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Expanding Economic Development in Arkansas with Mike Malone
Episode 22426th April 2023 • Be EPIC Podcast • Brent Williams
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This week on the podcast Matt sits down with Mike Malone, Vice Chancellor for Economic Development at the University of Arkansas. Mike has been very involved in the growth of Northwest Arkansas, serving previously as the VP of Community and Corporate Affairs at Runway Group and President and CEO of Northwest Arkansas Council. The discussion begins with Mike explaining what economic development at the University of Arkansas is and how he intends to use the partnerships of the University to continue creating a positive impact on the state of Arkansas. Mike and Matt then dive into the emergence of next generation mobility and how the University of Arkansas will influence research in this new sector. The episode concludes with Mike discussing the importance of preparing the next generation of the workforce and connecting students with Arkansas-based companies. 

Transcripts

Mike Malone:

But from a University's perspective, some

Mike Malone:

of the areas where we can be most impactful are in ways that

Mike Malone:

people I think, know and generally think of when they

Mike Malone:

think of university economic development, for example, taking

Mike Malone:

the research that's done on a campus and creating companies

Mike Malone:

out of that research, the commercialization of research.

Matt Waller:

Excellence, professionalism, innovation, and

Matt Waller:

collegiality. These are the values the Sam M. Walton College

Matt Waller:

of Business explores in education, business, and the

Matt Waller:

lives of people we meet every day. I'm Matt Waller, Dean of

Matt Waller:

the Walton College, and welcome to the Be Epic Podcast. I have

Matt Waller:

with me today, Mike Malone, who is Vice Chancellor for Economic

Matt Waller:

Development at the University of Arkansas. Mike has an amazing

Matt Waller:

background that has really preparing him well for this job

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at the University of Arkansas. For almost six years, he was VP

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of Community and Corporate Affairs at Runway Group. He was

Matt Waller:

President and CEO of Northwest Arkansas Council for 10 years.

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And he has many other experiences that are relevant as

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well. Thank you, Mike, so much for joining me today. I

Matt Waller:

appreciate it.

Mike Malone:

Thank you. I'm excited to visit with you.

Matt Waller:

Well, Mike, you had, you've been around

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Northwest Arkansas a long time, obviously. But you you've really

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been involved during a time when Northwest Arkansas has

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transitioned so much. It's a little hard to believe how much

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things have changed. But you were heading up the Northwest

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Arkansas Council, which is quite an organization during the time

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of tremendous change from 2006 to 2016. And, of course, you

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were head of Runway Group, which was having a huge impact on the

Matt Waller:

region. And now you're you're almost at a year, I believe, as

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Vice Chancellor for Economic Development. So it's kind of

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nice, because you've seen the development of Northwest

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Arkansas from many different angles. But I'd love for you to

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if you wouldn't mind before we get into your past a little bit.

Matt Waller:

If you could share just a little bit. What is Economic

Matt Waller:

Development at the University of Arkansas?

Mike Malone:

That's a great question. And it's a story I'm

Mike Malone:

telling regularly. And so I'm really glad you started with it.

Mike Malone:

The economic development is about the different ways in

Mike Malone:

which we can take the talent, the knowledge, the expertise,

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the resources, our facilities, our ability to convene, all the

Mike Malone:

different things that we can do so well on so many different

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fronts, and deploy those for use for benefit in communities or

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for businesses and industry around the state. Our knowledge

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is so deep, our talent bench is so long. And we have so many

Mike Malone:

people here who I know want to have an impact on our state

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through their work. And so a lot of our role is really trying to

Mike Malone:

find those connections, activate or stimulate those partnerships

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so that the University of Arkansas can have an even

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greater impact on the economy of our state. It's already a very

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massive impact. At this point, the last time we quantified the

Mike Malone:

University of Arkansas economic impact on the state of Arkansas

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it was placed at 2.2 billion annually. $2.2 billion worth of

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impact that we have on our state. That numbers a little

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dated, one of the things I want to do soon is update that number

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and regularly refresh that number. Because I think with our

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enrollment growth and our outreach and our initiatives,

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I'm confident that that number is going to be much larger. I

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wouldn't predict what it is. I'm not an economist, but I do know

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it's much greater than what it was calculated at five years

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ago. And so we look our team, our different units, our

Mike Malone:

industry engagement partners look for opportunities to really

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connect and extend what the campus and the University of

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Arkansas does so well for the benefit of the state of

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Arkansas.

