I'll listen to that.

Raven Johnson:

It's amazing.

Olivia Womack:

That's a lot of books.

Richard Eberle:

That's a lot of books.

Bethany Duncan:

It's pretty awesome.

Brittany Lutz:

Yep.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay. Ben Walters is joining us by Zoom. Ben, tell us about some international economic development insights you've seen this year.

Ben Walters:

Yeah. Hi, Clint. Glad to join you all from remote. I'd just like to share an overview of the international team's experience this year. Just as Clint and Olivia mentioned, companies from around the globe continue to view Arkansas as a strong destination for investment and a very special place to live and work. Often when we are abroad, people are less familiar with Arkansas, but once they arrive they say, "Wow, I can't believe I have not been here before," so we're very proud of that. Arkansas is a special place, and we're happy to share it with our friends from around the world.

In addition to historically attracting companies from Western Europe, East Asia, across the Americas, we've recently seen an uptick in interest from Northern Europe. You all just mentioned Elopak out of Norway, and then we had RelateCare out of Ireland, and then we've also had more of an increase with our interaction with South and Northeast Asia. This reflects a shift in the global economy. Some of the leading factors are supply chain diversification, near and friendshoring in the U.S., amongst many other factors.

But I'd like to give a shout-out to our international team. A lot of this is due to their efforts. Dr. Cornelius Schnitzler, the director of our Europe office, and Neil Jansen, the director of our Asia office, and our various partners across the world, including the Arkansas World Trade Center, which is led by Denise Thomas. Finishing this year and going into the next, we look forward to carrying this momentum and building on the successes of AEDC into 2024, and we hope to visit our friends' countries soon and host you as we try to find the right fit for you here in Arkansas. Thank you.

Clint O'Neal:

Thanks, Ben. Okay, trends in economic development in 2023. I throw out a topic and people chime in, all right. Industry on the rise, lithium. Richard, I'll start with you.

Richard Eberle:

Yeah, lithium is actually ... It's kind of unique growing up in Arkansas. I didn't realize this was kind of a natural resource that we had, but it really is on the rise. I think we've seen with a recent announcement in November with ExxonMobil saying that they were going to drill their first lithium well in Arkansas, and so that was a big announcement. Down in the southern part of Arkansas, there's the Smackover Formation where we've already got some companies like Albemarle, Standard Lithium doing some great work, and I see Arkansas being a future front-runner in this industry moving forward, especially with the commercialization of this product for future uses in batteries and cars and other stuff in the future.

And I will give a shout-out with it being on the rise, there is the Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit that's coming in February that'll be hosted in Little Rock. If you're interested, you should definitely sign up and come join and be a part of that to learn more.

Clint O'Neal:

That's right. Yep, February 15th and 16th. Yeah, those that are a lot smarter than I am, say that due to direct lithium extraction, 15% of the world's lithium will come from Arkansas or can come from Arkansas.

Brittany Lutz:

Arkansas is actually currently the world's second largest producer of bromine behind, I don't remember exactly the first one, but it's somewhere in South America, I believe.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay.

Richard Eberle:

I think that's just exciting for the potential of future jobs here for families and growth in the state of Arkansas. It's really exciting to think about.

Clint O'Neal:

Definitely.

Olivia Womack:

Especially the implications that it has for battery storage, electric vehicles, the trends that we're seeing in those spaces. Lithium, of course, is the foundation of those lithium ion batteries, and so we're going to see a continued need for this element, and great to know that here in Arkansas we already have the natural resources that not a lot of other states have.

Clint O'Neal:

For sure. Okay, next topic. We've talked about this some, aerospace and defense.

Bethany Duncan:

Yeah. Well, we can see obviously from recent current events, rising conflict abroad, and then also there's just an increase in corporate travel demands worldwide. In fact, global spending in the aerospace and defense sector has actually reached a record high this year from ever before and across the world. So, Arkansas is definitely not slowing down anytime soon when it comes to aerospace and defense.

As Clint mentioned before, we recently had some big announcements earlier this year with the Raytheon Raphael joint venture in Camden. They're doing some really important work when it comes to the defense of our country and also the most recent, Dassault's latest expansion here in Little Rock. We're doing a lot of work, and it's not even just the shiny new projects that are happening ... those are exciting ... but what's really cool to me, and something I got to learn more about planning for the air show is some of the work that is happening every day and has been happening throughout our state in some of these smaller and mid-sized companies that are representing here.

