To be one of the best, you have to compete with the best and Northwest Arkansas doesn't shy away from comparisons with the country's most successful metro regions, according to those who recruit businesses, employees and leaders to the area.
"Normally, you'd say we're competing with the metro areas that are close by -- Tulsa, Kansas City -- but when we do our comparative report, we look at top performing regions that we want to compare ourselves to and aspire to," said Nelson Peacock, CEO and president of the nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Council. "Those are communities like Austin, Texas, Madison, Wis., Raleigh-Durham, because those have a high quality of life, high income rates, good, high-paying jobs."
And, Peacock said, Northwest Arkansas brings some pretty serious game to the competition because the region can punch above its weight class.
Peacock noted the region continues to grow by about 27 people per day. The region has 525,000 residents and is projected as a top-five region nationally for growth over the next five years, according to a report by IHS Global Insight for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Only four U.S. regions -- two in Utah and two in Florida -- are expected to have economies grow at a faster rate, according to the study. The 3.9 percent annual growth rate predicted for Northwest Arkansas will push the economy past $30 billion.
Mervin Jebaraj, director of the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research, said he expects 10,000 more jobs to be created in the area by the end of this year. The region has about 245,000 employees, according to the 2017 State of the Northwest Arkansas Region Report.
Peacock said growth continues because the region has so much to offer.
"I think we offer quite a lot, actually. First of all, the jobs are the most important thing and we offer high-paying, top-quality jobs in a range of different fields. At the same time we have a low cost of living when you compare it with some of the other metro regions," Peacock said. "And, at the same time you have that, you have everything that you need to live and work."
Peacock cited above average schools with more private options becoming available; cultural amenities such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Walton Arts Center, Theater Squared, Brightwater Culinary Institute and a host of top-notch restaurants; and outdoor activities such as the Razorback Greenway and Beaver Lake.
Peacock said the council's research shows when you compare the purchasing power of your annual salary versus the cost of living in Northwest Arkansas, on average the region ranks much better than pretty much every metro area in the country, meaning a dollar will go a lot further.
Where the jobs are
Northwest Arkansas has to recruit because of how fast things are happening in the region, Peacock said.
"I think we need pretty much workers in every field. Not only do we need new jobs now but over the course of the next many years a need for replacements as well, as people age out of the market," Peacock said. "But, we need occupations from management, business and financial operations ... computer and IT is probably one of the most important and critical needs especially for our large corporations. And then health care is obviously a huge issue. That's doctors, nurses and also a lot of the technical staff."
Computer and mathematical jobs are key to a growing global economy heavily dominated by technology, so Peacock said he thinks that's going to be where the region needs to attract talent. Those are some of the highest-demand workers across the country, he said.
"We don't have many of those kinds of jobs around here, I think we have about 8,000," Jebaraj said.
That forces many companies to farm work out to places such as Silicon Valley, Jebaraj said.
"If the talent was here, they would be able to keep their business here or they would be able to keep that piece of their business here," Jebaraj said. "It's the same challenge as the rest of the state, a late start. It's hard to compete with places like Silicon Valley because it's developed a reputation, it continues to draw workers of that caliber in the same way Northwest Arkansas has a retail reputation. It's not that hard to bring retail focused people here."
Jebaraj said another issue is places such as California ban the use of non-compete agreements between employers and employees -- which allows people to routinely switch jobs between companies, resulting in competition that means higher wages -- while most other states, including Arkansas, allow the enforcement of private non-compete agreements.
"I think that states have started to look at the noncompete clauses and whether they need to be as strict as they are and that's a thing we could definitely look in Arkansas," Jebaraj said. "Anything that promotes more competition for companies to get the workers ensures that the best workers will go to that place, too."
The health care field continues to be an important part of the region's economy, Peacock said.
Mercy Health System and Washington Regional Medical Center understand they need to do more to meet the demand and continue to expand what they have to offer, Peacock said. More areas of expertise will be developed, making it a medical destination.
"So, we're gonna need jobs in every sector but the health care and the information technology individuals will probably be our highest priority, " Peacock said. "The council will most likely be working to help companies recruit those types of folks."
Peacock said the Northwest Arkansas Council doesn't typically offer assistance recruiting an individual candidate for one individual job.
"What we try to do is focus on the region, keep everyone focused on the same goal of making this a better place to live and to work, bringing people together to talk about any challenges that we may have and then through our defining/finding NWA program we go out and we make sure that our HR folks at these companies, or other individuals that would be involved in selling the region or recruiting someone, knows about all the amenities," Peacock said.
Charlie Collins, partner and co-owner of Crown Partners Executive Search and a state representative since 2011, said it's much easier to sell Northwest Arkansas these days.
"Ten, 15 years ago people were not familiar with Northwest Arkansas and they didn't have a clear idea in their mind, so there were a lot of questions. These days people are aware of it, certainly in our industry," Collins said. "It's much less of a question mark and much more of a positive, I think, than it's ever been."
Crown specializes in the consumer packaged goods industry, the kinds of companies that make things you would see in a grocery store, in a Walmart or in a Target, Collins said. People who work for those companies know Walmart and have worked on Walmart business say good things about the area, Collins said.
"So, the area and all of the growth we've seen, especially in things like educational options, evening entertainment, cultural venues, you take things like Crystal Bridges or the AMP and so many others that 10 or 15 years ago, you just didn't have here," Collins said. "Northwest Arkansas has really put itself on the map and that's not the challenge in our industry."
Collins said some prospects still express concern about medical care facilities and education.
"Obviously, we're making a lot of progress on medical care facilities and hospitals in our area, but when you think about the places we are all familiar with, we're not to that level," Collins said.
On the education front, Collins said the region's high schools compare very well. Northwest Arkansas also offers more choices than ever for private education. Haas Hall, for example, is consistently the number one high school in the state and makes national lists as well.
One big family
Peacock and Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said cities and counties in the region enjoy a little healthy competition among themselves but they all put the region first.
"I don't know that I see it as a competition, per se, but certainly every city is taking up the challenge to make their city as attractive as it can be from re-investment in the downtowns to investments in education," Peacock said. "Every city has its own character and things they offer, so I wouldn't characterize it as a competition, but every city is really working to step up its game in a variety of areas."
Fayetteville has the University of Arkansas, which is a key part of the culture and what goes on in the city. Springdale, with Tyson Foods, is a little bit different type of community and city, Peacock said. Bentonville, with everything that's happening with Walmart, and the investments being made up there, is really coming on, he said.
Graham Cobb, president and CEO of the Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce, moved to Northwest Arkansas in November and said there's competition but it mostly revolves around not being outdone by your neighbors.
"We all want to be able to talk about our successes, so if that's competition, maybe it is. But, at the same time, I want great things for Springdale and Siloam and Rogers and Fayetteville," Cobb said. "The competition, to me, comes from being the best that each community can be. You look at the five major cities up here, we all have unique attributes that end up being complementary. In Bentonville, it's no small aspiration for us to try to reach our true potential."
Clark prefers to call it "coopertition."
"It means you compete and you cooperate and that's what we do. There's some friendly competition among the five bigger cities but it is all based, fundamentally, in cooperation," Clark said. "Nobody will fall on the sword and nobody will abandon the cause of the region simply for their cause. We laugh and tease, but what we say is we'd love to have you in Fayetteville but we know you're looking at the area and should you decide that we're not your choice, the only mistake you can make is not making Northwest Arkansas your choice. There's something good for you here."
NW News on 03/25/2018