Joel Gordon (right), director of the Launch Pad maker space at the Innovation Hub, shows off his space following Monday's announcement to (from left) U.S. Rep. French Hill, North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith; Matt Erskine of the U.S. Economic Development Administration and Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The Hub is hosting the Arkansas Manufacturing Innovation Summit on Wednesday and Thursday.
The first Arkansas Manufacturing Innovation Summit is taking place at the Innovation Hub in downtown North Little Rock, as business leaders from across the state meet to discuss ways to infuse innovation into the state’s manufacturing industry.
The summit is presented by Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions, a program of the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority. Topics will include:
- Innovation 24/7
- 3D Printing
- Robotics
- Automation
- Supply Chain
- Workforce
- Tech Acceleration
- NIST Lab
- Resources
Robert Tucker, president of the Innovation Resouce, an international consulting firm based in Santa Barbara, California, is the event’s keynote speaker. He is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, and his topic will be “Thinking Ahead of the Curve.”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson offered opening remarks Wednesday morning, and other speakers and panelists for the two-day event include Jim Phillips, CEO of Springdale’s NanoMech; Douglas Hutchings of Fayetteville’s Picasolar; Walter Burgess of Power Technology Inc. of Alexander; Dan Hendrix, president and CEO of the World Trade Center Arkansas in Rogers; state Sen. Jane English of North Little Rock; and Clarisse Childers, director of the Arkansas Department of Career Education.
Hutchinson is back at the Hub for the second time in three days. On Monday, he helped the nonprofit organization announce a $1 million federal grant that will enable it to complete renovation of its Argenta Innovation Center.
The event runs all day Wednesday at the Hub, located at Broadway and Poplar in the Argenta district, and picks up Thursday morning. The full agenda is available here.
Activity continues at the Hub on Saturday, as it hosts the area’s first Maker Faire event.
Sign up for Daily E-news