In fact, Richard and I, we visited a company that came with us to the air show this year last week up in Springdale that I didn't even know, but they are responsible for manufacturing some really valuable facets that are involved in the Iron Dome project and cranking those out every day, really specified work there. It's pretty cool to see it happening all around. It's obvious that Arkansas has really positioned ourselves to be an invaluable player in aerospace and defense forever.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay, next major industry, food and beverage. Olivia, you want to start with that one?

Olivia Womack:

Sure. I think Arkansas's always been very strong in the food and beverage industry with the largest protein producer being Tyson Foods, headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas. Now, we are also solidifying ourselves in the coffee and extracts business in Conway Arkansas with Westrock Coffee. If you haven't listened to the previous podcast episode with Scott Ford, you can hear more about the Westrock Coffee story and the goals there for sustainable and ethical coffee manufacturing.

They have also found a really special niche in the extracts business. They make a lot of coffee. That's the coffee behind the brand, so you may not recognize the Westrock Coffee name, although you should, being an Arkansas company, but they also make a lot of coffees that are sold in restaurants, travel centers, all of that, so really exciting expansion in Conway and a great story. Definitely check out that podcast episode.

Clint O'Neal:

For sure. I made my kids listen to that podcast episode. It was so good. I don't know if I'll make them listen to this one.

Raven Johnson:

Why not?

Clint O'Neal:

We'll see. So many good quotes from Scott Ford on that podcast just talking about taking pride in doing business in Arkansas, how Arkansas, there's no better place in the world to start a business, to grow a business. He also talks a lot about just quality of life living here, so we'll go to that next. Raven, you grew up in Oklahoma, but choose the great quality of life in Arkansas. Can you expand on that?

Raven Johnson:

Yes, I sure do. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then I went to college in Conway, Arkansas at Hendricks College. I was fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time here in between summers in college, and I traveled around the state a lot playing disc golf and interning for different cities. In that time, quickly fell in love with the state. The people are unmatched, just the nature is unbelievable. I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon, and I've told my family that, so they know I'll be in Arkansan for life, so they might move over here. We'll see.

Clint O'Neal:

Breaking news from Raven Johnson, Lifetime Citizen Award. Okay, we're going to move into the lightning round, and Raven, this first one's for you, however, anybody can jump in. It's not on your page, so it's no way to prep for this. You've spent a lot of time. You'll know your answer. Favorite disc golf course in Arkansas.

Raven Johnson:

Mountain View, Arkansas. It has the best course.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay. Anyone else want to throw out a favorite course?

Olivia Womack:

Clint, that only applies to you two. What's your favorite?

Clint O'Neal:

I'm going to go Beaver Fork in Conway.

Richard Eberle:

Hey, I'll go with Beaver Fork, too. I've only played like two, but Beaver Fork. I'm a Conway guy, so I'll stick with that.

Clint O'Neal:

Yeah. Okay, favorite business development whiteboard poll from 2023. Before we get into that, Bethany, explain what we're diving into here.

Bethany Duncan:

Well, we do a lot of really hard work here at AEDC on our team, but we also try to keep it fun, have some shenanigans around the office. One of the things we started doing actually before I came on was they started doing a poll. We have two whiteboards that are out in the middle of where our desks sit, and so every week, we take a poll of some kind, and everybody in the office is invited to vote or submit an answer.

I would say ... and everybody jump in. You can say what if you have a favorite one. We've had some that have become some hot debates among the people. We've had what is the best restaurant in Arkansas. We've had even down to what method you use to put toothpaste on your toothbrush. Do you go water, toothpaste, water, or do you just go straight for the toothpaste? That kind of thing. We've had-

Richard Eberle:

There is a right answer, by the way.

Bethany Duncan:

There is, for sure, but it caused a hot debate. We've had worst Disney movie, best Disney movie, best product made in Arkansas, all types of things.

Olivia Womack:

We do holiday themes.

Bethany Duncan:

Yes, for the holiday.

Richard Eberle:

Yeah, If you were a Thanksgiving dish-

Brittany Lutz:

Oh, that one was a good one.

