Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Natalie Shew, Co-Founder of FemHealth Founders, an innovation hub catalyzing and supporting women-led companies that offer solutions to women’s health-related issues. With over eleven years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit management, Natalie is also the Founder and CEO of EmployWell, a healthcare engagement platform on a mission to take better care of the people taking care of us. Throughout the episode, Ja...
May 15, 2023•54 min•Ep. 70
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Tyler Dunbar, President of Central Standard Talent, a technical talent and recruiting agency that specializes in helping US businesses assemble and retain high-performing software development teams. Although Central Standard Talent is based in the epicenter of the Mexican Silicon Valley, it has recently announced the opening of its US headquarters in Bentonville. Throughout the episode, James and Tyler discuss Centra...
May 08, 2023•41 min•Ep. 69
Summary On this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Cyrus Sigari, who was appointed by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as Chairman of the Arkansas Council on Future Mobility (ACFM). The ACFM recently released its Arkansas Future Mobility Report, which provides a bold, visionary and specific plan to ensure the state’s leadership in advanced mobility. Cyrus is also Co-founder and Managing Partner of UP.Partners. UP.Partners is an early venture capital fi...
May 05, 2023•44 min•Ep. 68
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Mike Malone, Vice Chancellor for Economic Development at the University of Arkansas. Mike has nearly three decades of experience building coalitions and partnerships to advance community and economic development opportunities. Previously, Mike had served as the CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, where he led the creation and implementation of regional growth resulting in an improved quality of life in NWA. Additi...
May 01, 2023•59 min•Ep. 67
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Josh Duntz, President of Metova, a full-service technology mobile software and user experience agency that builds products, services and custom experiences for early-stage companies and global brands. Metova recently relocated to Bentonville, where its new headquarters is located in the Ledger building. Josh is also the Co-founder of Stasis, a digital health company that researches, designs and delivers therapies for...
Apr 24, 2023•43 min•Ep. 66
Summary This Bentonville Beacon episode is part two of a bonus series that highlights the third cohort of the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP). James Bell is joined by Brent Robinson, Founder of Greenway Bike Co., Alex Huesing from Cloud Pad, Marley Blonsky, Co-founder of All Bodies on Bikes and Eliot Jackson with Reggy. GORP is a Bentonville-based business incubator focused on the development of innovative solutions within the outdoor recreation industry. Its third cohort features a...
Apr 21, 2023•58 min•Ep. 65
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Aayush Thakur and Deme Yuan, a husband and wife team who co-founded FR8relay, where Aayush serves as the CEO and Deme is the COO. Aayush is also a board member for the Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses and a council member on the Forbes Business Council. FR8relay is a technology company working to create a more efficient and equitable trucking logistics ecosystem by introducing a collaborative model where mult...
Apr 17, 2023•49 min•Ep. 64
Summary This Bentonville Beacon episode is part one of a bonus series that highlights the third cohort of the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP). First, host James Bell is joined by Phil Shellhammer, who was recently appointed by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders to the Natural State Advisory Council. Phil is Director of Business Incubation for the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Arkansas, and he is responsible for GORP. GORP is a Bentonville-based...
Apr 14, 2023•33 min•Ep. 63
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Angie Bailey, the Co-founder and CEO of Best In Class Suppliers, a team of retail experts dedicated to helping businesses navigate the processes and challenges of working with major retailers. Angie also serves on the City of Bentonville Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Community Task Force as well as the Bentonville Library Foundation Board of Directors. Throughout the episode, James and Angie discuss challenge...
Apr 10, 2023•47 min•Ep. 62
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Martha Londagin, the inaugural Capital Access Manager for the Northwest Arkansas Kiva Hub, a non-profit that increases access to capital for entrepreneurs. Additionally, Martha is a Business Consultant at Startup Junkie, an organization that offers consulting services to entrepreneurs at no cost, and she is the creator of HER Entrepreneur Journey, a yearly series to encourage the development of woman-owned businesses...
