In Fort Smith Arkansas, the PEAK Innovation Center is is a multi-million dollar educational facility designed specifically for career-focused programming, which delivers hands-on, cutting-edge, technical, and career training to high school students in 22 school districts throughout the River Valley region. It's a collaborative project between Fort Smith Public Schools, the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Western Arkansas Technical Center (WATC), the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, and multiple local businesses in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

So how did it all come about? And what has it meant to Fort Smith's economy?

Let's find out!

We're joined by:

• Gary Udouj, Director of Career Education and District Innovation at Fort Smith Public Schools
• Anita Brackin, Vice President of Workforce Development at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce

Today’s episode is hosted by Casey Steinbacher, Founder and CEO of Finding Next, Ted Abernathy, Founder of Economic Leadership, and Willie Jones, Senior Program Officer at the Danville Regional Foundation.

Home of Future Thinking is produced by Earfluence.

For more on the Home of Future Thinking, including information on the 2024 Conference, visit HomeOfFutureThinking.com.