Workforce

Last week, the third annual Excel by Eight Foundation’s Collaborative Summit took place in Little Rock. The event brought together business leaders, chambers of commerce and heads of nonprofits. It wasn’t designed to find instant solutions to a wide-ranging problem but to expedite conversations among groups to work toward solutions. The meeting wasn’t open to the press. Still, afterward, Steve Cousins, the board chair of El Dorado-based SHARE Foundation, and Brandom Gengelbach, the president and CEO of the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, spoke with Ozarks at Large.

On today's show, Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project, talks about helping people transition out of incarceration. Also, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted against a deal with Phoenix University, the opening date for the U.S. Marshals Museum and an upcoming Lavender Graduation. Plus, another episode of "I Am Northwest Arkansas" and more.

The third annual Unity Conference opens tomorrow at the Embassy Suites in Rogers. The mission is to bring together business leaders, educators, students and residents to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

The Stable, a marketing agency with an office in Bentonville, is launching an executive apprentice position in northwest Arkansas. The initiative is targeting talent without a college degree. We hear from the agency's first executive apprentice and their CEO, neither of which have college degrees.

Ready for Life is a statewide initiative with collaborative partners in education, workforce, business, industry and government. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic was detected in the U.S., the share of women in the workforce has fallen to levels not seen since 1988. Data shows women not…