2023 NWA Tech Summit Live Part 1: Featuring Sapna Ramachandra, Tiffany Benitez, Brent Blecha, Kayla Norris, Paul Rowe, Jasmine Rara and G.B. Cazes

Summary

Join host James Bell in this special four-part series of The Bentonville Beacon podcast featuring live-recorded conversations at the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit with the thinkers and doers shaping the future of global tech in Bentonville. The NWA Tech Summit is the Heartland’s premier technology conference and serves to enhance, prepare and diversify the local Northwest Arkansas economy. Now in its tenth year, the event is hosted by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and is supported by nearly 100 partners, including Walton Family Foundation, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Verizon, Salesforce, T-Mobile for Business, Zebra, Scott Family Amazeum and Arvest. These episodes bring together voices from the event to share their company’s stories, personal insights and unique #BecauseBentonville moments that define the community’s character. Tune in as we explore the innovations and experiences that are fostering a culture where technology meets the essence of Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas!

Show Notes

(1:15) Introducing Sapna Ramachandran

(3:13) About Kitestring Technical Services

(7:12) Sapna’s #BecauseBentonville Story

(11:45) Introducing Tiffany Benitez

(13:12) About the Women in Technology of Northwest Arkansas

(20:47) Tiffany’s #BecauseBentonville Story

(22:41) Introducing Brent Blecha

(23:22) About Retail Aware

(25:14) Brent’s #BecauseBentonville Story

(29:33) Introducing Kayla Norris

(31:05) About Marketing Main Street

(34:32) Kayla’s #BecauseBentonville Story

(37:43) Introducing Paul Rowe

(39:27) About Source Allies

(42:54) Paul’s #BecauseBentonville Story

(47:22) Introducing Jasmine Rara

(51:39) Jasmine’s NWA Tech Summit Experience

(57:41) Introducing G.B. Cazes

(1:01:59) G.B.’s #BecauseBentonville Story

(1:03:48) Closing Thoughts

Links

James Bell

Bentonville Economic Development

Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit

Sapna Ramachandran

Kitestring Technical Services

Tiffany Benitez

Women in Technology of Northwest Arkansas

Brent Blecha

Retail Aware

Kayla Norris

Marketing Main Street

Paul Rowe

Source Allies

Jasmine Rara

Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce

G.B. Cazes

Emory Solutions

Quotes

“I think what describes for me the essence of Bentonville is the entire experience of these last ten years put together. It has been heartwarming because for somebody like me, a woman of color who comes from thousands of miles apart, who has no family, no friends, no support system here to come and feel accepted, the local people and everybody around here have accepted me with open arms. And that speaks volumes of this place. It tells me you don’t have to be a certain color or race to be accepted because there are good people everywhere, and it wouldn’t have happened anywhere except [Bentonville].” - Sapna Ramachandran, (7:12)

“This is day one [of the NWA Tech Summit] and I’m already blown away. The amount of community that’s here, the amount of connection, the amount of vendors, and the way we can plug into our community and really see full force in conference form what all we actually have living in this Northwest Arkansas [and Bentonville] area.” - Tiffany Benitez, (19:13)

“[The NWA Tech Summit] has been amazing. Anytime you can talk to the number one retail company and some of the people surrounding it, the people that have gone before you that know how to get in there and some of the really cool things they’ve done, is incredible.” - Brent Blecha, (24:22)

“Whenever I had made the decision to leave corporate and work for myself, I went to Bentonville and I started looking for businesses in Bentonville to collaborate with and say...