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The Doing Business in Bentonville Podcast
To create an ecosystem that connects leaders of all kinds – industry, community, student, educational, civic, investment and entrepreneurial – to help overcome Omnichannel Retail barriers through exclusive, insight-rich content.
The Doing Business in Bentonville Podcast
Ep. 137 - This Program Helps Arkansas Entrepreneurs Scale
Retail is hungry for fresh products, but getting from a beloved local item to a national shelf spot is a steep climb. We sit down with the University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the team at Act Two to unveil the Ozark Retail Accelerator, an Arkansas-backed program built to help consumer packaged goods founders cross the retail chasm without wasting years on preventable mistakes. If you’ve sold at farmers markets or independents and you’re eyeing Walmart, Sam’s Club, or Kroger, this is your roadmap.
We break down who qualifies and why the accelerator focuses on Arkansas-based or Arkansas-committed brands, then dig into the nuts and bolts of scale. Expect straight talk on packaging that really wins the aisle, channel-specific pricing and pack sizes, trade math, and working capital planning for your first big PO. We map out what buyers want to hear, how to craft a compelling pitch, and the realities of mod change calendars that can stretch six to eighteen months. From copacker readiness to reformulation with a food scientist, the conversation centers on making your product manufacturable, compliant, and margin-positive across club, mass, and grocery.
The cohort opens with an in-person kickoff in Bentonville at the end of March, followed by twelve weeks of targeted virtual sessions and a June demo day. Supported by AEDC funding, there’s no equity taken and costs are minimal, so founders can focus on execution, not dilution. With mentors and partners from OEI, Act Two, and the Bentonville Chamber, you’ll learn from operators who’ve placed real products in real aisles and navigated scale the hard way. If you’re ready to turn local traction into sustainable growth, apply at OzarkRetailAccelerator.com before February 15.
Subscribe, share with a founder who needs this, and leave a review to help more Arkansas makers find their path.
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Doing Business in Bentonville. I'm Andy Wilson, and it's great to be back with you again. I am so excited about our podcast this morning because I've got some friends here, and you're gonna really like what they're gonna talk about, especially for the our great state of Arkansas. As you all know, we're located in Northwest Arkansas, and it is such a great area. We know that we have thousands of people moving here, which we love. And of course, you know, we're we're the home of Walmart and J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods and the great University of Arkansas. Absolutely. Right. And the Sunwall School of Business, right? Okay, so Phil Hammer, Michelle Hammer, welcome back. Thank you, Eddie. It's good to be here. It's good to have you. You know, I think this is like four or five times you've already been here. I've been here a few times. I love it. I'm enjoying it. Keep coming back. Well, Phil, you know, when when there's exciting things I hear from him, and there's that's pretty often in this area because so much is happening. But Phil is the executive director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center to Sam Balton School of Business.
SPEAKER_03:That's correct.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. Wow. And we we have been to a lot of different things together, and and I'm glad we met a couple of years ago. And and it's and the secondly, congratulations on all the things going on at the university.
SPEAKER_03:Thanks. We have uh it's it's exciting. It's a bit of fun ride for the last few years being there. Um the student engagement's up way, uh has increased considerably. The community engagement, we are just we seem to be hitting on all cylinders right now. So it's been a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_02:Well, today, uh, our viewers, you're gonna get really a great, great event because we're so excited about what's happening. And we have additional guests here today. And I wish I had time to talk about one of my friends that are here I met what was that, 30 years ago? Maybe 40. Maybe 40. So anyway, um, maybe we slip a couple of things in, but introduce our guests, and then uh we'll let's talk about the school, then let's talk about their organization, and we're gonna put this whole thing together. What the exciting news about what's to have what's about to happen in Arkansas.
SPEAKER_03:Sure, sure. So um the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, we'll call it OEI, um uh has been on this mission to try and tackle major problems for entrepreneurship support that no one else seems to be touching, or at least not so much as we think it should be. Um, and one that we got super interested in um maybe a year and a half ago, guys, um, was consumer package goods, CPG product. Um, so many people are looking at building and buying and creating product here in town and across our state, and we wanted to try and figure this out. And so we started a conversation with Act Two and two of the representatives are here today. So we got Matt Herlivic and Mike Rail. And we are just ecstatic that we're building a partnership with them today because their organization is doing amazing stuff in our town.
