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, Salesforce, and the University of Arkansas Blockchain Center of Excellence.

‍Show Notes
‍(0:54) Introduction to Andres Lazarte
(5:43) Introduction to Aaron Ivy
(15:52) Introduction to Amir Hoss
(25:25) Introduction to Liam La Fargue
(38:15) Introduction to Eugene Park
(47:03) Closing Thoughts
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‍Links
JAMES BELL‍‍
‍BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍‍
2022 NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT
ANDRES LAZARTE
HARRY LAZARTE, MD
BASIS HEALTH
AARON IVY
CATALYZEH2O
AMIR HOSS
EAIGLE
LIAM LA FARGUE
MYCELIUM NETWORKS
EUGENE PARK
KITESTRING TECHNICAL SERVICES
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SQUARE 2 SQUARE BIKE RIDE
ONYX COFFEE LAB
PLUG AND PLAY TECH CENTER NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
21C MUSEUM HOTEL – BENTONVILLE
8TH STREET MARKET
BIKE RACK BREWING CO.
BENTONVILLE BREWING
OSAGE PARK
BUDDY PEGS
COLER MOUNTAIN BIKE PRESERVE
AIRSHIP COFFEE AT COLER
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Quotes
“You get the best of both worlds. You have all the innovators and you have all the resources from Walmart and all the other companies. That culture made it a no-brainer to build [Basis Health] here…There’s a lot of other places in the world I could probably be, but Bentonville is the only place where I can walk down the street and go fishing in the morning and meet billion dollars of investment money in the afternoon.” – Andres Lazarte, (3:52)

“I’ll lead in with talking about how incredible Northwest Arkansas is. It’s really all become one community with different sub-sectors and cultures within that. Rogers, Bella Vista, Bentonville and Fayetteville are all very different from each other but are very much one big economic powerhouse.” – Aaron Ivy, (11:52)

“What I’ve been seeing is that a lot of executives and enterprises we have relationships with have moved to [Bentonville] over two to five years ago. It’s been amazing. So the conversation I have with them is that you come here and you never expect that what you see here is far beyond what you expected before coming here.” – Amir Hoss, (19:45)

“What I’ve really enjoyed at this tech summit is the presence and support that emerging technology companies are receiving from Fortune 500 companies and the recognition from huge corporate partners. I find that inspiring and extremely relieving.” – Liam La Fargue, (34:11)
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“I love all the family things that are going on…I love the fact there are wonderful bike trails and restaurants. Everything here has grown so fast, but it feels like very thoughtful growth and growth that’s been designed for families. That’s what keeps us here.” – Eugene Park, (42:46) ‍‍‍
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