Our mission for the Division of Economic Development is to expand economic opportunity and prosperity in Arkansas through talent development, the deployment of innovative research and technologies, community engagement, and place-making strategies.

The Collaborative is a catalyst for innovation in Bentonville. This University of Arkansas educational, product innovation, and entrepreneurial presence focuses on outdoor recreation, bio-design, whole health, retail tech, data science, and advanced air mobility. We offer workforce training and executive education programming, co-working and startup incubation, product design and prototyping, and Bentonville industry engagements and K-12 partnerships. The Collaborative brings together special people in a special place to solve 21st century challenges.

Taught masters level venture capital course (Valuing New Ventures - FINN 5123) to Master of Finance students.

We empower community leaders with critical economic insights to make informed decisions, measure impact, and identify new opportunities.Acorn is a proprietary large language model driven by AI technology to crawl regional economic development data sets, along with comparable communities’ programs and outcomes, to produce Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) planning supplemented with current demographic and labor data. Our cutting-edge economic development strategy planning, crafted by seasoned economic developers and enhanced with the precision of artificial intelligence, represents a groundbreaking approach in the field.

The World's Largest Cycling Product Marketplace40 BRANDS - 2,500 PRODUCTS - SHIP WORLDWIDEOur BrandsUrbanCycling.com is owned and operated by Omni Brands, LLC, a company passionate about cycling and innovation. We are proud to feature our own exclusive apparel brands on our platform:- Urban Cycling Apparel: Stylish, functional, and designed for the urban cyclist. Our apparel is crafted to meet the demands of city riding, ensuring comfort and performance.- Kona Tri Apparel: Designed for triathletes, Kona Tri Apparel offers high-performance gear that meets the rigorous demands of training and competition. Our products are tested by athletes to ensure they deliver when it matters most.- Ozark Cycling Apparel: Inspired by the rugged beauty of the Ozarks, our apparel combines durability with style. Whether you're hitting the trails or the road, Ozark Cycling Apparel has you covered.

• Launched ChooseJoplin.com as the region’s business and talent attraction portal, which won a 2000 National ACCE Award.• Established the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion workgroup and the Joplin Leadership Pledge (https://www.choosejoplin.com/pledge)• Established the Joplin Technology Summit (https://www.joplintechsummit.com/)• Co-founded the Joplin chapter of 1 Million Cups (https://www.1millioncups.com/)• Launched Chamber Academy, a free online business and leadership courses for our membership (https://www.yourchamberacademy.com/)• Launched JoplinBusinessOutlook.com as the online business journal for the Joplin region• Established Ideas on Tap networking event series for tech, media, and e-comm entrepreneurs• Established the monthly Joplin Regional E-commerce Meet-up seriesAlso my team achieved:• The business incubators in the Advanced Training & Technology Center and the Joseph Newman Innovation Center were brought to full capacity.  • The JACC received over $300,000 in state grant awards for entrepreneurship programming and workforce development.• Led the Businesses for a Better Joplin political action committee, which was activated for three election cycles to fundraise and market successfully for (1) property tax funding for the new Dover Elementary School, (2) full-funding of the Joplin Police and Fire pension funds, and (3) $45M for Joplin Park expansions and improvements.• Established the Chamber Benefits Plan, offering affordable health insurance for businesses with fewer than 50 employees.• Operated the Crossroads Industrial Park and negotiated land sales and local incentive packages for numerous manufacturing and warehousing expansions, leading to over 700 new jobs. (https://www.joplincrossroads.com)Econ Dev Wins:• Casey's Distribution Center• Amazon Fulfillment Center• 32nd Street Place development• KCU School of Dental Medicine• Return to population growth and record low unemployment

• Developed online registration processing and race management software used by thousands of organizers of running and cycling events across the U.S.• Operated LocalRaces.com, the nation's endurance event search engine, where 5 million athletes annually search for events, clubs, and trails on our web platform and mobile apps.• Operated GrowYourRace.com, a full service marketing agency for endurance events. We focus on growing registration revenue, sponsorship revenue, and return on ad spend. Services offered: Race Listing Syndication, Event Page Optimization, Paid Search Management, Social Ad Management, Email Marketing Program, Community Engagement Initiatives, Google and Municipal Ad Grant Management, and Creative Services.• Launched RecovrMattress.com, the world's only performance hybrid mattress shipped to your home in a box exclusively through our affinity network of running and cycling clubs; our referral network of run retailers, bike retailers, and CrossFit gyms; and our online affiliates comprising of endurance industry influencers and media properties.