Matt Waller:

Well, you know, what, it's really exciting what

Matt Waller:

you're doing. And, of course, you're right. We've got so many

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resources and rich expertise in areas that a lot of times people

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are surprised to learn about when they find out what kind of

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expertise we have. I was just thinking, you know, I look at

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different colleges, you know, College of Engineering, for

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example. There's been many times when I've done seen people that

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were surprised to find out that we had rich expertise in some

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area. That's happened certainly in the College of Business, the

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College of Education, etc, etc, all the colleges. But I can see

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why you're well prepared to do this. Of course, you're drinking

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from a firehose right now trying to get everything from the

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University, but you, you've been around the University a long

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time. You know, your role as President and CEO of Northwest

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Arkansas Council. Let's start with that. The Northwest

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Arkansas Council is an unusually successful entity that

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coordinates amongst these different cities, many other

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communities have tried to do things similar with not the same

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level of success that we've had in Northwest Arkansas. Would you

Matt Waller:

mind speaking a little bit just about your experience there and

Matt Waller:

how that is valuable to what you're doing now?

Mike Malone:

Absolutely. The Northwest Arkansas Council is a

Mike Malone:

nonprofit organization. It was founded in 1990, by some of the

Mike Malone:

business leaders in the region, who at the time knew that they

Mike Malone:

needed a lot more coordination, a lot more support, especially

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on on getting some infrastructure projects done

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than any of the towns and small cities were able to provide on

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their own at that point. And so these business leaders said,

Mike Malone:

let's get together, pull some resources, form an organization,

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set some regional goals. And so they they banded together raised

Mike Malone:

a little money, it was not a lot of money, but 1990 terms, but

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they they pitched in some dues among the different member

Mike Malone:

organizations. But what they they did that made that

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organization work so well was set clear. They were aggressive

Mike Malone:

goals, but they set clear goals that everyone in the region

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could get excited about or see the benefit, if we're able to

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achieve them. So it was goal setting function. But then the

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other thing they did and this isn't magic or anything secret,

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but they hired professional staff, people with policy

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experience, with government relations experience that could

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help bring different community partners and organizations in

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the cities themselves along toward accomplishing those

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goals. And the the magic of the place was having professional

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staff that woke up each day, thinking about how to stitch

Mike Malone:

together coalitions find support, find funding for

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achieving the goals, the big, audacious goals that were set by

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these business leaders that got together at the time. Again, I

Mike Malone:

said it was about physical infrastructure, Northwest

Mike Malone:

Arkansas, had a municipal airport that was fairly

Mike Malone:

unreliable because it was surrounded by mountains, the

Mike Malone:

Boston Mountain Range in South Fayetteville made created

Mike Malone:

weather issues. And so scheduled air service was fairly

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unreliable and their runway was too short to be able to land

Mike Malone:

certain planes so the region needed an airport for the region

Mike Malone:

to grow. And for these industry partners to grow, it seems

Mike Malone:

simple to say hey, we need an airport. But there have only

Mike Malone:

been three new airports built in the United States. In the last

Mike Malone:

35 years, there have been a lot of airports expanded in the last

Mike Malone:

35 years. No greenfield projects except for Northwest Arkansas

Mike Malone:

and Denver airports. Another one and maybe one one other example

Mike Malone:

in Florida. I wasn't around when they they worked on the airport

Mike Malone:

I came in after that I was the second director of the Council.

