NWA Emerging Leaders Roll Out Mastermind Groups

By: Whitney Yoder

Vice-President of Development

Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce

 

NWA Emerging Leaders is committed to personal and professional development for emerging talent in our region.  That is evidenced by a new program rolling out in April; Legacy Mastermind Groups.  Mastermind Groups bring a combination of brainstorming, education, peer accountability, and support in a group setting to sharpen business and personal skills.  In short, belonging to a mastermind group helps you and your fellow group members grow and achieve success.  

Here are some of the great benefits that come with participating in a Mastermind Group:

1. You’ll be part of an exclusive community, a small, tightly knit group of like-minded peers all working toward similar objectives;
2. Advisement.  You’ll lose that feeling of being alone as a business person as the other members of the group turn into your informal advisory board;
3. Collaboration.  You may find someone in the group who is a perfect fit for a project you’re working on.  How great would it be to find that missing person you’ve been seeking?;
4. Extend your network.  People do business with people they know, like, and trust, and these mastermind groups are great ways to build your network by making new, trusted friends;
5. New learning.  Even if you’ve been in your field for years and years, and are an industry expert, you’ll still learn new things from the experiences and perspectives of your new friends;
6. Cross-promotion.  Your business will benefit as you and your group members find ways to work together and cross promote each other’s services to your respective client, customer, and vendor groups;
7. Think bigger.  One of the greatest benefits of mastermind groups, brainstorming on a regular basis with a group of driven, intelligent people is going to make you a bigger person.  You will think bigger, take on bigger challenges, and grow into a bigger person

Mastermind groups encourage you to challenge yourself and others to set and accomplish important goals, but to be successful members have to be willing to commit, listen, and give their best to each participant.

These aren’t classes; they’re not networking groups; and they’re not coaching.  They’re simply you and a group of highly committed peers engaging to make each other better.  

In the business world, author Napoleon Hill, who wrote the famous book “Think and Grow Rich”, says mastermind groups are the basis for every great fortune, and that great power can be accumulated through no other principle.

Not everyone who joins a mastermind group wants to become rich or powerful, but Hill’s comment points to the power of what can happen when a group of committed individuals focus their energy on helping each other grow.

Groups are forming now, so to make sure you have the opportunity to get your own personal advisory board.  Currently over 100 people have signed up to participate in a group.  The program kicks-off with a luncheon on April 23, 2014.  For more information or to sign-up contact Whitney Yoder at 479-619-3197.

RLACC Releases Community Assessment Report

By: Brad Phillips
Vice-President, Marketing Communications
Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce



The Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the City of Rogers and the City of Lowell released to the public its Community Assessment report, a detailed examination of the Rogers-Lowell area as a place to live, work and do business.  The Assessment leverages quantitative and qualitative research conducted during Phase 1 of the six-month, four-phase strategic planning process to update the vision for a new Community Action Plan.  This Community Assessment completes phase two of the project, delivers a comprehensive overview of the trends and challenges facing Rogers-Lowell in 2014 and beyond, and within the context of residents' vision for the future and the implications of regional development.  The visioning process culminates later this year with the development of a Community Action Plan and Implementation Guidelines.

The Assessment reveals a community and region that has experienced rapid population growth, driven predominately by young couples and their children.  These families are attracted to a community that is centrally located within the region, home to relatively high quality public schools and offers comparatively affordable single-family housing.  The Assessment also reveals a place that has seen enormous growth in its Hispanic population;  residents want to ensure that Rogers doesn't become a segregated community socioeconomically along racial and ethnic lines.  Residents of all races and ethnicities indicated that they are proud of the fact that the community is welcoming and want to ensure that the community is united.  

The community is also a place that has experienced a great deal of economic transition within
a relatively resilient and growing regional economy.  Retail and professional services have emerged while manufacturing and distribution have remained a key component of the economy. Continued growth has given rise to concerns from residents about traffic, transportation and other issues.  "Residents wonder what the future of the community will hold for them, their children, and their businesses," said Raymond Burns, President/CEO of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.  "They wonder if the next generation will be attracted to the amenities that are currently available.  Will there be an abundant supply of young, skilled workers to support diversified economic growth?  What will Downtown Rogers look like in the future, and will it be a place that young residents want to visit?"



