September 2017

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday approved its staff’s request to pursue federal funding for the Missouri portion of the Interstate 49 Missouri-Arkansas Connector.

Thirty-eight people, including elected officials from McDonald County and the city of Anderson in Missouri, attended Wednesday’s meeting. They each voiced strong support for the project, describing its importance to long-distance travelers as well as Missourians who commute to work in Northwest Arkansas.

The commission’s application for the grant is critical toward completing the unfinished section of I-49. If the request for a $32.4 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant is awarded, there would be enough money to transition I-49 into a 265-mile, uninterrupted highway from Fort Smith and Kansas City.

The Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit scheduled for next month will involve more than 60 speakers and events. The annual event has expand with events occurring over the three-day period of October 15-17.

Jeremy King, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Walmart US, and Fred Argir, vice president and chief digital officer for Barnes and Noble, are the keynote speakers for the main event on Oct. 17 at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers.

Four Northwest Arkansas cities rank among the nation’s top places to live, a national magazine determined.

Money magazine, in partnership with Realtor.com, on Monday published its new list of Best Places to Live 2017, and it ranked No. 43 Fayetteville, No. 45 Rogers, No. 58 Springdale and No. 68 Siloam Springs.

The magazine publishes a Top 100 list. The four Northwest Arkansas cities were the only Arkansas cities to be noted in the list that’s limited to places with 10,000 to 100,000 residents.

The Northwest Arkansas Council on Saturday announced details of its new WelcomeNWA initiative. The WelcomeNWA program was created to assist Northwest Arkansas communities in becoming more welcoming to anyone who calls this region home – whether they come from another country, another state, or another Arkansas region.

Increasing efforts to be more inclusive will lead to a positive economic impact and other regional benefits.

An annual report demonstrates people relocating to Northwest Arkansas from across the globe will be able to find excellent schools that fit their children’s educational needs, University of Arkansas researchers say.

Gary Ritter, an education and public policy professor and holder of the endowed chair in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, and Sarah McKenzie, executive director of the university’s Office for Education Policy, said the latest version of the Northwest Arkansas Education Report Card includes many examples of academic excellence in the region’s public schools and public charter schools.