Kim Vu-Dinh, assistant professor of clinical education and the director of the Business Innovations Legal Clinic at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, has been recognized for the work she and her students do with Arkansas small businesses and non-profit organizations. On Sept. 20, Vu-Dinh was awarded Little Rock Regional Minority Mentor of the Year by the Little Rock Regional Chamber.

Vu-Dinh was also a 2020 finalist for the award.

鈥淚 moved to Little Rock with no previous connections or family ties, so an award like this is incredibly flattering to me.  It makes me feel like that clinic I created and the relationships I鈥檝e made have had a positive impact on Arkansans trying to do something new.  I really couldn鈥檛 believe I got the award, and I am truly appreciative of the recognition.鈥�

The Business Innovations Legal Clinic provides high-quality, free transactional legal counsel to small businesses and non-profits working in economic development, many of which would not be able to obtain legal assistance otherwise.

Law students under Vu-Dinh鈥檚 supervision work closely with start-up businesses and nonprofits throughout Arkansas, either one-on-one or through community legal workshops. Their clients are based in Arkansas and are from the following sectors:  food and farm, affordable housing, health, music and arts, and more. The majority of the clinic鈥檚 clients are minority-owned businesses.

In 2019, Vu-Dinh was appointed as a Fulbright Specialist to the University of Applied Sciences in Ferizaj, Kosovo, where she provided consulting services to create an academic social enterprise that incubates local business while simultaneously giving students hands-on learning opportunities, and generating income for the newly-created academic institution.

This semester she is bringing her Fulbright experience to Bowen students as a co-professor in the course International Law: Self-Determination, Nation-Building, and Economic Development and the Case Study of Kosovo. Part of that course will be a virtual presentation from her Kosovar colleagues, as well as guest lecturers from justices of the Supreme Court of Kosovo, and also Arkansas native General Wesley Clark. Before arriving at Bowen, Vu-Dinh was a Eugene Ludwig/Robert M. Cover Fellow in Law in the Community and Economic Development Clinic at Yale Law School.

Vu-Dinh has studied in Budapest, Hungary and Hanoi, Vietnam, through her alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, where she focused on economic development in nations transitioning from Soviet economics to free market capitalism.

Before teaching full-time, Vu-Dinh worked extensively in post-Katrina New Orleans with nonprofits and small, local businesses developing affordable housing and community-based commercial projects, first as non-profit staff, and later as a consultant through her firm Community Capacity Consulting.  In addition to her work on Bowen鈥檚 faculty, she is adjunct faculty at the Clinton School of Public Service where she teaches a course on social enterpreneurship.

The award was given during the Minority Business Awards Luncheon, which honors the diversity of the Little Rock regional business community and recognizes minority business leaders that excel in their field. The luncheon was part of the Chamber鈥檚 celebration of .

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The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) is partnering with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law to conduct a free intellectual property workshop series for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The series will include interactive workshop webinars, downloadable toolkit materials, and short supplementary videos.

Three workshops in the series remain open for registration:

• Introduction to Trademarks, July 8 at 1 pm;
• Introduction to Copyrights, July 12 at 2 pm; and
• Introduction to Patents and Trade Secrets, July 15 at 1 pm.

These interactive webinars will provide a basic understanding of each topic and focus on issues relevant to small businesses.

鈥淪ince the pandemic, we have been working non-stop to support laid-off or underemployed people who are trying to pivot in this new reality,鈥� said Kim Vu-Dinh, assistant professor and director of the Business Innovations Legal Clinic. 鈥淭he ASBTDC and the Clinic have been partnering for years now, and my students and I are extremely excited to have the time and resources this summer to hunker down and focus on creating materials that get to the heart of the intellectual property issues faced by new, small businesses.鈥�

Housed on the main campus of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center assists all types of for-profit businesses, from home-based to high-tech. Clients receive one-on-one confidential consulting, and market research, all at no charge. ASBTDC also hosts free webinars and live workshops throughout the year.