Market Street Services, based in Atlanta, is facilitating the process for development of the
new, Community Action Plan. The Plan will build upon the history and success of past
strategic planning efforts such as Vision 2025 community's future.  The development consists
of four phases:  Stakeholder Input(complete), Community Assessment(complete), Community Action Plan and Implementation Guidelines. The process will last approximately six months
and is set to conclude in July 2014.

The Community Assessment report may be accessed at http://www.rogerslowellvision.com/project_downloads.html 

What’s Working in Job Creation: US Chamber Releases Enterprising States Study

Each year the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation analyzes data to determine what states have done over the previous year to create jobs and expand the economy.  The analysis is broken down into two parts, one that discusses what states should be doing and one that details what states are doing and then ranking the states using a performance, data-driven model.  The Chamber calls the annual report, Enterprising States, and provides a copy of the 2013 analysis HERE.

This year Enterprising States focuses on the importance of supporting small business as a means of economic development and job creation in the United States.  Historically, small businesses have been the country’s primary job creator, but following the latest recession these economic engines have failed to return to their traditional roles.  The Chamber warns that, “[p]olicymakers ignore small business at their own peril and that of the economy.” 

Last year, only 16% of small businesses added employees and businesses five-years-old or younger now employ just 8% of the total work force, which is a decrease of 33% over the past two decades.   Small and new businesses continue to struggle in the post-Great Recession economy for a number of reasons, including significantly lower consumer spending and reduced lending by community banks.  These factors contribute to a less than rosy outlook by small business owners.  The U.S. Chamber surveyed small businesses in January 2013 and found more than half expected business to be worse over the next two years.  This is more than twice as high as the same survey revealed a year earlier.  Lower optimism results in fewer new hires, smaller investment and more defensive operations.

If small and new businesses are not adding jobs, what can states do to encourage small and new business startups?  The U.S. Chamber recognized ten initiatives that appear to be working to support and grow small and new businesses in the country. 

·         Business plan competitions – identify and assist entrepreneurs turn ideas in start ups.

·         Accelerator initiatives – programs that assist startups become stand-alone companies.

·         Economic gardening initiatives – provide resources to existing firms so they can expand.

·         Ecosystem initiatives – focus programs and projects on areas where a concentration of like-mission companies exist.

·         Workforce development initiatives – help business train and locate qualified employees.

·         Seed and venture capital – provides access to funding to help replace diminished availability of bank loans.

·         Networking and collaboration initiatives – match small business with mentors in large business and higher education.

·         International trade – reaching new global markets is vital for start ups and small business

·         Streamlined state administrative processes – efforts to eliminate rules, regulations and uncertainty

·         Broadband investment – high speed online access is critical being competitive

Thankfully, Arkansas utilizes many of these initiatives, but unfortunately many lack sufficient funding to be fully implemented on a statewide basis.  A future blog post will highlight what Arkansas is doing to support small and new businesses.  For more information contact Michael Lindsey at Michael@RogersLowell.com

89th General Assembly - One Regular Session in the Books

The Arkansas General Assembly convened on January 14 and wrapped up their official business on April 23.  After more than three months in session The 89th General Assembly filed nearly 2,500 bills and passed 61%, which is a pretty efficient conversion of bills to laws.  Especially when you compare the state legislature with the United States Congress, which rarely passes more than five percent of the bills introduced.  Over the past 25 years the state legislature have averaged passage of 65% of introduced bills (see below).

The Chamber began the session with a modest legislative agenda that focused on its traditional issues of economic development, higher education and transportation.  Below is a recap of how issues included on our agenda fared.

Economic Development Issues:

• Support Quick Action Closing Fund - $50 million included in final budget.  These funds are used to pay for economic development incentives and are very effective in recruiting and retaining jobs in NW Arkansas.
• Support Regional Economic Development Partnership - led an effort to broaden the reach of regional economic development partnerships, which is a state program that encourages regions to work together to proactively recruit new business and industry.
• Promote Legislation that Supports Entrepreneurs - worked with Accelerate Arkansas to advocate for funding of programs that support high-tech, knowledge based start ups.  Nearly $20 million dedicated to related programs intended to promote these "new economy" companies.
• Tax Cuts for Manufacturers - advocated for tax reductions in utilities and repair/replacement parts for manufacturers.  The General Assembly approved reduction of both taxes, which will save Arkansas manufacturers nearly $25 million per year thus making them more competitive in an increasingly global marketplace.   

