The Prologue

I believe in Arkansas. I'm proudly Arkansan. The magic and moxy of The Land of Opportunity lies in its people. From the rich soil of the Delta to the hills and hollers of the Ozarks, its the farmers, the artists, the factory workers, the public leaders, and the greatest entrepreneurs our nation has known that weave together the fabric of our statewide community.

Each region has a proud and unique energy. The cultures cultivated in the communities dotting our state are informed by the industries where we work, the spaces where we gather, and the institutions that serve us. I’m not saying these are top-down towns. Employers thrive when community members thrive. Productivity improves when all of us learn more, earn more, and live better.

Indeed this is an inside → out, outside → in reality.

When I moved here to run the Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce, I realized that this community offered what I began to call “Widescreen Living’.”

A 360-degree experience revealing a past, present and future that connects us to nature, to the world, and to each other by organically weaving arts and culture, the outdoors, culinary excellence, and the power of relationships into people’s everyday lives.

From this notion was born a social movement - #BecauseBentonville. 

We evolved the #BecauseBentonville campaign into an economic development strategy to test the hypothesis that, in a hyper-mobile economy, quality of place is increasingly a leading economic decision driver. This campaign grew from a reaction, a conversation of mindful leaders and a few of my journal entries. It became a prototype for raising awareness and recruiting business into our community.

We collectively designed a glidepath for a 21^st century economy. The ideas came to life in working with local businesses, and through support from our partners. And, in 2019, the campaign was awarded Best in Show for Communications Excellence by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), beating out entries from cities like Dallas and Portland.

Each of our communities has a magnetism. It’s your job to lead an organization that authenticizes its marketing, mission, and service to stakeholders. Navigating this takes a thoughtful, nuanced strategy and reliance on thought-partners, colleagues, and friends.

At Paceline Strategies we propose making a pact to share the load, leverage our strengths, and move farther, faster, and with greater efficiency.