SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Plug and
Play announced plans to open a supply chain and logistics
accelerator program in Northwest
Arkansas. The new program will bring innovative startups
from around the world to Northwest
Arkansas and build upon the fast-growing region's robust
innovation ecosystem. The area is home to the three Fortune 500
founding partners, a network of global and national companies that
support these enterprises and the University
of Arkansas. An official launch event will take place in
Northwest Arkansas this
summer.
"We are excited to accelerate and invest in startups in
Northwest Arkansas as it is the
birthplace of some of the world's largest companies like Walmart,
Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt," says Mike
Zayonc, Founder of Plug and Play's Supply Chain &
Logistics program. "The founding partners in this program will be
able to collaborate with our worldwide startup network right in
their own backyard."
The effort, supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the
Arkansas Economic Development Commission and founding corporate
partners J.B. Hunt, Tyson Foods and Walmart, will be coordinated
locally by the Northwest Arkansas Council.
"This new relationship with Plug and Play will leverage our
regional strength in supply chain and logistics," said Nelson Peacock, the Northwest Arkansas Council's
president and CEO. "This program will shine a greater
spotlight on all of the great things happening in Northwest Arkansas."
With a population of over 555,000 people, Northwest Arkansas offers one of the top
regional economies in the United
States. The region will provide participants in the
accelerator program access to a network of industry experts,
including Fortune 500 companies, leading supply chain and logistics
faculty from the University of Arkansas
and business development opportunities. For the last four years,
U.S. News & World Report has recognized Northwest Arkansas as one of the Top 5 Best
Places to Live in the U.S. Known for its expansive 400-mile trail
network and world-class art institutions such as Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art, the area is recognized as an emerging
technology and entrepreneurial activity hub in America's
Heartland.
Plug and Play will work collaboratively with participants from
the region to identify key industry challenges in supply chain and
logistics. Once identified, Plug and Play will seek out the
best startups to help develop solutions to these key challenges.
The program will include two cohorts of 10 companies each year and
will feature workshops, mentorship sessions, and summits that will
bring innovation, business development and investment opportunities
to Northwest Arkansas. The accelerator will focus on supply
chain optimization, blockchain, last-mile delivery, warehouse
automation, IoT sensors, predictive analytics, machine learning,
and more.
A grant from the Walton Family Foundation will support the
entrepreneurial education and training curriculum for accelerator
participants, as well as support community events and mentoring
workshops.
"Northwest Arkansas is known
for driven entrepreneurs who created access to opportunity and
transformed communities," said Karen
Minkel, Home Region Program Director at the Walton Family
Foundation. "Plug and Play's accelerator will support the next
generation of promising startups that will strengthen our
innovation ecosystem."
As part of the accelerator program, participating startups will
be matched with mentors to refine their business models.
Participants will also be able to work closely with the founding
partner companies to identify potential collaboration
opportunities. At the conclusion of each program, startups will be
able to showcase ideas to prospective customers and investors,
including strategic partners from the Plug and Play's global
network.
JOHN ROBERTS, PRESIDENT AND
CEO, J.B. HUNT
"Technology
is changing the way we move freight, and collaborating with Plug
and Play gives us the opportunity to team-up with leading startups
on solutions that will help our customers," said John Roberts, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt.
"Bringing the Supply Chain and Logistics Accelerator program to
Northwest Arkansas will also
showcase the region's status as an innovation hub, and we look
forward to working with these startups on the next big idea."
JOHN R. TYSON, DIRECTOR IN THE
OFFICE OF THE CEO, TYSON
FOODS
"Innovation in logistics and the overall
efficiency of supply chains are critical as we continue to grow our
company," said John R. Tyson,
Director in the Office of the CEO of Tyson Foods and great-grandson
of the company founder. "We've been working with Plug and Play for
more than a year and feel there's more opportunity to collaborate.
Having an accelerator like this in Northwest Arkansas will give us access to the
creative and entrepreneurial thinking we need to succeed in our
highly-competitive industry."
GREG SMITH, EXECUTIVE VICE
PRESIDENT, SUPPLY CHAIN, WALMART U.S.
