Instead of pushing for more government subsidies to bolster underperforming cities, what if we started encouraging more corporate philanthropy? Northwest Arkansas might have the answer. The land of diamond caves and the Ozark Mountains is called the “Natural State” for a reason. And it provides an unlikely case study in community development.
In one of America’s most impoverished states, the northwestern region has some of Arkansas’ wealthiest cities. And in the city of Bentonville, it also has the headquarters of Walmart.
The first Walmart opened next door in Rogers in the 1960s. Since then, Walmart has not just become a corporate giant but a benefactor to its home region. It sponsors Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, home to paintings by artists such as Winslow Homer, Thomas Cole, and John Singer Sargent. Admission is free at the museum, which hovers over spring-fed ponds on 120 wooded acres.
Nearby Harding University, University of the Ozarks, and John Brown University also benefit. Walmart founder Sam Walton created a scholarship program to send students from Central America and Mexico to these colleges for free.
After noticing a lack of culinary talent in the region, the Walton Family Foundation built Brightwater, a center for the study of food, a few years ago. Some graduates go on to set up shop at 8th Street Market, a marketplace of local chefs and artisans.
Northwest Arkansas certainly doesn’t fit the Arkansas stereotype, and while the rest of the country underrates the region, it also underrates the impact that philanthropy can have on other cities in America. This doesn’t mean every city needs a Walmart or an Amazon. But the big businesses, which politicians decry as greedy, can do much for the communities where they reside.
Matt Feyerabend, founder of Pure Joy ice cream in Northwest Arkansas, says the Walton family has helped revitalize downtowns across the region to attract small business owners like himself. “We have a lot of small businesses doing world-class things,” Feyerabend says. “It has more to offer than most people would expect.”
According to U.S. News, Fayetteville was the fifth-best place to live in America last year, thanks to low cost of living, strong population growth, and high quality of life.
Feyerabend says it’s important to focus on a region’s quality of life, and Northwest Arkansas’ theater, for example, rivals any in the country. There’s a sort of snowball effect, where Walmart develops the region to attract more talent and talented people continue to improve the area.
Feyerabend, who has lived in Northwest Arkansas for almost 20 years, says, “I think we create a region where people want to live.” He might be right: Northwest Arkansas is one of America’s fastest-growing metro areas.