• Redeveloped the Gryphon Building from a 128,000 sq ft, five-story abandoned warehouse into Joplin’s only Class A, LEED certified office building. Relocated 27 businesses to Joplin’s urban core.• Principal investor of a $16 million redevelopment utilizing Brownfield and historic tax credits.• Invested in numerous tech start-ups, including Medprex and Advanced Diamond Technologies

• Manage mergers and acquisition due diligence• Filed SEC filings• Identify and formulate strategic partnerships to leverage complimentary market positions and technologies• Manage product-level legal duties for all subsidiaries, including the drafting and negotiation of client and vendor agreements• Manage intellectual property protection, employment law matters, business litigation, and securities filings.• Assist with product development and licensing

• Grew the company to 14 employees and $25+ million in annual sales. The Company was named the Fastest Growing Company in Metro Kansas City in 2004 and 2005 (Kansas City Business Journal)• Founded the Company in 1999 as a network of 230 online local search portals, then eventuallysyndicated the ad inventories to other local search portals• Drafted and negotiated venture funding and merger documents on behalf of the Company.• Drafted and negotiated numerous software, application, and content syndication agreements• Drafted and negotiated paid search ad distribution agreements with Yahoo, Miva, Ask, and Google• Managed a sales and business development team, company payroll, and accounts payable processes• Designed and coded numerous company-owned websites• Inventor of an online order abandonment technology • Co-inventor of the click fraud prevention technology (patent US20060136294)• Merged the company into Inuvo, Inc. in April 2006

• Draft and negotiated software licenses, advertising contracts, database purchase agreements, email append contracts, advertising brokerage contracts, and insertion orders• Represented Adknowledge in one-to-one meetings with AOL-Time Warner, MSN Hotmail, and Yahoo, Inc. that directly lead to over $20 million in annual revenue• Co-drafted industry standards on behalf of the Association of Interactive Marketing and the Network Advertising Initiative and lobbied federal regulators about relevant pending legislation• Responsible for Adknowledge's compliance with state, federal, and international privacy and consumer protection laws and regulations, including Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GBL) and the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA). Responsibilities also include educating employees about the sensitive nature of the personal information the company collects and addressing privacy-related concerns from database members, advertising clients, and the general public.• Recruited, hired, and manage a department of three employees• Responsible for outsourcing litigation matters and working with outside counsel during all phases of litigation, including pleadings, discovery, and settlement negotiations• Drafted and implement company privacy policies and procedures• Drafted privacy-related articles for publication and attend privacy and advertising industry conferences• Consult senior management on issues relating to competitive analysis, industry trends, and partner opportunities using both public and private financial information• Filed federal trademark applications• Awarded the Adknowledge 2002 Vision Award• Awarded the Adknowledge December 2002 Employee of the Month Award

Taught four sections of Business Law at the College of Business

• Practice Areas: government affairs, legislative services, business transactions, and insurance litigation• Tracked legislation and lobbied on behalf of insurance and health care companies at the state capitol• Participated in all phases of litigation: managed discovery, deposed witnesses, negotiated settlements,drafted and argued pretrial motions, jury trials, non-jury trials, and appellate arguments• Drafted complex business and real estate contracts• Successfully argued a significant MO appellate case: McIntire v. Hake, 33 S.W.3d 565 (Mo.App.W.D. 2000)

• Researched and drafted utility cases and orders for Chief Regulatory Law Judge Dale Hardy Roberts.

• Worked in the Office of Administration and focused on Travel & Advance administration.• Yes, I was there with Monica.