The Collaborative

05/26/2026

Big week ahead in Bentonville.

Our latest Collaborative newsletter just dropped, and the calendar is packed! Starting tomorrow morning with One Million Cups at 8am, followed by the NWA AI Meetup Thursday evening right here at 700 SE 5th St. Then on June 1, OpenClaw NWA and the Student Business Incubator Kick-Off both land on the same night. June is going to move fast.

The Impact Spotlight this issue goes to the GORP Spring Cohort #8. Five outstanding outdoor and adventure ventures that just completed their demo night. I want to call out a few that caught my eye:

- BikeWhip.com (Jeff Ireland) -- a bike discovery platform aggregating rentals and used listings across NWA cycling destinations
- The Wander Outdoor Adventure Hub -- a full-service cycling basecamp for visitors and locals riding the Bentonville trails
- Rewilding Lab -- guided forest bathing and nature experiences designed for well-being and trail engagement
- Ozark Float Park -- a floating inflatable recreation park coming to NWA lakes this summer
- Oakdrop -- premium spray skirts for kayakers built by a longtime paddlesports professional

This cohort reflects exactly what NWA is becoming: a serious launchpad for outdoor recreation entrepreneurship.

Also exciting: Andy Williamson has been named Director of Business Incubation for the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Walton College, taking the helm of GORP, the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator, and the Ozark Retail Accelerator. Great hire. Great mission.

If you are building something in NWA, or just want to be in the room where things are happening, come find us at the Collaborative.

Read the May 26th Collaborative Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/uark/may12-11003992

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05/12/2026

Today's Bentonville Collaborative newsletter is out, and it reflects what feels like a genuine inflection point for the NWA innovation ecosystem.

Spring has been full. We hosted Coffee with the Mayor, watched our Agentic AI (OpenClaw) meetups grow into standing-room-only gatherings, and launched NWA E-Commerce meetups for DTC founders to trade real knowledge with peers. One Million Cups keeps drawing hundreds of founders to 700 SE 5th Street every Wednesday morning -- one of the most energizing fixtures on the NWA startup calendar.

Three cohorts are in their final sprint: the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP), the Ozark Retail Accelerator, and the Fuel Accelerator HealthTech cohort. Demo days are coming. Come see what these founders have built.

This month's calendar is packed. A few highlights:

- GORP Demo Night -- May 19 @ Acosta Office, Rogers
- NWA E-Commerce Meetup -- May 21 @ the Collaborative
- NWA AI Meetup -- May 28 @ the Collaborative
- OpenClaw NWA Meetup -- June 1 @ the Collaborative

And looking ahead: this fall, the University of Arkansas pilots its applied learning program right here in Benton County -- deploying students into real projects alongside regional employers and entrepreneurs. The goal is to turn the most dynamic economic corridor in the state into a living classroom. We intend to make it permanent.

If you're building something in NWA, there's a seat at the table for you.

This Week's Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/uark/may12

Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://uark.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3005b84f0a62bddcd8be70294&id=c3ab9a1879

05/06/2026

Last month, we had the pleasure of hosting Coffee with the Mayor at the Bentonville Collaborative, welcoming Mayor Stephanie Orman for a conversation about our library programming, the new Bentonville Adult Recreation Center (ARC), infrastructure improvements, and the future of Bentonville.

The room was full of residents, business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, and community partners doing what these gatherings are designed for: honest conversation, new connections, and shared ideas that help shape where this city is headed.

Grateful to Mayor Orman for making time to engage with our community, and to everyone who pulled up a chair. These are exactly the conversations that move Bentonville forward.

04/28/2026

A LOT is happening at the UofA Collaborative in Bentonville:

- Tonight's NWA AI Meetup
- Tomorrow's 1 Million Cups at 8am
- OpenClaw NWA Meetup next week
- Spring startup cohorts are in full swing, including the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP), the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator, the Ozark Retail Accelerator, and the Fuel Accelerator's healthtech cohort.
- Our workforce development team has engaged dozens of Benton County employers to expand experiential learning and sponsored research partnerships to create more hands-on, applied opportunities for students while strengthening the University of Arkansas → Benton County talent pipeline that is essential to the region’s continued growth.

Also recently, we convened 25 faculty and staff from the University of Arkansas for a structured, day-long engagement at Walmart’s Walmart Bentonville Headquarters. The program featured in-depth dialogue with Walmart’s Early Career recruitment team and senior technology leaders across AI, software engineering, and data science. Participating departments spanned Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematical Sciences, as well as Supply Chain Management, Economics, Information Systems, and the Sam M. Walton College of Business Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovatio, Underscoring the full spectrum of talent pipelines Walmart actively engages across campus.

Read our newsletter for more: https://mailchi.mp/61a6e40d9f25/aqi6cfek1i-11003687

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04/14/2026

Our latest Bentonville Collaborative newsletter is out. If you're not subscribed, now's a good time.

Here's what's coming up this week and beyond:

Tomorrow morning -- 1 Million Cups is back at the Collaborative. Come grab coffee, hear from a local entrepreneur, and connect with the NWA startup community. 7:30 AM. Free.

