Inbound Logistics Features NWA, IA Client Firms
Great story here from the June issue of Inbound Logistics on NWA's emergence as a logistics hotbed.
NWA startups Acumen Brands (weird thinking of Acumen as a startup), CrossFleet and EcoVet are featured. Good stuff. Acumen and CrossFleet, of course, are IA client firms.
CrossFleet, by the way, just launched its workCite field service iPhone app in the iTunes and Google Play stores.
The story focuses on NWA and Cleveland, Ohio, and how companies are starting to put down roots "off the beaten path" in areas that foster innovation. (Weird that Cleveland is considered 'off the beaten path' but the reality is...it now is in certain ways.)
A sample from the piece by Joseph O'Reilly, "Economic Development: The Care and Feeding of U.S. Enterprise":
Northwest Arkansas is off the beaten track. The 500,000-people-strong metro area, which comprises four cities—Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville—is a cultural crossroads between the South and the Midwest. The deep-wooded Ozark Mountains, well known for their crystalline rivers and geological wonders, still exude a frontier sensibility.
As a site selection factor, entrepreneurism can't be easily overlooked—especially as the United States looks to stimulate the economy by supporting small-business growth.
But there's another wonder. Northwest Arkansas is home to three billion-dollar juggernauts: the world's largest retailer; the world's second-largest beef, poultry, and pork processor; and one of the largest transportation companies in the United States. With a population roughly the size of Fresno, Calif., the region hosts as many Fortune 500 companies as Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Memphis; and more than Austin, Des Moines, Jacksonville, and Orlando.
Brand names the likes of Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt turn heads. Maybe it's something in the water—freshwater springs fed and filtered through eons of limestone formations. More likely it's the legacy of entrepreneurship and the expectations forged by Walmart, the world's foremost supply chain.
"The big brand companies in Northwest Arkansas embrace an entrepreneurial spirit," explains Greg Primm, vice president of operations, Acumen Brands.
Acumen Brands is among the many heirs to the entrepreneurial legacy. An e-commerce brainstorm by a doctor and lawyer who both tired of their professions, and decided to sell medical scrubs exclusively online, the company has quickly grown into a lifestyle apparel-branded mini Amazon.
The company is eclectic—from the wide-open dot.com feel of its corporate offices to the Kiva robots roaming its fulfillment center across the street to its marketing partnership with country musician Ronnie Dunn. This is the reality of Northwest Arkansas.