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But the goals when I was hired were very similar to continue to

Mike Malone:

work on physical infrastructure projects and build regional

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consensus and cohesion. And so it evolved during my time there

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but that experience on working across a region to build

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partnerships and coalition's were really translates very well

Mike Malone:

to this job. It's a statewide focus here, the State's

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land-grant university, we're looking for ways to have an

Mike Malone:

impact and add value around the state the entire state of

Mike Malone:

Arkansas and so that's really been fun for me but my

Mike Malone:

experience in working with for profit, nonprofit and

Mike Malone:

governmental entities to build consensus and move things

Mike Malone:

forward translates very well to this new role.

Matt Waller:

I would think one challenge in your job is just

Matt Waller:

becoming aware of everything going on at the university.

Matt Waller:

There's so much.

Matt Waller:

Mike, what are some of the things that the University of

Mike Malone:

That's exactly right. So before in my last

Mike Malone:

couple of roles, I worked with the university lot and I grew up

Mike Malone:

in Fayetteville, I spent a lot of time on campus, my parents

Mike Malone:

both worked here. So I certainly knew some. But job one this past

Mike Malone:

year, the past nine months, really that I've been in the

Mike Malone:

role has been to get a much deeper understanding and build

Mike Malone:

relationships and, and honestly gain trust among partners on

Mike Malone:

campus, so that they understand what role the Division of

Mike Malone:

Economic Development can play, and how we can help them better

Mike Malone:

have an impact even beyond what they're already having. It's

Mike Malone:

been a lot of fun and learn so much. And, you know, my biggest

Mike Malone:

observation from my first nine months and deep dive on campus

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is we do so many things so well. I want as many people to know

Mike Malone:

about those things and really feel like people don't have an

Mike Malone:

understanding is comprehensive and understanding of how good we

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are in so many different areas.

Mike Malone:

Arkansas that you're pretty excited about from an economic

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development perspective?

Mike Malone:

There's some emerging economic sectors and fields like in

Mike Malone:

Arkansas, and in the middle part of the country that were really

Mike Malone:

poised to be a big player in. One example, the last governor

Mike Malone:

appointed a Smart Mobility Council, and they put together a

Mike Malone:

report on how to make Arkansas a leading state in next generation

Mike Malone:

mobility. Our researchers and our research facilities and our

Mike Malone:

areas of expertise, like their expertise, like supply chain

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logistics, fits so nicely, already in to making us

Mike Malone:

competitive in that emerging sector. And with some additional

Mike Malone:

resources and additional focus, I think we can be the best

Mike Malone:

university in the country in the area of smart mobility and the

Mike Malone:

enabling technologies and supply chain and logistics, expertise

Mike Malone:

that's involved in all of that. So that that's really exciting.

Matt Waller:

That is exciting. I mean, it's so clear, there's so

Matt Waller:

many demographic and economic characteristics, changes that

Matt Waller:

are taking place that really point to the need to for this

Matt Waller:

advanced mobility. And, and really just the advances in

Matt Waller:

artificial intelligence, machine learning, those kinds of things,

Matt Waller:

really make it more achievable, as well.

Mike Malone:

Absolutely. When we're good at in those areas,

Mike Malone:

cybersecurity is going to be important to the growth of

Mike Malone:

mobility and equipment and technology. And we're very good

Mike Malone:

at that. As we are with research into batteries, electric motors,

Mike Malone:

just goes on and on, we're already in great position to

Mike Malone:

have an influence in where the next generation of mobility is

Mike Malone:

going. And so it's gonna be fun to be a part of that.

Matt Waller:

Your experience is really interesting. As a young

Matt Waller:

man, back in 1994 through 98, you held various positions,

Matt Waller:

including Deputy Assistant to the President, and you've held

Matt Waller:

positions as Congressional Affairs liaison for the Federal

Matt Waller:

Emergency Management Agency. You've had various positions in

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the White House, Director of Administration, Committee Staff

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Member on US Senate Rules Committee, a Minority Clerk in

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Transportation, HUD and Independent Agencies

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Subcommittee. I mean, you so you do have a lot of experience in

Matt Waller:

the state of Arkansas, as we just described earlier. But you

Matt Waller:

also have a lot of understanding of the federal government and

Matt Waller:

how it works. How does that help you in your role as Vice

Matt Waller:

Chancellor for Economic Development here?

