Northwest Arkansas highlights regional collaboration

Each year the Chamber takes a group of business and community leaders to another city to learn best practices. For the first time, the destination of the 2022 Community Leadership Visit was a comparable region and not just an individual city. During that trip, over 80 Southwest Missouri leaders had the chance to learn from the success of Northwest Arkansas. Top program takeaways included the value of regional collaboration and planning, leveraging outdoor amenities, investing in arts and culture for talent retention and attraction, the importance of a strong regional brand and identity, and how the area is investing in innovation and the jobs of tomorrow.

Our neighbors to the south have invested significantly in their region and their efforts are paying off in strong population growth, the consistent attraction of top talent attraction, robust business growth and expansion, and more. You can hear more about the trip takeaways from program participants in the most recent edition of the SGF Insider Podcast and watch for a full post-trip report in the coming weeks. You can also visit our Community Leadership Visit history page to look back at previous cities the Chamber has visited and what was learned there.