The University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation is back in full force this semester. The office oversees startup incubators and accelerators, including the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program and the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator. Jack Travis reached out to OEI Executive Director Phil Shellhammer to talk about the spring's programming. He says that things are always exciting at the office, and this semester is no different.
A: There's definitely some really interesting student programming, which is always our focus and what we've been driven to provide. But we have three either repeat or new incubator and accelerator programs that all kind of got announced about the same time that we're a part of. And so we're excited. The three are the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program — we've talked about that before, it's called GORP — the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator and the Ozark Retail Accelerator.
Q: We know about GORP, the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program. We did a lot of reporting last year on Ozarks at Large about the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator, but I'd love to get a recap on that — maybe what's new — and tell us about the Ozark Retail Accelerator as well.
A: When we talked before, I'm certain we talked about it, but the idea behind the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator was: how do we attract companies that are tech-forward cycling? Cycling technology businesses, businesses that are creating technologies, new changes in tech specifically in cycling — how do we attract them to possibly look at Northwest Arkansas or Arkansas as a whole as a place to relocate, to put their business up, to grow their business, especially in the states. If you recall, last year there were seven out of the 10 companies that were accepted in that accelerator that were outside the U.S. But all of them know the U.S. is the largest cycling industry market. And so at some point they kind of know growth is going to come by getting into the U.S. And so our goal was, of course, to encourage them to want to put their U.S. flag up here in Arkansas. That program went off really well last year. All the companies were really pleased with the feedback they got. We had quite a few of the companies receive some investment while that program was running. And the mentorship and the advice and the connections that were made were extremely strong for those companies. This year it's going to look very similar with some added benefit. We're bringing in again 10 companies. The applicant pool was extensive. I would say last year, maybe the industry sat there and said, "What are they doing? Is this real?" This year, the industry said, "OK, this thing's real." And that's pretty cool. We got a lot of really great press at the end of last year's program, a lot of people interested this year. And so we had a really large applicant pool, some really strong companies, and we're narrowing that list down literally as we speak. And then we're adding other pieces. PeopleForBikes is really stepping up and saying, "Hey look, we're an industry partner. We want the industry to be part of a program like this," and they're helping out as we figure out how to make this even stronger for our companies. And so at the end of the day, the same results we're hoping for — we want these companies to get stronger, to be prepared to walk into the U.S. market if they're not already here, and to look at Arkansas as a place to potentially build out their business and grow, because this area is so supportive of the cycling industry.
Q: And you're working with Startup Junkie to host that program.
A: That is correct. Yeah. That program is funded by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. And we partner with Startup Junkie Foundation, who actually is the one that applied for that grant. And the two of us together create that program. There's also a third person that helps us out with that. His name is Martial Trigeaud. And Martial is a cycling expert, a professional cyclist, knows the industry extremely well. And so he has come alongside us to build this.
Q: And then you're also working with another partner, Act II Capital Holdings, to host the Ozark Retail Accelerator.
A: Yeah, this one's exciting. The AEDC again funds this. It was funded by them, and in partnership with Act II, we came to the AEDC and said, "Look, we think we can help Arkansas-based companies that have a product that might be ready for retail, specifically big retail." And a lot of us — like my history is in large retail, Best Buy and Sam's Club — a lot of the people on the team that are building this out, we all have a ton of experience in large retail. And the thought process is: how can we help companies that are growing in the state of Arkansas that have a food product or an over-the-counter skincare product or something for pets or a variety of other items — how can we help them take that step and say, "OK, I think I'm ready for big retail," and really understand if they are or not. What happens a lot of the time, Jack, is we get companies that come here, they might pitch an open call for Walmart, or they might be trying to go pitch at these larger retailers, and they don't realize their packaging is not ready for that kind of scale. They don't realize their manufacturing or their supply chain isn't ready for that kind of scale, or they don't really understand what the underlying implications are when you go into a larger retailer when it comes to supportive marketing or even supportive markdowns. And so we've put together this 12-week program to train them on all of that and get them ready. And what's exciting is the companies we've selected — they're all Arkansas-based companies from all around the state. So unlike the cycling accelerator, which brings companies from around the world and you hope they come here and stay, these companies are growing right here in our state right now. And we're able to support them and hopefully help them grow and drive more jobs, drive more tax revenue — all the implications that come from a company growing within our state.
Q: Both of those accelerators sound like they're more for later-stage startups. What do they call that — growth stage?
A: Growth stage.
Q: That's it. But kind of before that, we have GORP for outdoor recreation. How long was that not going on? Was that just one semester?
A: Yeah, we just missed the fall semester. And there was some definitely pent-up demand because we had a lot of applicants for the spring semester. We got that back up and running.
Q: I'd love to get your take on what impact you saw on the startup scene, specifically in outdoor recreation in Northwest Arkansas, when that program went away. Did you see an impact?
A: We had a lot of people come to us and ask. What's great about GORP is even when we didn't have the actual incubator for the 12 weeks, we still provide what we call a la carte services. We're still here to help. So we had a lot of founders come to us and say, "Hey, is the program running?" Well, no, it's not, but how can we help you? And so we can still connect them to a network. We can still help them think through their business model. And so we were still able to do that throughout the fall and kind of prepare people for the next incubator because we were pretty certain it was going to continue forward. And it's great to see it back up and running now.
Q: Sounds like a great resource for any entrepreneur looking for some guidance. Where can people go for more information?
A: You can start at OEI's website, entrepreneurship.uark.edu. In there you will find each of these programs called out, and then it drives out to those programs' individual websites. We have gorp.edu to learn more about GORP. We have ozarkretailaccelerator.com for the Ozark Retail Accelerator. And cyclingaccelerator.com is the website for the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator. You can also follow us on LinkedIn — that's usually where most of our information about these will go out. And each one of these programs will have some kind of demo day event, and we'll definitely want people to come out and see these companies and see the progress they're making.
Phil Shellhammer is the executive director of the University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He spoke with Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis about the office's spring programs. Jack produces his stories in the Bruce and Ann Applegate News Studio One.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