The Business Innovations Clinic is a legal clinic at the Bowen School of Law at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock that provides high-quality, pro bono transactional legal counsel to small businesses and nonprofits working in economic development. Brett Harris, a third-year law student, will lead the webinars.

鈥淎SBTDC is pleased to partner with Kim and the Business Innovations Legal Clinic to provide training and resources for small businesses on intellectual property,鈥� said Laura Fine, state director of the ASBTDC.  鈥淜im and her students are a valuable resource for small businesses and non-profits, and through this project, more small businesses across the state will have access to their expertise.鈥�

This series is funded by a CARES Act grant focused on supporting small businesses.

The workshops are free and open to the public and anyone . For more information, contact the ASBTDC at 1-800-862-2040.

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Professor Vu-Dinh’s work founding and maintaining the Business Innovations Clinic is featured in Arkansas Business.

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The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) is partnering with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law to conduct a free online workshop on Nov. 19 for entrepreneurs who are thinking about starting their first business during the pandemic.

鈥淭he pandemic has caused a job loss of unprecedented heights,鈥� said Kim Vu-Dinh, director of the Business Innovations Clinic at Bowen. 鈥淎t the Business Innovations Legal Clinic, we are getting a lot of calls from recently laid-off workers who are trying to pivot by making a living as a small business owner. A lot of our clients have never been business owners before, and it鈥檚 important that they position themselves to succeed.鈥�

The webinar, 鈥淧ivot! Key Legal Issues to Consider When Starting a Business for the First Time,鈥� will be held from 10-11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. The webinar will guide participants through the legal steps of starting a new business and the resources available to new business owners to assist with business planning and concept development.

鈥淲e are grateful to the Business Innovations Clinic for helping educate first-time business owners about the legal aspects of starting a business,鈥� said Laura Fine, state director of ASBTDC. 鈥淜im and the law students are offering an important service by showing small businesses how they can avoid legal pitfalls. I鈥檓 proud our university is actively supporting small business owners through ASBTDC and the legal clinic, particularly amid the coronavirus pandemic.鈥�

The Business Innovations Clinic provides high-quality, pro bono transactional legal counsel to small businesses and nonprofits working in economic development. Marquisa Wince and Richard Wolford, law students who work in the clinic, will lead the webinar.

鈥淭he workshop my students will be giving walks the audience members through the major legal traps we see small business owners walk into,鈥� Vu-Dinh said. 鈥淗opefully, we can prevent that and get folks putting their best foot forward on this new path.鈥�

Those who would like to attend the workshop . For more information, call 501-683-7095.

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The Clinic also hosts about a dozen community legal workshops a year throughout the region, and manages the Innov-Eat Caf茅, an incubator space where the Clinic鈥檚 food clients sell catered items on the law school campus.

鈥淎rkansas is filled with a lot of collaborative spirit. I think we are a good example of a how a school can use its many disciplines to serve the community. We get referrals from the business school and the public administration program on main campus, and now we鈥檙e even getting referrals and students from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service鈥檚 Social Enterprise student club.鈥�

Social enterprises, Professor Vu-Dinh explains, are the Clinic鈥檚 fastest growing type of clients. They are organizations that have a double bottom line of producing sustainable revenue while also addressing a community need.

鈥淚鈥檝e always had an interest in social enterprises, and most of my career before academia has been about helping nonprofits create viable sources of income while serving community-based needs. Now, through the Clinic I also get to help for-profit businesses meet the same goals. The experiential education format is perfect for this too; students get to see how their law degree can serves the community while generating revenue.鈥�

Professor Vu-Dinh also recently became an adjunct instructor at the Clinton School of Public Service where she teaches about social enterprises.

So it wasn鈥檛 entirely surprising that she was asked to consult at another university interested in doing the same. What was surprising was that this university was in Kosovo, a small European nation only recently recognized by the US and the European Union in 2008. Once part of the former Yugoslavia during the Soviet era, Albanian Kosovars spent approximately a decade fighting for its independence from Serbia after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Serbia still considers Kosovo one of its disputed territories, despite having removed the last of its troops in the late 1990s after NATO shelled Kosovo in order to stop the Serbian campaign of ethnic cleansing.

