The U.S. Department of Treasury’s (USDOT) Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Equitable Recovery Program (ERP) has awarded Arkansas Capital Corporation $3.7 million to expand its lending and investment activities, specifically targeting communities throughout the state suffering disproportionate economic losses resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Arkansas Capital was one of just over 600 CDFIs nationwide to receive ERP funding. According to CEO Sam Walls, the company will use the funds to target persistent poverty counties, defined by the federal government as counties where 20 percent or more residents have lived in poverty over the past 30 years.

The USDOT CDFI Fund officially designated Arkansas Capital as a CDFI in 2015. “We are proud of our track record and strong reputation for providing critical investments to the people and places that need it the most,” said Arkansas Capital CEO Sam Walls. “These funds will help us further stimulate economic growth and empower entrepreneurs to create equal opportunity for everyone in these communities to thrive.”

For more about the CDFI ERP Awards, visit: https://www.cdfifund.gov/news/517

About Arkansas Capital:

Arkansas Capital is a private, nonprofit lending corporation dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs in Arkansas and in surrounding states, has provided flexible capital solutions to meet the unique needs of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and economic and community development projects, with emphasis on serving low-income and rural communities. Working with commercial banks, government agencies, and others at the local, state, regional, and national levels since 1957, Arkansas Capital has deployed nearly $2.4 billion in capital financing.

Central Baptist College, Harding University/University of Central Arkansas,
and John Brown University Also Winners

Little Rock, Ark. – A product designed to give duck hunters additional support and balance while removing waders, an idea to utilize “e-paper” to turn a surface such as a car bumper or laptop into a space for advertising, and development of a drug that has shown promise to protect babies from maternal opioid use disorder are the winners of the 23^rd annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition, presented by Arkansas Capital Corporation in Little Rock.

The winners were announced at an awards luncheon at the Fayetteville Public Library Events Center.

Both students and faculty members of the winning teams shared a $114,000 cash prize pool, provided by title sponsor Dhu Thompson. The Walton Family Foundation was the competition’s Venture Sponsor. Winrock Automotive and Innovate Arkansas were other major sponsors.

The 2023 Governors’ Cup winners are:

Winrock Automotive Small Business Division:

First Place: Waderbuddy – Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia ($10,000)

Second Place: Covered by Grace – Ouachita Baptist University ($7,500)

Third Place: EzB – Central Baptist College, Conway ($5,000)

High-Growth / Technology Division – Undergraduate Track:

First Place: AdCharta – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ($20,000)

Second Place: Abily – John Brown University, Siloam Springs ($10,000)

Third Place: MicroCures – Ouachita Baptist University ($7,500)

Innovate Arkansas High-Growth / Technology Division – Graduate Track:

First Place: Pediatrica Therapeutics – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ($20,000)

Second Place: CareMate Technologies – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ($10,000)

Third Place: Vitruvian Matrix – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ($7,500)

Elevator Pitch – $1,000 to each winner:

Winner – Winrock Automotive Small Business Division: Waderbuddy

Winner – High-Growth / Technology Division, Undergraduate Track: CarpeDerm – Harding University, Searcy and University of Central Arkansas, Conway

Winner – High-Growth / Technology Division, Graduate Track: U.N.C.L. – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Faculty advisors for the nine winners in the three overall tracks won a cash award of $1,500 each.

At the luncheon, Thompson, the founder, past owner, and former chairman of the board of Delta Plastics and former owner and past chairman of the board of Revolution, shared that he encountered both successes and failures during his entrepreneurial journey, passing along the following advice for competitors: “Learn to let failure open the doors to your successes; learn to put fear into its place; find and practice courage. Whoever said, ‘it’s not personal, it’s business?’ They were wrong. The entrepreneurial spirit is personal. It’s your idea, your values, your ethics, and the culture you build.”

Since the first Governor’s Cup in 2001, 3,165 college and university students have competed, submitting 977 business ideas. For 2023, 78 students comprising 23 teams from nine Arkansas universities entered the competition. Arkansas Capital CEO Sam Walls said, “Once again, we at Arkansas Capital and our judges were highly impressed with the quality of plans that we saw. We want to congratulate all our winners as it was not an easy decision. Their hard work and great ideas were evident.”

Over its history, the Governor’s Cup has awarded $2.81 million to winners.

For more information about the winners, luncheon photos, competition requirements, previous winners, and more, visit argovernorscup.org.

