Arkansas Business

The success of these events statewide plus the inaugural Made by Few conference held earlier this spring in Little Rock make this an exciting time to be an entrepreneur in Arkansas, he said.  

"Events like these are great programming that bring the creative and technical communities together," he said. "It helps create the density needed to spur entrepreneurial activities, including high-growth potential startups. Soon you'll be hearing more about Startup Arkansas, meant to be the connective tissue in the startup ecosystem to connect people with programming and more throughout the state." 

Watson said business leaders are discovering that Arkansas can be a great place to launch a startup.

"Academia is listening. New curriculum for bio tech, mobile, and 'big data' are being added," he said. "Local economic development groups are asking 'How do we recruit? How do we build a startup scene?' It's a very exciting time, but there's still lots more to do. Stay tuned to Startup Arkansas." 

Conway pitches ranged from experienced entrepreneurs to college students pitching ideas off the street.

Pitches included Boeckmann Decoys and a very realistic turkey decoy; Luke Irvin's Depart, an app that enables one to book flights much quicker and cheaper; Keith Hoelzeman's Treatsie.com, a "high-end confectionary" ordering service; and a pitch for Mother's Operating System by Elizabeth Banko, wife of St. Vincent Health CEO Peter Banko.

Her startup has developed a web-based scheduling system "integrated with community and school agencies to produce a single, paperless events schedule for parents."