SPEAKER_02:All right. Well, let's let's do this. Let's learn about this great company called Act Two, okay? Because I've read about it. Uh, it's exciting about what you've really been, the tasks you've been given, and why are we doing this too? We need to talk about that and really get our people. And here's the other thing the our viewers need to listen and and because you may be eligible for what we're about to talk about, right? That's right. Okay, so talk about your great company.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, sir. Well, I'll talk a little bit about Act Two. Um, thanks for the introduction, Phil. The um the it the way that you're interacting with uh the University of Arkansas and the way that you're interacting with us right now aligns with what we're doing very well. We're really a uh customer-focused boutique shop here in town that really helps with early stage entrepreneurs. We help bring ideas and concepts to life, and then some of those ideas and concepts are products and retail, CPG items, and we brought some of those to life inside retail spaces. Sure. Yep. Wonderful.
SPEAKER_02:Um Yeah, there's there's so much uh enthusiasm today around retail. You know, where so much is happening. I mean, uh I will tell you, you know, I was I was uh visiting with was an individual that's coming on the show next week this morning, and we said, this is the best time to be in retail. It's also a best time to be an innovator and to be an entrepreneur, to be selling your product to retail, right? Trying to do that. But it's hard work, no doubt. And it's complicated work. It's not you don't pull up, you don't have an item and it's in the store tomorrow. It's a lot to this. So walk us through how this process is going to work and who this process is for.
SPEAKER_03:So um I think you're right, right? If you look at retail today, more and more of our large retailers continue to want the newest, the latest innovation, the newest products. They want the first brand, the first one to kind of carry the brand and bring it in. And so you have constant innovators all over the US that are looking to build new, take advantage of trend, bring on uh products to the market, bring products to the market that retailers want to get a hold of. The challenge is exactly what you're talking about, though. The challenge is how do I go from I've built a product, it seems to be successful in the farmer's market, or I've sold it in a couple of independent stores. Now I'd like to kind of attract or get into a larger retailer. And that is a massive chasm uh for an entrepreneur to have to jump. And the tuition price is very high. Very high. There's a lot to learn and it's very much so. That's an excellent description, actually. Because it is, it is costly. And for some, uh, it's the reason why they don't make the step, right? There's very many companies that look at that, that chasm is just that's just too big of a step. It's too much risk. I don't know what I'm doing, so I don't want to take that step. What we've decided is we think we can help them. We think we help them take the success they're having today and prepare their product for that large retail space, for a multi-unit or a national chain to be able to step them into a retailer where before they might have had either fear or unknowing of how to make that step happen.
SPEAKER_00:Or just intimidated by the whole process that you have to go through. And so at the end of the day, these people come and they don't realize what all goes into it. Just because you've invented a great item or you have it and your neighbors and your people in your town love it doesn't mean it works. And so bringing those things to life take a lot, whether that's a capital raise, whether that's a packaging, the formulation, all the things they don't think about. It's like, hey, I invented this in the shop and it works well. And so helping them understand the path it takes to get there. Once you get that built in, then there could be as much as a six-month or 18-month wait to a mod change or something like that at Walmart to get on that calendar to be a part of that. And so, but again, those are the things that we find very interesting when somebody's invented something that we can help them bring it to life in retail.