Apr 03, 2023•56 min•Ep. 61
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Sam Dean, the Founding Executive Director of the Scott Family Amazeum, a hands-on museum for children and families. The Amazeum features approximately fifty thousand square feet of exhibits meant to enhance family involvement while bringing learning to life and evoking a sense of curiosity. Sam is passionate about creating opportunities that encourage the community to engage in arts and sciences in an effort to furth...
Mar 27, 2023•40 min•Ep. 60
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Madia Willis, Jasmine Hudson and J’Aaron Merchant, the Co-founders of Black Paper Party, where Madia fulfills the role of CEO, Jasmine serves as the Chief Merchant and J’Aaron completes the trio as the Chief Creative Officer. With a combined fifteen years of retail experience, this dream team started Black Paper Party to spread joy through culturally relevant products by combining award-winning illustrations with tre...
Mar 20, 2023•51 min•Ep. 59
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Jackie Roach, Executive Director of Best Friends Animal Society - Northwest Arkansas, a leading animal welfare organization pioneering the no-kill movement. Best Friends is working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by 2025, and has helped reduce the number of animals killed from an estimated seventeen million per year to around three-hundred-forty-seven thousand. In addition to building Best F...
Mar 13, 2023•33 min•Ep. 58
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Squires and Scott Smith, Founders of Altangle Cycling, where Squires serves as President and Scott is the CEO. Altangle Cycling makes high-quality, innovative products that help solve common problems associated with owning and maintaining a bicycle. After growing up in an entrepreneurial family and in the outdoors, both brothers journeyed down separate paths after college. Squires went into industrial construction, a...
Mar 06, 2023•58 min•Ep. 57
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Toby Teeter, Director of the University of Arkansas Bentonville Collaborative. The Collaborative is an impetus for innovation in Bentonville, where the University of Arkansas’ presence focuses on outdoor recreation, bio-design, whole health, advanced mobility, and technologies for retail, supply chain, logistics, and corporate enablement. Additionally, Toby is a serial entrepreneur and investor, with his most current...
Feb 27, 2023•40 min•Ep. 56
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Josh Stanley, CEO and Managing Partner of Cartwheel, a startup studio that creates B2B SaaS companies. Cartwheel ideates, validates, co-founds and funds B2B SaaS and Web3 businesses that accelerate capabilities. In addition to Cartwheel, Josh is also the Co-Founder of PushKin and Hashku. PushKin is a B2B SaaS communication platform for franchise operators who need a better way to communicate with their deskless emplo...
Feb 20, 2023•54 min•Ep. 55
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Vance Reavie, Founder and CEO of Junction AI, a SaaS platform offering scalable "no code" artificial intelligence. Junction AI is driving big change with its “AI-as-a-service” solutions that power affordable, accessible and impactful data-driven insights for brands, agencies and marketing organizations. In addition to Junction Ai, Vance is also a member of the Forbes Agency Council and an experienced IT consultant wh...
Feb 13, 2023•55 min•Ep. 54
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Jon Cadieux, President of NWA Workplaces, a company that offers private spaces, meeting rooms and virtual offices to businesses and organizations. NWA Workplaces’ mission is to make their client’s office lives comfortable, easy and fun in an effort to encourage increased productivity. In addition to NWA Workplaces, Jon also founded the Northwest Arkansas Tech Council as well as the Northwest Arkansas Technology Summi...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 53
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Chris Thompson, Founder and CEO of Sober Sidekick, a free sobriety app that helps users maintain their sobriety by connecting with a community of people who can empathize with where they are. Sober Sidekick allows users to become the hero of their own recovery and helps them reach unimaginable new heights. Following his own battle with addiction, Chris created Sober Sidekick to be a support system for individuals in ...
Jan 30, 2023•36 min•Ep. 52
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Derrick Reives and Venki Mandapati, Co-Founders of UpSquad, an on-demand engagement platform that helps organizations connect, communicate and collaborate. With over twenty-four years of experience working for Fortune 100 companies, Derrick serves as the CEO of UpSquad, and Venki is UpSquad’s CTO with over a decade of experience as a technology and data science leader. UpSquad’s custom, peer-to-peer platform assists ...
