Business Hub with a Small Town Feel

  Fortune 500 Companies

NWA is home to 3 Fortune 500 business, including Walmart (#1), Tyson Foods (#81), and J.B. Hunt (#311) as of December 2022. All of these are located within a 15-mile area; providing hundreds of great Jobs. As a result, the region’s share of employees in enterprise management is nearly six times that of the nation. Walmart is developing a new Home Office in Bentonville. The new 350-acre campus will rival many revered tech-companies for work environment. Tyson Foods in Springdale is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork, and they just announced the relocation of 1,000 worker from Chicago and South Dakota to Northwest Arkansas. J.B. Hunt just recently expanded their headquarter in Lowell and has acquire several additional parcels for anticipate future growth.

  Bringing in Major Companies

Due to Walmart's global footprint and impact, many partner companies (ex. Cocoa-Cola, Kellogg, etc.) are being drawn in. National and international companies to opening location in the area. Consider it a ripple effect. Walmart encourages major suppliers to have offices in the area. This has created hundreds of jobs. This in turn has lead to several small companies opening business to help service this growing areas.

  Entrepreneur Oasis

There are several key entrepreneurial support organizations to help startups from ideation to scalability. These include the area’s chambers of commerce, Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, Small Business Development Center, Innovate Arkansas, Startup Junkie, Endeavor, Plug and Play Northwest Arkansas, Cartwheel Startup Studio and more. The Walton Family Foundation is also philanthropic and an a major capital investor in new business/developments in the area. The Brewer Entrepreneurship Hub and McMillon Innovation Studios are taking on initiatives to help strengthen Northwest Arkansas’ entrepreneurial and innovation capabilities. NWA is also continuing to promote a robust angel investor network to benefit local investors and founders.

  Low Unemployment

NWA accounted for all of Arkansas's net job growth. It is not surprising this area boasts an unemployment rate of only 2.9%. Among metros with populations above 500,000, Northwest Arkansas ranked third in job growth from 2013 to 2018 and second in wage gains for metros with populations between 500,000 and a million people.