Infrastructure Issues:

• Technical Corrections to Regional Mobility Authority - led effort to modify regional mobility authority legislation to clarify issues related to issuance of bonds.  
• Increase Flexibility for County/City Turnback - cities and counties receive 15% each from the recently enacted 0.5% temporary highway sales tax.  The General Assembly authorized cities and counties to bond these turnback funds if approved by voters.
• Incentives to Attract Low Cost Air Carrier to XNA - a signficiant cost for business in NW Arkansas is continued high cost of airfare.  The region sought assistance from the state to develop incentives to recruit a low-cost carrier like Frontier Airlines to XNA.  State legislators in the region designated funding to attract a low-cost carrier in an effort to reduce airfares for all NW Arkansas residents.
• FOIA Exemption for Water Systems - supported efforts by water systems to permanently exempt security-related documents from Freedom Of Information Act requirements.  Legislation passed by General Assembly.

Higher Education:

• Increased Funding for Higher Education - NWACC increased their general revenue funding by more than $500,000 and received $4.7 million in general improvement funding to pay for needed facility and program improvements.

Other Issues:

• Big River Steel - A new steel mill in Osceola will be the state's first opportunity to land a super-project.  BRS creates more than 500 jobs and brings more than $1 billion in investment to the state.  The project found support from legislators around the state for this Northeast Arkansas project.  The Chamber supported the project and the state's investment of $125 million in incentives.  The Chamber thanks all those legislators that supported the Big River Steel project.
• Private Option Healthcare - the major issue heading into the 89th General Assembly was how to deal with possible expansion of Medicaid coverage to 250,000 low-income Arkansans.  The likelihood of expanding Medicaid never found much support within the Republican majority of the House or Senate.  However, leadership in both parties negotiated an innovative compromise that uses federal Medicaid dollars to pay private insurance premiums for low-income Arkansans.  This plan is projected to save Arkansas millions in Medicaid matching funds while reducing uncompensated care losses at Arkansas hospitals and providing insurance coverage to many of the neediest Arkansans.  The Private Option plan originally conceived by Republicans John Burris, David Sanders and Jonathan Dismang truly proved to be the best solution to a difficult, complex issue.  The Chamber thanks all those legislators that supported this compromise legislation.

Referred Constitutional Amendments:

The General Assembly has the authority to refer up to three Constitutional amendments that will be placed before voters on the 2014 General Election ballot.  The year, the legislature picked these three out of a possible 38.

• Issue 1 - Seeks voter approval to authorize the General Assembly to oversee state agency rulemaking.  This empowers the legislature at the expense of the executive branch.

• Issue 2 - Seeks voter approval of an ethics, term limit, legislative pay and campaign finance laws.  This bill contains a little bit of everything.  It would allow state legislators to serve for up to sixteen years in any combination of terms in the House and Senate; eliminates most gifts and free meals for state legislators with a few exceptions; establishes an independent commission to set salaries for elected state officials and legislators; and eliminates corporate contributions to elected officials. 

• Issue 3 - Requires citizen petition drives seeking to place questions on statewide ballots have at least 75% valid signatures when they are submitted for the first time.  In 2012, many proposed citizen initiatives had 60% or more of their signatures thrown out because they were not from registered voters or in at least one instance were fraudulent.  Despite this, these petition efforts still received 30 additional days to collect signatures simply because they turned in petitions.  If the proposed amendment is approved by voters any rejection of more than 25% of signatures would immediately eliminate the ballot question from consideration.  This would make it more difficult for citizen petition drives to receive enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.  A lawsuit has been filed to stop consideration of this issue.

Other Issues Approved by General Assembly:

• Tax Cuts - in addition to the two manufacturing tax cuts, the legislature approved 1) a reduction in the capital gains tax on Arkansas investments and property, 2) a sales tax reduction on utilities for grain dryers and poultry houses, 3) a 0.1% income tax reduction, 4) future reduction in the sales tax on groceries, 5) income tax exemption for active duty military personnel and 6) sales tax reduction on sale of dental appliances and timber harvesting equipment.
• Lottery Scholarships - early in the session, the General Assembly modified the state's lottery scholarship awards so that no matter the institution, qualifying students will receive $2,000 for their freshman year, $3,000 for their sophomore year, $4,000 for their junior year and $5,000 for their senior year.  This change places two-year and four-year institutions on the same level and rewards students who complete their degree.