Jan 23, 2023•56 min•Ep. 51
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Edwin Ortiz, Co-Founder and CEO of Rejoicy, a platform designed to help local shoppers support small businesses through digital storefronts. Rejoicy makes local goods available everywhere and to everyone by facilitating sellers and shoppers through an easy-to-use online marketplace. With over fourteen years of experience, Edwin is also the founder of Luncher, a company dedicated to delivering food from your favorite ...
Jan 17, 2023•51 min•Ep. 50
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Andy Martin, Owner and CEO of Moonlight Games, a video game company dedicated to developing mobile apps. Moonlight Games’ extensive list of applications includes Wishfluence, the first branded wishlist app to provide luxury jewelry stores with the means to connect every customer with their dream product. Andy founded Wishfluence with his wife to streamline how jewelry stores manage their customer’s favorite pieces. T...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 49
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Stan Zylowski, CEO and Co-founder of Movista, a software development company that provides an all-in-one platform for retail execution and workforce management. Movista integrates a multitude of disparate systems into a single user-friendly interface where everyone can manage, review, and approve work. With more than fifteen years of experience in sales, marketing, and general business, Stan has had great success in ...
Jan 02, 2023•57 min•Ep. 48
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Mike Steely, Commercialization Officer at Veriphix. Veriphix is a behavioral dynamics platform that leverages behavioral science and machine intelligence to empower individuals to turn chaos into creativity. Along with his role at Veriphix, Mike is an Arkansas startup champion and angel investor focused on identifying innovative ideas that can be molded into investable companies. Throughout the episode, James and Mik...
Dec 26, 2022•57 min•Ep. 47
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Rodrigo Salas, Executive Director at Entrepreneurship for All Northwest Arkansas. EforAll is a non-profit organization that works to accelerate economic and social impact in NWA through inclusive entrepreneurship. With over twenty years of experience, Rodrigo is also the founder of Kualli Foods, a business that sells Hispanic cooking sauces and marinades, and a passionate community advocate who serves on multiple loc...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 46
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Jared Smith, President and CEO of Kitestring Technical Services, a leading technology services firm. Kitestring brings together talented people, influential ideas and a mission-driven culture to turn business visions into tangible value. Jared has led Kitestring for nearly ten years, scaling it from fourteen employees to more than 150, and he is also a board member of STOPWATCH, another local tech firm that provides ...
Dec 12, 2022•50 min•Ep. 45
Summary The NWA Tech Summit is the Heartland’s premier technology conference and serves to enhance, prepare, and diversify the local Northwest Arkansas economy. In its ninth year, the NWA Tech Summit came back with 1,700 registered attendees when it returned in-person to downtown Bentonville. The NWA Tech Summit is an event hosted by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and it is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, Northwest Arkansas Council, Walmart, J. B. Hunt, Tyson Foods,...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 44
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Meagan Bowman, Founder and CEO of STOPWATCH, a cloud-based commerce software. STOPWATCH allows businesses to thrive in the blinding speed and complexity of commerce by optimizing profit across retailers in real time. In addition to leading STOPWATCH, Meagan is also a member of Fast Company’s Executive Board and a full-time contributor to the Forbes Technology Council. Throughout the episode, James and Meagan discuss ...
Dec 05, 2022•49 min•Ep. 43
Summary The NWA Tech Summit is the Heartland’s premier technology conference and serves to enhance, prepare, and diversify the local Northwest Arkansas economy. In its ninth year, the NWA Tech Summit came back with 1,700 registered attendees when it returned in-person to downtown Bentonville. The NWA Tech Summit is an event hosted by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and it is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, Northwest Arkansas Council, Walmart, J. B. Hunt, Tyson Foods,...
Dec 02, 2022•48 min•Ep. 42
Summary On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Mark Marsiglio, Co-founder of TrailPilot, and his business advisor, Charles Greathouse. TrailPilot is an iOS and Android audio guide app designed to help mountain bikers navigate off-road adventures. The app gives riders expert advice on trail features and provides turn-by-turn directions based on their GPS location. Throughout the episode, James, Mark and Charles discuss the ins and outs of TrailPilot, their experie...
Nov 28, 2022•40 min•Ep. 41
