Groundwork Arkansas

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Groundwork Arkansas We’re here to foster open and respectful dialogue. Our team reserves the right to moderate or remove comments that violate these guidelines.

Groundwork’s mission is to provide strategic regional leadership, expertise and resources to strengthen communities for working families near employment, commercial and cultural centers in Arkansas. While we welcome diverse opinions, personal attacks, insults, or disrespectful comments directed at others will not be tolerated. Let’s keep this a space where everyone feels safe to participate and be heard.

Our eighth stop brought us to Conway, joined by leaders from Menifee as well. Thank you to everyone who joined the conve...
10/15/2026

Our eighth stop brought us to Conway, joined by leaders from Menifee as well. Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation. Take our statewide housing survey and read the full tour recap at GroundworkAR.org/news.

Our 2026 Housing Visionary Award recipients are proving that solving Arkansas’s housing challenges takes a willingness t...
10/13/2026

Our 2026 Housing Visionary Award recipients are proving that solving Arkansas’s housing challenges takes a willingness to try something new.

Congressman French Hill championed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the most comprehensive federal housing law in decades. It takes a deregulatory approach to lowering the cost per square foot of housing and expands financing for both single-family and multifamily homes.

Mayor Josh Agee brought the land bank model to Paragould, turning vacant lots into more than 50 new homes. Lots that once generated $45 a year in taxes now bring in over $1,200 each, adding about $50,000 a year to the Paragould School District.

Codney Washington and the WE Center | WE Build in Pine Bluff are “Building People – Building Homes – Rebuilding Communities,” pairing hands-on construction trades training with building affordable homes that help revitalize neighborhoods.

Thank you for leading the way!

Groundwork Executive Director Duke McLarty pictured with: Congressman French Hill (left), Mayor Josh Agee (top right), and Codney Washington (bottom right). Photos of Mayor Agee and Codney Washington courtesy of Sarah DeClerk, Arkansas Money and Politics

During our listening tour, we heard this experience several times. When a town goes 15+ years without a new neighborhood...
10/13/2026

During our listening tour, we heard this experience several times. When a town goes 15+ years without a new neighborhood, it's usually not for lack of demand. Local builders often can't make the numbers work in smaller markets, and the rules on the books can make the housing towns need the hardest to build.

The good news: towns have more control here than they might think. None of these tools require a big budget, and all of them help local builders build for local families.

Economic development starts with a place to live. When a business looks at your town, one of the first questions is simp...
10/09/2026

Economic development starts with a place to live. When a business looks at your town, one of the first questions is simple: where will our workers live? If the answer is "20 miles away" or "nowhere," the conversation often ends there. No housing. No workforce. No growth. Want to talk about what attainable housing could look like in your community? Send us a message.

Our seventh stop brought us to Fort Smith, joined by leaders from Alma and Paris as well. Thank you to everyone who join...
10/06/2026

Our seventh stop brought us to Fort Smith, joined by leaders from Alma and Paris as well. Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation. Take our statewide housing survey and read the full tour recap at the link in comments.

Thank you to our sponsors for making Thursday's Natural State Housing Summit possible: keynote sponsor Asset Funders Net...
10/02/2026

Thank you to our sponsors for making Thursday's Natural State Housing Summit possible: keynote sponsor Asset Funders Network, and program sponsors Up for Growth and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.

Your support helped bring together leaders from across the state to dig into real solutions for housing in Arkansas - we couldn't do this work without you.

What a day! Thank you to everyone who came out to the Natural State Housing Summit yesterday. The conversation and colla...
10/02/2026

What a day! Thank you to everyone who came out to the Natural State Housing Summit yesterday. The conversation and collaboration in the room were exactly why we do this.

To our amazing speakers who shared their time and expertise, thank you for bringing solutions to the stage.

We're also so grateful to our sponsors Asset Funders Network, Up for Growth and Arkansas Development Finance Authority for making this event possible, and to our vendors for all their work behind the scenes.

A special thank you to the City, County, and Local Affairs Committee for hosting us!

This is just the beginning. Follow along for session recordings in the coming weeks, and let's keep working toward housing solutions for Arkansas together.

Each year, Groundwork presents the Housing Visionary Award to people who are changing housing in Arkansas. They aren't w...
10/01/2026

Each year, Groundwork presents the Housing Visionary Award to people who are changing housing in Arkansas. They aren't waiting for someone else to fix the problem. They're finding innovative ways to solve it themselves. This year, we're thrilled to honor three of them:

- Congressman French Hill for his work on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
- Mayor Josh Agee for his work on the Paragould Land Bank
- Codney Washington for his work at the We Center | We Build in Pine Bluff

Congratulations to our honorees and thank you for everything you do for Arkansas communities.

A huge thank you to the sponsors making the Natural State Housing Summit possible.Asset Funders Network is our keynote s...
09/28/2026

A huge thank you to the sponsors making the Natural State Housing Summit possible.

Asset Funders Network is our keynote sponsor, bringing a lens on Arkansas's ALICE population - those working, but still priced out of stability.

Up for Growth and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority are our program sponsors, helping bring together the voices and expertise shaping this year's conversation.

See you October 1 at the Robinson Center in Little Rock. Registration link in the comments.

We're honored to welcome this incredible group of speakers to the Natural State Housing Summit. Save your spot at the li...
09/24/2026

We're honored to welcome this incredible group of speakers to the Natural State Housing Summit. Save your spot at the link in comments!

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4100 Corporate Center Drive # 205
Springdale, AR
72762

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