 While these are just a handful of the 1,500 bills approved by the General Assembly, they are the ones that the Chamber focused on during the session. Thank you for subscribing to this email.  Your engagement in the political process is very important factor in ensuring the business community has a voice in determining bills approved by the General Assembly.

Please continue to check-in with our Chamber's advocacy website:  www.rogerslowellvotes.com  to stay up to date on federal issues and join with other Chamber members to participate in important advocacy efforts.

89th General Assembly - Week 7

The past week was full of new developments that possibly signals the start of a new emphasis on the major pre-session issues of Medicaid and tax reform. Those are the two key questions that everyone expected to consume the General Assembly in 2013, but which have not been the topic of much official debate. Although, apparently, legislators have been hard at work behind the scenes on both issues.

On the Medicaid front, Governor Mike Beebe met with federal Health and Human Services officials to discuss the possibility of using federal Medicaid funding to help subsidize private insurance premiums for Arkansans with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty limit. This option is finding quite a bit of positive feedback from Republicans who hold the majority in the House and Senate. Any decision to appropriate state funds for either adding Arkansans to the Medicaid program or subsidizing private insurance will require 75% of the House and Senate to agree.

By helping these neediest of Arkansans obtain insurance coverage with federally subsidized private insurance 250,000 Arkansans could receive insurance coverage while the state would not grow its Medicaid rolls and hospitals will be able to reduce losses from charity care.

Our state's hospitals are facing reduced reimbursement rates from Medicare patients and when this is coupled with continued massive losses from charity care, many of our healthcare systems are struggling to survive much less expand and improve care. Therefore, any efforts to reduce charity care by moving uninsured Arkansans into an insurance plan will be a tremendous benefit to hospitals. In Northwest Arkansas, our hospitals employ thousands and are a major quality of life component and driver of the local economy. The Chamber strongly supports efforts to reduce charity care losses for our hospitals, whether it is through an expansion of Medicaid or supporting private insurance coverage for low-income Arkansans.

Also this week, Speaker of the House Davy Carter told the Revenue and Tax Committee that he felt the General Assembly could pass up to $150 million in tax cuts during the session without cutting the state's budget.

This is the first person in legislative leadership to offer a value for total tax reductions. Governor Beebe has proposed cutting the grocery tax, but only as selected state funding commitments expire (like desegregation funding for Pulaski County public schools).

Proposed changes to state income taxes were also addressed this week when Representative Charlie Collins (R, Washington County) filed bills detailing his recommendations. Collins has long argued that reducing the state's income tax would make Arkansas more attractive for new businesses. He has offered two options for the legislature to consider. HB1586 would gradually lower all tax rates, including the highest bracket which kicks in at $34,000. For residents earning more than $34,000 their income tax would fall to 6% from the current 7% level. HB1585 proposes identical tax brackets as HB1586, but HB1585 would phase in the reductions more quickly. So what would this mean for someone with $50,000 adjusted annual income? Using a very simplistic analysis this may equate to around $20 more per paycheck.

 
There are a number of other tax cut options on the table as well. The Chamber endorses two tax cuts that support manufacturing in Arkansas and we encourage you to join us in advocating for their passage.

HB1218 - Eliminates the state sales tax on utilities used by manufacturers. Only one of our surrounding states tax manufacturer's utilities, which places Arkansas at a competitive disadvantage in both recruitment and retention of manufacturers. In order to have a diverse economy, Northwest Arkansas must continue to support and protect its manufacturers by creating an operating environment that allows them to be the most competitive in the world. This bill continues a steady reduction in this tax and improves our ability to recruit and retain jobs.

SB334 - Eliminates the sales tax on parts used to repair or replace equipment used by manufacturers. This reduction is important to retain industry in Northwest Arkansas since many of our local manufacturers not only have competitors from around the world, they also have other facilities in the United States When a company is looking to expand production or make their facilities more efficient we want them to choose their Northwest Arkansas location to improve and expand instead of moving production to somewhere less costly. Reducing the sales tax on repair and replacement parts and equipment gives the state an advantage that might save hundreds if not thousands of existing jobs.

CALL TO ACTION - I ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN WITH US AND CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS IN SUPPORT OF HB1218 AND SB334. WE MAKE IT EASY TO SUBMIT AN EMAIL TO THE REVENUE AND TAX COMMITTEE.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION

If you want to see a list of committees, their members and pending legislation you can find that information HERE.