Mike Malone:

That's a good question, Matt. I think

Mike Malone:

certainly understanding the federal budget and how that

Mike Malone:

process works, and potentially how to have an influence there

Mike Malone:

will be helpful, in some ways, especially as it relates to

Mike Malone:

grants. But I think more importantly, those were just

Mike Malone:

really big, complex environments. My first job out

Mike Malone:

of graduate school was working in the executive branch and a

Mike Malone:

lot of acronyms, a lot of different budget, center cost

Mike Malone:

centers, budgets, power centers, those kind of things. And so

Mike Malone:

figuring out how to build consensus and drive toward big,

Mike Malone:

significant goals was really my biggest lesson and learning from

Mike Malone:

those years that very much helps here, that state of Arkansas

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economy is incredibly diverse and dispersed. We're large state

Mike Malone:

geographically, even if we're not population wise. And so

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figuring out how to learn the systems of players and forge

Mike Malone:

consensus and drive things forward is is definitely what's

Mike Malone:

most applicable from my executive branch and

Mike Malone:

congressional days.

Matt Waller:

It is amazing how you can see, the federal

Matt Waller:

government can even benefit a lot from some of our expertise.

Matt Waller:

And I think they don't often know about it. I know, one

Matt Waller:

professor that I know really well in civil engineering. His

Matt Waller:

name is Andrew Brown, and he's an expert in pavement and

Matt Waller:

asphalt. It doesn't sound very exciting to some people. But

Matt Waller:

when you look at how much our road system and our federal

Matt Waller:

interstate system, it's so extensive, and so much money

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goes into it. And I know over the years, he's always telling

Matt Waller:

me, if we would only do this, you know, our roads would last

Matt Waller:

longer, they would cost less to repair on and on. And I said,

Matt Waller:

wow, I wish I wish people in the federal government could hear

Matt Waller:

this, you know, we meet about once a month. And so I always

Matt Waller:

hear I've learned a lot about asphalt over the last eight

Matt Waller:

years. It doesn't sound interesting, but when you really

Matt Waller:

think about the impact it has, right, because when roads are in

Matt Waller:

disrepair, it also affects the cars. So the cost is much higher

Matt Waller:

than what people often realize. So I'm just using as a sort of a

Matt Waller:

esoteric example that, you know, if you'd look through all the

Matt Waller:

research we're doing, at the U of A you may not realize we have

Matt Waller:

the top expert in the country on this. And, you know, I don't

Matt Waller:

know to what degree his expertise is utilized at the

Matt Waller:

federal level.

Mike Malone:

Yeah. And I know ARDOT partners with the

Mike Malone:

University of Arkansas on pavement research and other

Mike Malone:

transportation research. But that is a great point. One of

Mike Malone:

the things that I love seeing both before I got to the

Mike Malone:

university, and also during my time here is that our

Mike Malone:

congressional delegation does know how much expertise is here

Mike Malone:

and relies on us and puts that expertise to work in solving

Mike Malone:

problems. So they, they are good at that. But again, it's back to

Mike Malone:

what I'm finding in my kind of learning journey here in my

Mike Malone:

first less than a year. And that is there's so much significant

Mike Malone:

important, transformative work that's happening here. It's hard

Mike Malone:

to keep all of that in mind or tell that story. Because there's

Mike Malone:

so much so many great things happening. And so our, our

Mike Malone:

division will certainly try to play a role in communicating

Mike Malone:

more and communicating in ways that people can receive it. But

Mike Malone:

it's it's just hard to keep up with how much talent knowledge

Mike Malone:

and expertise is here. That's a good problem to have. But it's

Mike Malone:

still a problem if people don't know it. We can do more if

Mike Malone:

people know more about our capabilities.

