News
DRA and Winrock Extend Delta I-Fund to Help Delta Entrepreneurs Launch Startups
February 5, 2020
The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) has awarded Winrock International a $675,785 grant to continue the successful Delta Innovation Fund (I-Fund) program through October 2021. Modeled on the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program, the I-Fund is a proof-of-concept business training program designed to assist potential start-up companies emerging from universities and communities across the DRA’s eight-state, […]
How Arkansas Became the Nation’s Edamame Capital
January 23, 2020
A Winrock Legacy Story Herby Ault, who farms near Dardanelle, Arkansas, had never heard of edamame when Kelly Cartwright first approached him about growing it. But Cartwright, an agricultural scientist and entrepreneur, had done the math and knew it would work. “We had the numbers and we also had the market,” says Cartwright, who leads the Natural […]
‘You can accomplish a dream — you can jump out there and do it.’
December 13, 2019
“I grew up in a family with 56 women and four men. So essentially, we had a whole lotta moms and not a lot of dads” Winrock’s Chauncey Holloman Pettis told the crowd at The Yarn, an organization that uses the power of storytelling to build understanding and human connection in Little Rock, Arkansas. “This left the […]
Matching Innovation to Need
December 12, 2019
Luis took a break from the virtual welding station and approached a man holding a pen and a reporter’s notebook. Luis, 50, drives a forklift on an early-morning shift, he explained, and welding could be a path to a brighter and more lucrative future. “It’s a good option for when I need a new job,” […]
Growing Businesses Through Peer Support
October 18, 2019
As busy leaders of dynamic organizations, CEOs often lament how hard it is to find the time and environment to process challenges only they can understand. “It is lonely at the top,” as they say. To meet this need, Innovate Arkansas (IA) has developed a unique series of forums that bring together Arkansas startup founders […]
Climate Week NYC 2019: Where are we on climate finance?
October 9, 2019
Climate Week NYC takes place every year alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and could be described to a lay person as a climate event with the scale and enthusiasm equal to the combination of Lollapalooza, SXSW and Woodstock. I would have included Burning Man but for the ominous metaphorical link to global warming. […]
Responding to the Call to Action
September 27, 2019
The Global Commission for Adaptation (GCA)’s “Call to Action” report released on September 19, 2019 is a highly anticipated urgent plea for investment and increased effort for adaptation ahead of the UN Climate week and the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties in Chile (COP25) in December. It is a tour […]
Clinicpass Breaks Through With Help From Innovate Arkansas
August 22, 2019
Tracy Cornwell Simpson had worked in medical device and pharmaceutical sales for years when she spotted an opportunity. She noticed that medical clinics and industry groups kept expressing concerns about a 2010 federal law aimed at increasing transparency around visits to clinics by pharmaceutical representatives. Thus was born Simpson’s company, a web-based service called Clinicpass […]
FreeArm Makes Leap From Concept To Market
August 22, 2019
Innovate Arkansas adviser Grejuana “G” Dennis recalls being captivated the first time she heard Misti and Will Staley pitch their product, the FreeArm. Similar in appearance to a clamp-on bedside lamp, FreeArm is an attachable device that enables hands-free tube feeding. The Staleys developed it after the death of their infant son, Freeman. Inspired by the […]
Roots and Wings
August 9, 2019
Above: Winrock raises up entrepreneurs everywhere from Nepal, where rice millers and farmers are coming together to boost incomes, to Arkansas, where a startup accelerator provides market research, prototype development and partnering assistance to new companies. This story originally appeared in the June 2019 issue of RockLinks, a newsletter about Rockefeller Family philanthropy. When the […]