"Innovation that
increases efficiency in our supply chain will help our team
continue to be a competitive advantage for the company and ensure
we can maintain everyday low prices for our customers however they
want to shop," said Greg Smith,
Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Walmart U.S. "By combining
the strength of Walmart and the speed of startups, this partnership
with Plug and Play will accelerate innovation and support our
efforts to maintain a best-in-class supply chain."
SAEED AMIDI, CEO AND FOUNDER,
PLUG AND PLAY
"We are very excited to begin our work with
these great organizations like Walmart, J.B. Hunt, and Tyson Foods
in Northwest Arkansas to develop
the ecosystem and culture of entrepreneurship," says Saeed Amidi, Founder & CEO of Plug and Play.
"With our startups, we can bring efficiency and cost savings in the
supply chain. Through this new operation here, we will be able to
connect Northwest Arkansas to
Silicon Valley, China,
Singapore, Germany, and the rest of our global
network."
For more information on how to get involved with Plug and Play
Northwest Arkansas, please visit:
https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/arkansas/
To learn more about Northwest
Arkansas, visit http://www.nwacouncil.org/northwest-arkansas
where you'll find an infographic detailing some of the region's
many attributes.
ABOUT PLUG AND PLAY SUPPLY CHAIN
Plug and Play Supply Chain & Logistics is the world's largest
Supply Chain & Logistics Innovation Platform. Plug and Play is
a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we
have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and
an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster
than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have
expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations
globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in
Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 280
official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup
ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with
200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking
events per year. Companies in our community have raised over
$7 billion in funding, with
successful investments in companies include Danger, N26, Guardant
Health, Vudu, SoundHound, Dropbox, Rappi, Lending Club, and PayPal.
For more information, visit:
https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/supply-chain/
ABOUT THE WALTON FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Walton Family
Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. The children
and grandchildren of our founders, Sam and
Helen Walton, lead the foundation and create access to
opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas:
improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the
communities they support, and investing in our home region of
Northwest Arkansas and the
Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2018, the foundation awarded more
than $595 million in grants in
support of these initiatives. To learn more, visit
waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
ABOUT WALMART
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people
around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere
- in retail stores, online, and through thTickers OK in this?eir
mobile devices. Each week, over 275 million customers and
members visit our more than 11,300 stores under 58 banners in 27
countries and eCommerce websites. With fiscal year 2019
revenue of $514.4 billion, Walmart
employs over 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart
continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy
and employment opportunity. Additional information about
Walmart can be found by visitinghttp://corporate.walmart.com, on
Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter
at http://twitter.com/walmart.
ABOUT TYSON FOODS, Inc.
Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:
TSN) is one of the world's largest food companies and a recognized
leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John
W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family
leadership, the company has a broad portfolio of products and
brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire
Farm®, Ball
Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp®
and State Fair®. Tyson Foods innovates continually to
make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere it's
available and raise the world's expectations for how much good food
can do. Headquartered in Springdale,
Arkansas, the company had 121,000 team members at
September 29, 2018. Through its Core
Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value
for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and
serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted
to it. Visit www.tysonfoods.com
ABOUT JB HUNT TRANSPORT
J.B. Hunt Transport Services,
Inc., a Fortune 500, S&P 500, and NASDAQ-100 company, provides
innovative supply chain solutions for a variety of customers
throughout North America.
Utilizing an integrated, multimodal approach, the company applies
technology-driven methods to create the best solution for each
customer, adding efficiency, flexibility, and value to their
operations. J.B. Hunt services include intermodal, dedicated,
refrigerated, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, single
source, final mile, and more. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.
stock trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol JBHT and is a
component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average. J.B. Hunt
Transport, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBHT. For more
information, visit http://www.jbhunt.com.
ABOUT THE NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
COUNCIL
Established by Sam
Walton and 30 other business leaders in 1990, the Northwest
Arkansas Council is a private, nonprofit organization working to
advance job opportunities, talent recruitment, physical
infrastructure and quality of life in the region. Most of the
Council's more than 100 members are companies and they include
Walmart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt Transport Service, Simmons Foods
and George's Inc. To learn more, visit http://www.nwacouncil.org.
To learn more about Northwest
Arkansas, visit https://findingnwa.com/
Media Contacts
Plug and Play
Allison Romero
allison@pnptc.com
(408) 524-1457
Northwest Arkansas Council
Rob Smith
robsmith@nwacouncil.org
(479) 200-9513
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