Richard Eberle:

... who would you be or something Like that?

Bethany Duncan:

Yes, oh, one that was fun was we said, "If every division at AEDC was a different mythological creature, what would they be?" That one was interesting. What about y'all? Anybody have a favorite?

Brittany Lutz:

I think that one of the funniest ones was that one that you came up with that was like, who would win the Dancing With the Stars competition between you and Bentley? They did a Photoshop thing and put their faces on the dancers from the show, and it looked really realistic, so it was kind of weird.

Olivia Womack:

I think the people did vote that Clint would be the winner of Dancing With the Stars. They won't [inaudible 00:26:48].

Richard Eberle:

I think the one that everybody circled around and talked a lot about was how do you go about putting your socks and shoes on? What was the proper order of that? People were calling each other psycho over it, so it was pretty ...

Olivia Womack:

We're a very opinionated bunch.

Bethany Duncan:

Yes, yes.

Clint O'Neal:

All right, next lightning round. Steve, favorite Christmas movie?

Steve Jones:

Scrooged.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay.

Olivia Womack:

He had that ready.

Raven Johnson:

Ready.

Clint O'Neal:

Bethany?

Bethany Duncan:

I would say the live-action Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay.

Bethany Duncan:

Or the 1998 version of Miracle on 24th Street.

Clint O'Neal:

Very specific. Olivia?

Olivia Womack:

Eloise at Christmastime.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay.

Brittany Lutz:

That's on-brand.

Raven Johnson:

Good one.

Olivia Womack:

Thank you.

Raven Johnson:

Yes.

Clint O'Neal:

Anybody else?

Richard Eberle:

Home Alone.

Raven Johnson:

Home Alone.

Clint O'Neal:

Oh, mm.

Raven Johnson:

Yes, thank you.

Clint O'Neal:

Very good. Watched it the other day.

Bethany Duncan:

So good.

Clint O'Neal:

Brittany?

Brittany Lutz:

Probably Elf. A classic.

Olivia Womack:

A classic. What can you say?

Clint O'Neal:

Okay. What is Project Plate? Who wants to take this one?

Brittany Lutz:

I think Olivia was the one who started it.

Olivia Womack:

Project Plate was an RFI that the business development team put out requesting information regarding the locations where people can acquire the best food in Arkansas. The business development team, we're out on the road a lot, and we've eaten in a lot of really good restaurants around the state, and so we decided to compile an Excel spreadsheet because that's what economic developers do. We love ourselves an Excel spreadsheet. Now anytime any of us are hitting the road, we check out the sheet and know where to eat lunch in various communities and had some really great recommendations. A lot of barbecue on the list, I have to be honest, but they're all very good options.

A couple shout outs, Skylark Cafe in Leslie, Arkansas is delicious if you've never been there.

Richard Eberle:

It's one of my absolute favorites.

Olivia Womack:

So good. So good. Steve loves the restaurant at Old Washington State Park, so if you've never been there, would definitely recommend.

Steve Jones:

If you go, take a picture and send it to Katherine Holmstrom because it'll irritate the life out of her because she didn't get to go eat there. She loves it.

Bethany Duncan:

I really love the Low Gap Cafe, Low Gap, Arkansas.

Clint O'Neal:

Okay, next lightning round question. Not a lot of choices here. Who is the superior woodworker from the business development team?

Olivia Womack:

I think we're about to have a face-off right here.

Bethany Duncan:

I feel like y'all do really different things though, both really well and very skilled.

Raven Johnson:

10 seconds, elevator pitch.

Bethany Duncan:

Yes, give us your elevator pitch for your woodworking.

Richard Eberle:

Steve and I just, we became friends before we even started working together over woodworking.

Steve Jones:

Right, it is one of those things that's almost like an exclusive club when you can do woodworking. First thing that somebody does when they come to work for us, I'll go, "Do you work with wood?" It's one of those questions I ask. With Richard, I had seen some of his work, and I was really impressed. He's good. He does a different kind of thing than me, but he does some beautiful work and he does some things I can't do. Then, on the other hand, I've got a lathe, and so I can do a lot of things that other people can't do. It's different, but both of us [inaudible 00:29:55].

