The Walton Family Foundation of Bentonville has announced a new strategic plan for the next five years. The plan includes $2 billion in philanthropic support. That money will be deployed around the world, but one focus of the foundation's efforts will continue to be northwest Arkansas, along with the Delta regions of Arkansas and Mississippi.
An aspect of the plan that was mentioned by the foundation is advancing economic and cultural vibrancy through "supporting northwest Arkansas' diverse and innovative regional economy so small businesses and startups can flourish, and world-class cultural and other opportunities are accessible to all."
In other words, the foundation will continue to do its part to make this corner of Arkansas one of the country's most desirable places to live. WFF remains a family foundation in the truest sense of the word. Three generations of descendants of founders Sam and Helen Walton are involved along with their spouses. In 2019, the foundation awarded more than $525 million in grants.
In last Sunday's column, I wrote that the leaders of northwest Arkansas get it. They realize economic development in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century is about attracting talented, highly educated people who could live anywhere they choose. You attract such people through quality-of-life amenities.
An example of the kind of work WFF does is the annual Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program. Last October, new grants were announced for Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville.
In Springdale, the money will be used to help enhance the Jones Center's 52-acre campus. The Jones Trust wants to make the campus a regional destination while creating stronger connections to the revitalized downtown Springdale area and Luther George Park. There will be green spaces, bike paths and infrastructure improvements.
In Rogers, the grant will help city government transform five blocks of alleyways into an arts-focused destination and pedestrian network. It's hoped that the project will spur economic development and build on the historic fabric of downtown.
In Bentonville, the grant will go to what's known as the Quilt of Parks as the city completes its design for the Commons. That plaza will include recreational spaces along with areas for public events such as farmers' markets, Friday night movies and musical performances. There also will be room for outdoor dining.
The activities of the foundation complement other initiatives by family members, such as Alice Walton's plans for the Whole Health Institute on the campus of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art at Bentonville and the Whole Health School of Medicine and Health Sciences at a Bentonville site that's yet to be announced.
Last July, the separate Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation announced a $194.7 million donation to the University of Arkansas. The five-year grant is designed to strengthen UA research initiatives. It also will support construction of a research facility on the Fayetteville campus called the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research (I3R for short).
An earlier grant of $23.7 million was announced in November 2018, meaning that the Waltons have now invested more than $218 million to enhance entrepreneurship education and commercialization of the university's research.
I3R will be housed at the southeast corner of Dickson and Duncan streets. That's now a parking lot. The five research areas for I3R are data science, food systems and the future of food, materials science and engineering, bioscience and bioengineering research in metabolism, and integrative systems neuroscience.
The building will cover between 125,000 and 130,000 square feet with a groundbreaking early next year. The site is next to the Nanoscale Material Science & Engineering Building and across Dickson Street from John White Engineering Hall.
Combined with what Alice Walton's institute and medical school plan to do, the UA research facilities could fuel a high-tech boom in a region that's already a world leader in retailing, logistics and food processing. Add to the mix the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' aggressive plans in this corner of the state.
Renowned architect Marlon Blackwell will design a 185,000-square-foot building for UAMS' orthopedic and sports medicine program. The $85 million facility will contain up to 12 operating rooms along with specialty clinics in the areas of sports performance, orthopedics, physical therapy, research and education, and imaging. There will be a limited number of patient beds.
Dr. Cam Patterson, the UAMS chancellor, said he hopes to have the facility ready for patients by 2023 with a groundbreaking later this year.
On the same day last month that UA System trustees approved construction of the facility, they also approved creation of a three-year medical doctor degree program based in Fayetteville rather than on the main UAMS campus in Little Rock. The new degree track is shorter than the typical four-year medical school structure and is set to launch this fall.
From late 2019 through the middle of last year, UAMS hired seven orthopedists or sports medicine doctors as clinical assistant professors at an average salary of $500,000.
UAMS established its northwest regional campus in 2007 in the 323,510-square-foot facility that had housed Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. It doesn't have a surgical center or hospital in the region, but is now among the institutions further fueling the northwest Arkansas boom.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.