Thursday -- E-Commerce Meetup at the Collaborative. Whether you're building a brand, running a Shopify store, or just curious about selling online, this one's for you.

Ongoing -- ASBTDC is running free virtual "How to Start a Business" sessions. If you've got an idea and don't know where to begin, this is the resource. Registration info in the newsletter.

Coming up -- OpenClaw NWA returns. Our practitioner-focused AI automation community keeps growing. Details dropping soon.

On the horizon -- NWA AI Meetup at the Collaborative. More to come, but block the date.

And behind the scenes, our team is actively meeting with the 100 largest employers in Benton County. The goal is straightforward: dramatically expand experiential learning opportunities for University of Arkansas students and strengthen the talent pipeline right here in our market. More to come on that front.

Full details on all of it in this week's newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/d02bfab043b1/aqi6cfek1i-11003582?e=3d6fe4675b

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04/07/2026

OpenClaw is a free AI assistant that lives on your own computer and instead of just answering questions, actually does things for you: searches the web, managing emails, manages your calendar, builds daily reports, and completing tasks automatically while you direct it through messaging apps you already use. These agents act as your task servants.

The hosted the first OpenClaw Meetup last night to a packed house! Maurilio Saddoud was an amazing facilitator and co-host. Thank you, Robert Shawn McGrew, for your audio equipment and expertise. Thanks to Renee Roth for setting up 70 chairs for the overflow crowd and the gazillion pizzas.

This was likely the first OpenClaw workshop in the State of Arkansas and one of the first for any university. The edge of the agentic frontier lives here, in Bentonville.

04/01/2026

The University of Arkansas Collaborative in Bentonville is firing on all cylinders this spring, and our latest newsletter is proof.

On the workforce development and industry engagement front, our team is actively working with Benton County's 60 largest employers to move well beyond traditional summer internships. We are building year-round, integrated experiential learning partnerships that deliver applied projects, sponsored R&D, and product prototyping to employers while producing genuinely career-ready graduates. This is the kind of university-industry collaboration that actually moves the needle for a region.

Meanwhile, our programming ecosystem is as active as ever:

- GORP (Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program) spring cohort is underway, supporting the next wave of outdoor rec entrepreneurs

- Beta in Bentonville Product Prototyping Lab continues serving Arkansas startups with CAD, machining, and 3D printing capabilities

- Startup Village co-working is open to UA-affiliated early-stage ventures

- Dickson & Main is actively investing in portfolio companies across strategic domains

- The Venture Intern Program is matching UA undergrads with startups and investor networks

- The Student Business Incubator launches this summer for the university's most promising undergraduate founders

- And our NWA Monthly E-Commerce Meetup keeps growing, a peer-led community for founders building brands on Shopify, Amazon, Walmart.com, and beyond

One event I'm especially excited about: the inaugural OpenClaw NWA Meetup is next Monday, April 6 from 5:30 to 7:00pm right here at the Collaborative (700 SE 5th St, Common Kitchen). Come join us.

Big things happening in Bentonville. If you want to connect your company with students, researchers, or training resources, reach out.

Latest Newsletter: https://us6.campaign-archive.com/?u=3005b84f0a62bddcd8be70294&id=e1ee1eb272

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03/19/2026

Monthly NWA E-Comm Meetup. Peer to peer learning at the Collab.

03/17/2026

The latest from The Collaborative in Bentonville is out. Our newest newsletter is packed with things worth putting on your radar.

This Thursday, join us for our E-Commerce Meetup, a great opportunity to connect with founders, operators, and innovators in the region's growing digital commerce space.

Looking ahead to April, we're thrilled to announce the inaugural OpenClaw NWA Meetup, bringing together the tech and startup community right here in Northwest Arkansas.

And in our Impact Spotlight, meet the six outdoor recreation startups making up our Spring 2026 Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP) cohort. These founders are building the future of the outdoor industry, and we couldn't be more excited to support them.

Check out the full newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/4dcd4291bc8d/aqi6cfek1i-11003316?e=3d6fe4675b

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University of Arkansas Email Forms

03/16/2026

AI is entering a new phase. We’re moving beyond prompts and copilots into systems where AI can interact with software, orchestrate workflows, and operate parts of real businesses.

​OpenClaw is one of the tools pushing that frontier forward.

​OpenClaw NWA Meetup is a monthly gathering for builders, technologists, and business leaders exploring how these systems are actually being built and deployed—and where this technology is heading next.

This isn’t a lecture or a beginner AI meetup. ​It’s a conversation-driven evening where people experimenting with OpenClaw and other agentic tools share ideas, demoes, and insights about where AI works today, where it still fails, and what the next generation of AI systems may look like.

RSVP: https://luma.com/tcysd6oz

OpenClaw NWA Meetup
When: Monday, April 6 @ 5:30pm-7:00pm
Where: Bentonville-UA Collaborative, 700 SE 5th St, Common Kitchen
Host: The UofA Collaborative & Maurilio Saddoud

Where: UofA Collaborative, 500 SE 5th Street, Common Kitchen Food will be provided, sponsored by the UofA Collaborative. We sit at the frontier of where AI…