The Venture Center team is passionate about entrepreneurship and thrives on the hard work and creativity required to make ideas into viable businesses. We love partnering with people across the state and throughout the world to build better businesses and stronger communities. Get to know our team and learn why we love being here. We have an open door policy, so come for a visit any time.

The Venture Center's 2019 JOLT Cyber Challenge concluded on Sunday for nearly 150 participants from across the region. This year's top prize went to the University of Arkansas student team, "That Team Over There," who earned the most points during the weekend-long cyber event. 

On October 2, 2018, after ten years of running my company Little Rock Fashion Week, LLC (LRFW) – a local fashion, events and talent management firm that owns fashion weeks in Little Rock, Baton Rouge and Plano (TX) – I started a new phase of my career as Director of Small Business and Inclusion at the Little Rock Regional Chamber.

University of Arkansas - Pulaski Technical College was honored to host the annual Women in STEM workshop on Sept 27, a day-long event with the goal of increasing engagement and educational attainment levels of minority women in the STEM disciplines. During lunch that day, STEM attendees were the first to learn about a new program - the Student Entrepreneur Education Collective, or SEEC.

A great mentor is someone who can listen to a mentee and help determine where they or their company is weak. Great mentors ask questions and assign outside work to get the mentee to "discover" the answer to their needs. There is a lot more buy-in to a discovered solution than just being told an answer. Occasionally, a mentor has to advise a mentee to look into a noticed problem.

It’s TechTober in Arkansas which means there are so many ways to celebrate entrepreneurship and technology right here in Arkansas. The entire month is packed with fun events across the state, but here in Little Rock, The Venture Center team is gearing up for an epic cyber battle at the 2019 JOLT Cyber Challenge.

As we gear up for the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator 2.0, and we’re sharing stories of why the Accelerator is so important, the impact it has on the community and on community banks, and success stories from past participants. Keep following along for the latest on the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator 2.0!

The Venture Center today released their September and October events schedule featuring extensive programming for entrepreneurs and businesses. Community programs scheduled for early fall feature a highly anticipated Fireside Chat with Westrock CEO Scott Ford on October 16, 2019. Other programs include two Lift the Rock lunches, three Workshop events, and the 2019 JOLT Cyber challenge.

All startups need one thing above all - interaction (and opportunities) with customers. The reality is that startups need many things, but customer engagement is king when building a new technology solution. This is why entrepreneurship is hard...because you have to deliver on multiple things simultaneously – capital, customers, product, new hires, partnerships, and the list goes on and on.