As seen in the February edition of the Chamber Voice, the 2018 Annual Report offers a summary of each Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce division’s accomplishments in 2018. An extended version of each division will be profiled on the Voice of Business Blog. The next department summarized is Government Affairs.
- Created the Barclay-Matthews Award for Distinguished Legislative Leadership that was presented at the Annual Celebration.
- Led the efforts to draft and construct the Northwest Arkansas Regional Legislative Agenda in anticipation of the meeting of the 92nd General Assembly.
- Organized a coalition of Chambers from Bentonville, Siloam Springs, Fayetteville, Pine Bluff, and Conway that traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby Congress on the economic impact of the administration’s steel and wire tariffs on their respective communities.
- Worked with the State Chamber and other organizations to help with the efforts to pass Issue 1, which was subsequently removed from the ballot by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
- Staff was one of two local chamber representatives in the country invited to tour the Port of La Fourche, and the production and drilling rigs operated by Arena Offshore Energy located in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Coordinated and planned two candidate forums for the Bentonville Mayor’s race, two forums for the legislative races in Benton County, and one forum for the Rogers City Council race.
- Coordinated and led the interviews of Northwest Arkansas legislative candidates for the NWA Council in preparation for both the Primary and General Elections.
- Launched the Chamber Voice of Business and the InfluenceNWA Podcasts in 2018.
- Worked in 2018 to help create the Five Star Promise Initiative, a regional pilot program designed to help finance college educations for all students in the Rogers, Springdale, and Fayetteville School Districts.
