Creating a Niche
Arkansas and Oklahoma share many things. Trees are not among them.
Neither are likable Division 1 athletic programs (OU ranks a close second or third to that burnt-orange abomination in Austin on the ol' hate meter -- the Pokes, I can live with).
Anyway, Arkansas' former western frontier (that would be Oklahoma, for all you Wal-Mart transplants) does share some good things with its mother state. For one, we're "flyover country." Which is a good thing. God's country. Most Okies could pass for Southerners. Oklahoma has a lot of lakes. Oklahoma is a good place to be a storm chaser (oh, if only I had it to do all over again...).
And Okies seem to be on the verge of recognizing that one good way to attract VC to states like ours is to create a niche for oneself:
"There are fly-over states, but there are also areas that have been able to say, like Minneapolis, that we're going to become very proficient in one area," Heesen said. "If you're a venture capitalist from the coast, you're in Minneapolis if you're a medical device investor. They will go to those regions of the country when there's an area of expertise that's not found in other parts of the country."