鈥淚 know there were plenty of qualified people who applied for the consulting position, but Kosovars have a strong affinity to Bill Clinton because of his role in persuading NATO to enter Kosovo. My professional experience was relevant, but Kosovo is the only foreign country I鈥檝e ever been to where most people had heard of Arkansas, and I think that helped.鈥�

Professor Vu-Dinh was awarded a Fulbright Specialist scholarship to work with the academic leaders at the University of Applied Sciences at Ferizaj, Kosovo, (糖心Vlog传媒SF) a newly created institution focused on sustainable engineering, architecture, sustainable tourism, and business. (The Fulbright cultural exchange program was founded in the 1940鈥檚 by US Senator William J. Fulbright who hailed from Arkansas.) For three weeks last winter, Professor Vu-Dinh met with 糖心Vlog传媒SF faculty and administration, government leaders, and local entrepreneurs. The experience made a lasting impact on her.

鈥淭he work itself was straightforward and definitely in my wheelhouse, but I still learned so much from the people I met. The stories they told me of life during Serbian occupation were unreal鈥攕ome of them had been freedom fighters before obtaining multiple PhDs overseas. Others actually got refugee status and citizenship in wealthy nations like England and Switzerland and could have lived comfortably as educated professionals over there, but their dedication to their country drove them to return. It was really touching to hear their appreciation for the U.S. Some people over there tear up when they recite speeches given by Bill Clinton and G.W. Bush.; others referred to Arkansas as 鈥榯he land of Bill Clinton鈥欌� just had to bring them to Arkansas to share their experiences with my students and colleagues.鈥�

With the help of the Clinton School of Public Service, she will. In fall 2020, Professor Vu-Dinh will be hosting a panel with a delegation of five educational leaders from Kosovo, to share their stories of surviving war, re-building their nation, and paving a new path for higher education. The panel will be held at the Clinton School of Public Service as part of the Clinton Speakers Series, is free of charge and open to the public.

鈥淚 think their experiences will be really interesting to the students of the law school and the Clinton School. They鈥檒l learn about what it means to dedicate yourself to service, about navigating a new legal system that has the remnants of an old, totalitarian regime; they鈥檒l learn about why it鈥檚 important to generate revenue AND serve a public interest mission. In turn, the Kosovar delegates will get to see how a university can support the local economy and create learning opportunities for students at the same time.鈥�

And of course, they鈥檒l get to see Arkansas, 鈥渢he land of Bill Clinton.鈥�

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Slowly but surely, Arkansas’ advanced energy sector is breaking down common misconceptions about solar power. Today we are capitalizing on our industry’s untapped potential to help create new jobs, generate significant energy savings and boost economic growth in every corner of the state. .

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The new policy changes aren鈥檛 just opening doors for consumers. The Business Innovations Legal Clinic of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock鈥檚 William H. Bowen School of Law published a report this year noting that the solar economy created 85 new jobs in Arkansas in 2018. The law school also predicted the new law might double or even triple the number of solar installation jobs in the state. Arkansas currently has seven solar manufacturing companies, 18 installers/developers and nine other related businesses. .

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“We’re proud to be part of the first wave,” said co-founder Josh Davenport.

[Seal’s] partners say recently passed legislation in Arkansas made a purely solar focus viable. Seal Solar’s bosses said they’ve also entered into an agreement with Lightwave Solar of Tennessee on the Jefferson County project and are working on projects as a subcontractor for global diversified technology company Johnson Controls, Inc.

An analysis from the Business Innovations Legal Clinic of the William H. Bowen School of Law, University of Arkansas at Little Rock indicates third-party solar leasing could generate up to three times the existing solar jobs in Arkansas and generate additional investment in related sectors. It also concluded third-party leasing would lower upfront costs by 25% to 40%, making solar power more affordable to average Arkansans. .

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