Matt Waller:

Mike, as we know, we had an economics group

Matt Waller:

analyze the financial impact of university on the economy here

Matt Waller:

in Arkansas a few years ago, several years ago and we found

Matt Waller:

that it was over $2 billion. It's probably a lot more than

Matt Waller:

that at this point. But what are some of the specific ways the

Matt Waller:

University of Arkansas impacts the economy?

Mike Malone:

And economic development can be defined

Mike Malone:

fairly broadly. And, you know, AEDC recruits companies to

Mike Malone:

Arkansas, private equity groups create sources of funding to

Mike Malone:

invest in companies to attract them to Arkansas. And those are

Mike Malone:

all real important components within economic development writ

Mike Malone:

large. But from a university's perspective, some of the areas

Mike Malone:

where we can be most impactful are in ways that people I think,

Mike Malone:

know, and generally think of when they think of University

Mike Malone:

Economic Development, for example, taking the research

Mike Malone:

that's done on a campus and creating companies out of that

Mike Malone:

research, the commercialization of research, whether it's

Mike Malone:

faculty led companies that are founded or whether that

Mike Malone:

intellectual property gets licensed out that that's a

Mike Malone:

really important way that new companies are started or the

Mike Malone:

knowledge gets transferred to existing companies through a

Mike Malone:

license arrangement and that that has a big impact. We need

Mike Malone:

to make sure that Arkansas companies have it as much access

Mike Malone:

and visibility into the intellectual property that we

Mike Malone:

have for their benefit, y'all, I know provide all kinds of

Mike Malone:

technical assistance and consulting assistance in

Mike Malone:

partnerships with industry as well. And that knowledge

Mike Malone:

transfer is key. But one of the areas, I don't want to lose

Mike Malone:

sight of probably one of the most important maybe the most

Mike Malone:

important way that we impact the economy, and that's through

Mike Malone:

preparing the next generation of workforce. We're going to

Mike Malone:

graduate in six or 7000 more students this year, and every

Mike Malone:

year looking forward, I hope and those to the extent we're

Mike Malone:

training students with skills that employers want that have

Mike Malone:

that are work ready as soon as they graduate and can move into

Mike Malone:

positions and start to contribute to those companies.

Mike Malone:

That's a massive economic contribution that the University

Mike Malone:

of Arkansas and other institutions around our state

Mike Malone:

make to the economy. So I want to make sure that many of those

Mike Malone:

students as we can have job opportunities in Arkansas. And

Mike Malone:

that we can keep as many of them as we can in Arkansas, because

Mike Malone:

that that really, we we train them, we get the benefit of them

Mike Malone:

being here while they're in school. But the more that we can

Mike Malone:

put to work and connect in an Arkansas based companies, the

Mike Malone:

better because that that workforce transfer is really a

Mike Malone:

massive way that we impact the economy.

Matt Waller:

Well, Mike, thank you for what you're doing here

Matt Waller:

for the University of Arkansas, we really appreciate it. And, of

Matt Waller:

course, it's not only a benefit to the University of Arkansas,

Matt Waller:

it's a benefit to the state, as well. And your background really

Matt Waller:

prepares you exceptionally well for this type of a role. So

Matt Waller:

thank you.

Mike Malone:

Well, Matt. Thank you. It's a real pleasure to

Mike Malone:

work with you and the Walton College and the partnerships

Mike Malone:

around campus are what makes this work and what makes it such

Mike Malone:

a great place to be in so thank you for the opportunity and for

Mike Malone:

the time today.

Matt Waller:

On behalf of the Sam M. Walton College of

Matt Waller:

Business, I want to thank everyone for spending time with

Matt Waller:

us for another engaging conversation. You can subscribe

Matt Waller:

by going to your favorite podcast service and searching Be

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