SPEAKER_02:And you're gonna do that in Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00:We are going to do that in Arkansas.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, let me say that again. Yeah. Act two, working with this great guy in his office and his department, is gonna bring that here for people that have potential products. Or we know up the road or got the golden ticket or something like that, somewhere. You may have got the golden ticket somewhere else. But if you live in Arkansas, you have a business part, you you now have a can be a potential part of this great program. So let's talk about how and who's eligible, when that starts. Okay, and that's lean into this because this is exciting. Right.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Let me let me name it first, right? So um the Ozark Retail Accelerator, right, is what we have designed. This is sponsored by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Um, they have this great program where they help uh organizations like ours take entrepreneurs through um through accelerator programs, right? Help them train them on whatever the tool is. In our case, it's gonna be about how do I make that jump. So our Ozark Retail Accelerator was our plan. And the plan was just how do we put a group of companies that are at the right stage through a series of trainings that's gonna give them a two list probably a mile long, um, but it's gonna help prepare them for um for that step into retail and to make sure they understand what all those steps are gonna be. Um, right. So so we talk about eligibility. That's probably the most important thing we have to talk about first. Like what companies are we looking for and and what would make the most sense for this program?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think uh the CPG space, consumer packaged goods, and the consumable space would be a great start as we start, you know, our first year in this. And we anticipate this thing going on for several years. And it will live on on and on. Oh, wonderful. And and so um we're very important to the state of Arkansas, obviously. They have an eye on this group and what we're doing because we're focusing initially here on the state of Arkansas and to be able to bring some of that life here, which you would think would be easy sitting here where Fortune One is in northwest Arkansas, but there's other parts of the state too where those people just need an avenue to show their product, if you will.
SPEAKER_03:Sure. That's actually a critical piece of what we're trying to do. Uh one, because the AEDC is funding this, but two, because we are so passionate about trying to help the entire state of Arkansas. This is really focused on Arkansas-based companies or Arkansas committed companies, which companies are saying we are here for the long run within our state. Um, so we can use this, uh, the assets that we've been given to actually drive economic development for our state and for our region.
SPEAKER_02:This is big news. This is huge. And when does this program begin? How do you enroll? Where do you go? Give for information. Of course, what whatever they tell us, we're gonna have that on our website. Okay. So, but talk to us about that. Yeah, I can key off.
SPEAKER_03:So um, so the application's open right now. Um, so if you go to Ozark Retailaccelerator.com, you can apply right now. Right. Those applications are gonna run through the middle of February. Um, we are taking in samples from people, we're gonna go through the application process, we'll go through an interview process um and select a group of companies. Our goal is 10. Um, and we want to put those 10 companies into the accelerator starting end of March. So it'd be March 31st and April 1st, right in that time frame. We'll spend a couple days here in Northwest, Arkansas with them face to face. And then we're gonna provide virtual programming for them throughout the next 12 weeks, um, all designed to hit the major topics, Matt, that you talked about before. Yeah, right. How do we ensure that you understand your packaging plan? How do you understand your marketing plan? How do you understand your pricing plan? All the steps that we know are critical for them to know, um, all the way through to how do I actually pitch to a buyer? How do I have that conversation at the end of the day to make the buyer most interested in my product and to make that connection happen through the pitch? Um, we'll help all on the way. And then at the end of that program, middle of June, we're gonna have like a demo day, uh community event where everybody will be able to come and get to know the companies and see the progress they've made.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, just getting the nod from a buyer, any retailer, that's just like what the first one percent of what has to happen, and then the rest has to happen. And and creating an inventory when that first PO comes from that retailer could be a big number that you know, you're gonna have to front fund up front or either be able to raise capital. Yeah. And so those are things that going through the 12-week program and each one of those steps. And you know, just because you can make a barbecue sauce in your kitchen and it's really good, and everybody in town loves it, making it on a with a copacker down an assembly line, sometimes formulation has to be tweaked, and having a food scientist that can help do that is something no one thinks about. It's like, here's my barbecue sauce, here's how I make it. We're gonna start doing that. And we have a young man in Montecello, Arkansas, it's got a great one right now that you know we're working with.
SPEAKER_03:So it's uh every time we have these conversations with a team, I get excited because we have brought together, I mean, we have over 150 years of either retail, merchandising or operation experience, or being a supplier experience on the team of six advisors that we have for this program. 150 years of dealing with what is the right packaging to put into Sam's Club versus Walmart, or how do I make sure that uh that I can get the volume or the or the working capital to be able to just make my first my first PO. Um, all those steps that we have seen time and time again with other suppliers that we've seen time again as ourselves, now we can take that knowledge and actually provide that to some of these, to some of these people that just haven't tried it or done it before in a meaningful way. And and that every every time we talk, I get excited because you can just see the list, you know all the problems. We've seen over and over again companies struggle when they make that big step. And we think we can really help them do it right.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, even just having a different strategy for grocery, for mass, for club, channel strategies, no one that's just like never even thought about that. They just like, I invented this pen, I want to sell this same pen to all of them for the same price, and that's just not how it works with different models like club or mass. Yeah, very true. Just a lot to think about that, just you know, they can vent it and um they've got to take it and bring it to life as takes a little bit more.