$114,000 Cash for Winners to be Awarded April 7

Little Rock, Ark. – Startup ideas from 14 finalist teams, representing 7 Arkansas colleges and universities, will be showcased live followed by the announcement of the winners of Arkansas Capital’s 23^rd annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition Awards Luncheon; Friday, April 7, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Fayetteville Public Library Event Center.

One student from each finalist team will take the stage at the luncheon to make a live, 90-second pitch summarizing their team’s idea. Audience members will have the chance to vote via their mobile devices for the best pitch in each of the three competition tracks, followed by the announcement of these winners and the overall competition winners.

The finalists are:

Winrock Automotive Small Business Division:

Covered by Grace – Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia

EzB – Central Baptist College, Conway

Good Fills Refillery – Lyon College, Batesville

Waderbuddy – Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia

High-Growth / Technology Division – Undergraduate Track:

AdCharta – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

BusyBees – Lyon College, Batesville

CarpeDerm – Harding University, Searcy and University of Central Arkansas, Conway

MicroCures – Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia

The SoLo – Harding University, Searcy

Innovate Arkansas High-Growth / Technology Division – Graduate Track:

Agri-Guard – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Care-Mate Technologies – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Partnr – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Pediatrica Therapeutics – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

U.N.C.L. Company – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Vitruvian Matrix – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Dhu Thompson of Little Rock is the title sponsor of the competition. The $114,000 cash prize pool includes $20,000 to the winners of both the graduate and undergraduate tracks of the High-Growth / Technology Division. Second place winners in these tracks will each receive $10,000; and $7,500 will be awarded to both third-place winners. A cash prize of $10,000 will be awarded to the winner of the Small Business Division, with the second- and third-place teams winning $7,500 and $5,000, respectively. The winners of each track’s elevator pitch competition will receive a $1,000 cash prize. All faculty advisors for all winning teams will each receive a $1,500 cash award. Crystal trophies will also be presented to student and faculty winners for display at their college or university.

Sixteen volunteer judges evaluated each business plan in Round 1 of the competition, and selected teams as finalists to advance to Round 2. Fifteen new volunteer judges convened to hear oral presentations from all finalists to decide the winners.

The luncheon will be emceed for the eighth year by Mike and Anne Preston. Mike Preston is the managing director and head of the Site & Incentive Group for Stephens, Inc. in Little Rock. Anne Preston is a broadcast journalist and a Little Rock-based news anchor for several local television stations across the country.

Arkansas Capital CEO Sam Walls said the company launched the Governor’s Cup in 2001 to address what it saw as a need for real-world entrepreneur education, but targeted to the state’s future entrepreneurs. “Everything we do here at Arkansas Capital is geared toward empowering entrepreneurs and strengthening communities. We wanted to provide our state’s colleges and universities with a highly-incentivized opportunity to teach their students to think entrepreneurially and encourage them to look at entrepreneurship as a career path,” he said.

Walls added that, unlike many collegiate business competitions around the country, the Governor’s Cup does not require student teams to launch their startups, but instead rewards them for the rigorous and real-world experience they gain as competitors. “Although there are several existing companies with roots in the Governor’s Cup, many past competitors tell us they have been positively impacted both personally and professionally beyond college because they applied the grassroots knowledge they gained from this experience,” he said.

Since the first competition in 2001, 3,165 college and university students have competed, submitting 977 business ideas. For 2023, 78 students comprising 23 teams from nine Arkansas universities entered the competition.

As of this year, the competition has awarded a total of $2.81 million to winners.

Click for more information about this year’s finalists.

Click for the Awards Luncheon Program Agenda.

Kids – not the grownups – will be the Arkansas entrepreneurial stars January 20 in the 18^th annual Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.) for Arkansas Virtual Expo Day! From 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., 25 teams of more than 120 of our future entrepreneurs from elementary, junior high, and middle schools all over the state are making their case as to why their business ideas will be profitable and should be a winner in 2023! Hop over to https://acccapital.com/yesforarkansas for links and a schedule!