Richard Eberle:

I feel like we can hold our own in our respective lanes that we stay in. Let's just say that. And we admire each other's work. There we go.

Olivia Womack:

Very diplomatic answer.

Clint O'Neal:

We'll put it to a poll outside of ...

Olivia Womack:

Next week's poll, everybody get ready.

Raven Johnson:

Stay tuned.

Richard Eberle:

Yeah, they'll flash some pictures of our work.

Clint O'Neal:

All right, most interesting pet among the business development team.

Bethany Duncan:

Well, that would definitely be you, Brittany.

Brittany Lutz:

I guess no one disagrees with that. I do have an axolotl. His name is Lucy, named after a character from a book, and he's just the cutest. I think everybody says that that's my personality now is just axolotl. Anytime I have a birthday or Christmas or anything like that, that's what I get for a gift is little plushies and things like that.

Clint O'Neal:

All right, lightning around question. Although work never ends for the business development team, if it did, what would be a hobby or someplace that you would treat yourself to? Lightning round, Steve.

Steve Jones:

Gosh, I don't know. I always like to go over to Taylor Made and eat in Conway. That's my favorite restaurant of all. If you remember the old Sir Loins Inn, they're associated with that, and so a lot of people thought of the old people, since I'm old, will remember that restaurant. That'd be the place I'd go to head to.

Clint O'Neal:

Richard.

Richard Eberle:

After work's over, I'm going to go probably ... I live in Conway, and we've got a plethora of really good coffee shops, so I'm probably going to just pick one of them and go sit down with a friend and have a good cup of coffee somewhere.

Clint O'Neal:

Raven?

Raven Johnson:

Yeah, similar to Richard, I would probably go to Fidel & Co and just sit there and read a book and drink some coffee.

Clint O'Neal:

Olivia

Olivia Womack:

Loblolly ice cream. It is delicious and locally made.

Clint O'Neal:

Bethany?

Bethany Duncan:

I would say me and my husband love to go check out some of the really awesome breweries we have all across the state. Even right here in Little Rock, we've got some really cool places to go sit down, have a drink with some friends.

Clint O'Neal:

All right, Ben?

Ben Walters:

Ciao Baci in Little Rock.

Clint O'Neal:

Brittany?

Brittany Lutz:

I'd say I have a two-prong answer. After work on Fridays, I go straight to the rink to get some practice in, but as far as my favorite sweet treat place, it's definitely going to be Bobalicious in North Little Rock. My friends and I all love to chat and just get some Boba.

Raven Johnson:

Yum.

Clint O'Neal:

All right, thanks, everyone.

Bethany Duncan:

Wait, Clinton, you didn't answer.

Clint O'Neal:

It's been a fun podcast. I wouldn't call it a sweet treat, but I would go to Bulgogi, a Korean restaurant in Conway.

Okay. It's been a good conversation. We've covered a lot of ground here. 2023, economic development, it's been a successful year, not because of us, but because of the big team in economic development from state and local officials to ambassadors all over our state that are making it easier to do business, entrepreneurs that are taking a risk in Arkansas to start businesses, company executives that are finding something special about Arkansas. It's not about us. It's not about them. It's about the next generation of Arkansans. It's about laying the groundwork for Arkansas to be successful for a very long time as we focus on education and workforce development and laying a foundation for success for many, many years to come in Arkansas.

It's such an honor to work in this career field of economic development. If you're out there listening and you're thinking about changing jobs, could always use good people at AEDC. Look us up. Didn't plan on putting a plug in there during the podcast, but-

Raven Johnson:

You might as well.

Clint O'Neal:

Yeah, come see us. Okay, I've been talking today with the AEDC business development team, Olivia Womack, Raven Johnson, Richard Eberle, Brittany Lutz, Steve Jones, Bethany Duncan, and Ben Walters. Normally, as the host, I would be the one to close out the podcast. However, today I'm going to give that honor to AEDC veteran, Steve Jones.

Steve Jones:

You've been listening to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast. This is Steve Jones, building insights coordinator with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. You can subscribe to the Arkansas Inc. Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast apps. For more information about AEDC and to sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit arkansasedc.com, connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Thanks for listening to us in 2023, and don't want to miss anything we have in store for 2024. Happy Holidays from all of us at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.