SPEAKER_03:That actually leads into a couple other so it isn't just OEI and Act Two doing this. Um, we brought in um uh a third party partner in Scott Benedict, and he's helping us really drive that that uh that curriculum out right now. Um so he'll be heavily involved in this, as well as uh the Bentonville Chamber has step up. And they want to be a part of this as well because they want to help us recruit, they want to help us find those mentors, they want to help a program like this go in their town, um, but also because they see the broader implications first as well.
SPEAKER_02:Well, um, you need to bring in doing business in Bentonville so we can come and like uh have a live event or something around this, and uh we'll we'll just still and stick our get out there because we want to be part of this too because of uh well, we are part of it, but we want to be a part of it to to help promote this. Also, uh, can you uh can you imagine it's gonna change people's lives? This will change people's lives. This will have huge impact on our state and beyond. Okay, and and I can't imagine that you go through this and then you walk into a just a retailer and you say, that's my item. Yeah. Now that's jobs. That that that is entrepreneurism at the best. That's that is one of the most exciting things. And I get excited just talking about it. Uh, what could happen, the momentum that's going to take place in the state because of what you all are doing and because of the opportunities been available.
SPEAKER_00:You know, and our track record at Act Two has been exciting for us during the journey uh since our Walmart E careers. Uh and we've learned a lot and we've seen those smile faces on those people, smiley faces when they've been working at something for seven, eight years and just couldn't get across. And all of a sudden, yeah, you know, it's for example, one maybe one uh margarita mix company we work with is in Walmart now. They started 600 stores. Now they're a thousand stores and they're just continuing to grow. And it's just like the look on their face when they, you know, the buyer called, we're getting more.
SPEAKER_01:It hits even closer to home though, with us too, right? We have we have a brand called Five Minute Gourmet that we recently launched and put into stores, and it's in 107 stores here, expanding soon.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Um, but yeah, that to your point, of yeah, you do you get excited, you're like, wow, yeah, that thing went all the way from an idea, yeah, farmers market to a concept, yeah, farmers market to retail.
SPEAKER_03:But let's be clear, like that they look like overnight successes. Oh, yeah, they're not. We are not all that successful about it. It takes those years, it takes all that work and those efforts, and that's why we put this program together is to make sure they knew exactly what the effort's gonna be.
SPEAKER_01:It's almost like kids, right? If if uh you wouldn't forget how hard it was, you wouldn't do it again, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the meals, the meals took us three years. Yeah, yeah, three-year run. Yeah. And so, but now Sam's Costco, Kroger, Walmart, and Myers, it's it's opening its way out there.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. You all went through some uh really quick, and let's let's go back to some very key dates here. Okay, okay. So um, and again, as I mentioned, we'll the press release we'll have it attached to our website, doing business in Bentonville.com, and along with uh this this event. Now, run through the key dates again, because they're very important.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so uh the all of this can be found on the website, right? Ozark retailaccelerator.com. Okay, we tried to find the longest possible URL we could. Um so so we hit that word I can't spell maybe. No, yeah, yeah. Google accelerator. Um, Ozark Retail Accelerator. Um, but the dates are important. So um the application is open right now. You can go on the site today. We've actually had quite a few applicants already. Okay. Um, and so we're seeing applications come through. That's open until February 15th. Okay. Um, those same companies will be sending us samples and we'll go through interviews over the next couple weeks after that um with the hope to tell people early March that they're in. Uh our goal is to get to 10 companies. Um, you know, these things are different. We've OEIs done a few of these before in the past, Andy. And and we know, like we'll put the application out there, we'll see how many. We could get a hundred applications, we could get 12. Um, and we want to make sure we get the right companies in. So we'll figure out what that is, but our target is to try and get 10 companies in the program that are ready at the right stage. Um, that puts them March 31st in Betonville with us for a couple of days as we kind of kick this program off. And then it'll be virtual programming all the way through to the middle of June when we have that demo day.