Did you know there was a 675% growth of venture capital-stage investments into Arkansas companies in 2021? That’s according to the latest edition of the Arkansas Capital Scan report, which has even more exciting statics about the resiliency of Arkansas companies post-pandemic and a very encouraging outlook for the future. Arkansas Capital Corporation is proud to join many of our partners on the statewide advisory board for this ongoing, grassroots, data-driven project, led by the University of Arkansas’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Nearly all of us have our own histories of empowering entrepreneurs and small businesses with access to capital and other resources. We’re bringing those to the table as we work to continuously identify capital investors and use this data to not only attract more investors – but to also identify, address, and solve gaps in capital access.

Partners:

Startup Junkie
Ramsay Ball
NewRoad Capital Partners
Northwest Arkansas Council
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Natural Capital
Arkansas Research Alliance
Walton Family Foundation
Arkansas Economic Development Commission
Conductor
Venture Noire
Heartland Forward
Communities Unlimited
University of Arkansas
Arvest Bank
Delta Center for Economic Development
Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
Arkansas Angel Alliance
Southern Bancorp
University of Central Arkansas

Alliance with High Street Equity Partners furthers company’s strategic focus to advance opportunities for minority and female small business owners

Little Rock – Arkansas Capital is proud to be an investor in a $15M inaugural fund created by High Street Equity Partners to directly invest nationwide into emerging and potentially scalable, technology-focused businesses created by minority founders who have historically faced barriers in accessing venture capital.

According to CEO Sam Walls, the investment by Arkansas Capital will be specifically for supporting the growth of companies based in Arkansas. “We are thrilled to join High Street in its mission to improve and create value in Arkansas communities,” he said. “Focusing on stimulating economic growth and empowering entrepreneurs in underserved communities is vital to create equal opportunity for everyone in the community to thrive.”

High Street Equity Partners’ General Partner Mitch Brooks agreed. “We know that when we work together to empower those in our community who need it most, we are uplifting everyone. This investment is significant as we work to build up technology companies within the state of Arkansas,” he said.

Arkansas Capital is a private, nonprofit lending corporation dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs in Arkansas and in surrounding states, has provided flexible capital solutions to meet the unique needs of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and economic and community development projects, with emphasis on serving low-income and rural communities. Working with commercial banks, government agencies, and others at the local, state, regional, and national levels since 1957, Arkansas Capital has deployed nearly $2.4 billion in capital financing.

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The Arkansas Business Publishing Group (ABPG) has just released its 2022 list of Arkansas’s 250 most influential leaders – and we are pleased to announce that our CEO, Sam Walls, has been honored for the second consecutive year as a leader in the state’s Banking and Finance sector.

According to ABPG, the Arkansas 250 publication recognizes “those who are shaping the way we live, learn, and do business in Arkansas.”

In his profile, Walls states the finance and banking industry’s biggest challenge is the economic uncertainty threatening small businesses. He also provides advice to the next generation: to “be bold and do not be afraid to make mistakes.”

The Arkansas 250 publication also recognizes leaders representing construction and real estate, economic development, education and health care, government and policy, industry, legal, poultry and agriculture, and quality of life.

Goal is to further increase diversity in the rural community development and government-guaranteed lending industries

Beginning in January 2023, Arkansas Capital Corporation, in partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR), will begin a 16-week pilot project for business students who have a strong interest in banking and economic development.

In 2015, Arkansas Capital was designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), affirming the company’s work and successful partnerships with commercial banks, government agencies, and others at the local, state, regional, and national levels in providing fair and responsible financing packages to distressed areas since 1957. To date, nearly $2.4 billion has been deployed by Arkansas Capital resulting in over 11,000 jobs created.

“Minorities are still under-represented in the lending industry. Arkansas Capital feels creating this opportunity is a natural extension of our work as a CDFI,” said CEO Sam Walls. “Our team is very excited about this initiative, and we appreciate UALR for working with us to make it happen. It is our hope that in the future we can expand this program to other colleges and universities around Arkansas.”

Arkansas Capital’s new Minorities in Lending Internship Program will be a paid internship with an additional stipend that the intern can use for tuition, room and board, or related expenses.

According to Dr. Deborah Baldwin, interim dean of the UALR College of Business, Health, and Human Services, college students tend to rely on the experiences of their families and their family networks when choosing careers and often follow in their parents’ footsteps. “Finding pathways into banking and finance can be a challenge. Arkansas Capital’s new internship program opens a new door for those who have not previously considered careers in finance and banking,” she said.

Arkansas Capital aims to draw from the intern’s real-life experience to provide a direct contribution to the company’s strategic focus of advancing opportunities for minority and female small business owners.

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