Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he’d love to see the continued evolution of private venture capital in Arkansas to meet the growth of the state’s tech startup ecosystem.
Hutchinson spoke Wednesday afternoon at the Venture Center in downtown Little Rock, where he helped welcome about 30 entrepreneurs and startup leaders, some from as far away as Connecticutt, for a forum on startup ecosystems. Joining him were Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola and Jay Chesshir, director of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Venture Center launched in May 2014 with a $500,000 grant from the state, and since then has launched programs such as Pre-Flight, a pre-accelerator course where early-stage startup ideas can be fleshed out and developed; Code IT, an interactive workshop featuring national tech founders; and Build IT, a fireside chat-themed discussion with a prominent local startup founder.
In January, it moved into Little Rock Tech Park space on East Markham in downtown Little Rock.
Hutchinson noted the progress of the state’s tech startup scene, especially the establishment of several private VC funds in northwest and central Arkansas.
“Venture capital for startups is different now in Arkansas than it was even five years ago,” he said. “We can’t grow our economy without entrepreneurs. We can’t grow without new ideas and entrepreneurs taking risks.”
Hutchinson, of course, would prefer private investors shoulder the risk when it comes to providing venture capital. But he said the state is committed to complementing private investment through organizations such as the Arkansas Development Finance Authority and the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority.
“We’ve got venture funds starting up in northwest Arkansas and now here in central Arkansas as well, because people are recognizing that we’ve got entrepreneurial talent here,” he said. “I’d love the private sector to continue to create these venture funds, because they’re good at it. The private sector has stepped up to the plate, and they weren’t here five years ago.”
Hutchinson said he wants the public side to continue to play a role in the development of venture capital. The private sector can fully measure the risks, he said, and then the state can join in.
“Our role is to increase the partnership with the private sector,” he said.
Hutchinson also wants to teach Arkansas students how to write code. He campaigned on it and championed a bill through the legislative session that mandated that computer science be offered in all Arkansas high schools beginning with the 2015-16 school year.
This week, Hutchinson announced the members of a task force charged with getting that program up and running.
Arkansas is the first state to make such a computer science requirement. Wired magazine last month profiled Hutchinson’s embrace of the “learn to code” movement.
The development of homegrown tech talent in Arkansas has become a trending priority for tech startup leaders in the state. The Iron Yard coding school is setting up shop in downtown Little Rock later this spring, and the 100 Girls of Code program has two new chapters in northwest and central Arkansas.
Hutchinson said his goal is for 20 percent of Arkansas high school students to learn coding, which he believes could introduce around 6,000 coders into the job market each year. He also touted more support for university research and the startups spun off from the scientific research and technology developed on the state’s college campuses.
Capital, research and skills are the three keys to producing more homegrown tech entrepreurs, he said.
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