SPEAKER_00:I do think, too, if people missed that deadline, continue to reach out. We'd still like to hear from you. That's a great idea. And I mean, again, it maybe it didn't work this time, but we could, you know, do something else. But uh we'd love to hear from as many as people as we can. And again, there'll be a year two of this and a year three. Um, but we're always willing to help people that are looking for help to try to figure this animal out and what to do with it. So um that's a really good point. Yeah, we we're there are deadlines because we have to get the class set up and we have to go through these modules and and um because we're on a deadline from the state as well, and show it some success in the program. So that's what we're working for. But after we get through the first one, we'll be ready for the second one, which we're all confident that that'll happen next year.
SPEAKER_02:Good. Wonderful. Um well, great news for our state. Entrepreneurs in the state of Arkansas, here you go. Here's your opportunity, right? That's right. Here's your opportunity.
SPEAKER_03:All right, can I add one more? I think entrepreneurs for sure, right? If you're building the products, if you're ready to go, if you feel like you're even in that stage, reach out to us, right? Even if you're not sure you're at that stage yet, reach out to us, let us help you think through whether it's the right timing. The second piece I would say though is um we are also looking to make sure we have strong mentors in this program too. Yeah, right. We're gonna be bringing these companies in. Obviously, I think we had a great advisory team that's gonna be building up the curriculum and really teaching, but there's gonna be opportunities to mentor these companies as well or bring in specific skill sets. We know we're gonna have some companies gonna be challenged with packaging. We know sometimes we're gonna be challenging maybe with taste profile. We're gonna be looking to make sure that we have the skill sets around them and we have the ability to bring in those mentors. So I know your podcast reaches a lot of people that have expertise in this space. And so if there's interest, we'd be open to that as well.
SPEAKER_02:Good. And uh, and if you're interested, then you can always reach out to these three individuals. You can reach out to us here at doing business, uh doing business in Bitonville, and we'll make sure we get that information to you all, too. Uh now I think this is uh this is just wonderful, it's exciting. It's another reason uh why we we live in such a great state and a great region, and uh to offer these opportunities. So congratulations to all of you.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. I will tell you too, one other thing. Yeah, coming from Walmart, all of us, you know, cost is everything. One of the questions people will, how much does it cost? How much does it cost? Yep. Quite frankly, it costs hardly anything since we're funded through the state. We're offering this up. You might have to have a little travel, maybe a hotel room, and that's gonna be about the extent of it. So this is basically a I don't want to call it a free but very economical solution in getting into some education around what it takes to be in a retailer.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, nowhere is this program taking any ownership, right?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, this is we are here just providing it for the companies.
SPEAKER_03:It is in true support for you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so good. Well, gentlemen, I can't thank you for uh joining uh us today. Thank you so much. It's been great. Um, and it's been great to uh to meet you, to re to also to spend some time uh uh re creating ourselves to uh to so it's been just a wonderful morning. Again, um what a great program. Uh we will get this out. Uh and and we just I really want uh wish you all the best to this. Also, if we can do any if doing business Bentonville can do anything to help you from a publication standpoint, all you just reach out to us. We're glad to help, glad to support. And it's the same thing, it costs you nothing. So we we're all about supporting our state and the people in our state that are trying to do something to change their lives and uh make retail even better. What a great time to be in retail. No question. Thank you all. Yep. And to our viewers, thank you. Um, we really appreciate you. Uh, you're doing a great job. I appreciate uh from time to time I hear from you on LinkedIn and message me. You can do that anytime. I promise you I will answer your back. Uh and we've got such a great year planned. Uh, we're also launching live events. We had our live event uh last month. We have another live event coming up. You can check all that on our website, doing business in Bentonville. Uh, it's exciting times in retail and omnichannel. It's just amazing what's uh going on. We are your expert in all of that. So stay tuned to us again, my guests. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having us. Everyone, have a wonderful day. Thank you.