/news-archive/tag/josiah-johnson/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 06 Oct 2022 13:06:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2022/10/06/alumni-apptegy/ Thu, 06 Oct 2022 13:06:19 +0000 /news/?p=82307 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Alumni Find Success at Apptegy]]> boasts 15 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock grads as employees spanning from Donna Hall, a 1986 English grad, to Josiah Johnson, a 2021 graduate in finance and economics. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud to be the latest 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock addition to the Apptegy family,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock afforded me guidance and teaching that enabled me to learn what I liked and didn鈥檛 like, gain new experiences, and grow into a role that I hadn鈥檛 considered pre-college.鈥� Additional alumni who work at Appetgy include Christina Boyd 鈥�10, Keenan Gillispie 鈥�12, Jonathan Bobo 鈥�13, Dutch King 鈥�13, Roko Miocic 鈥�16, Ayron Young 鈥�16, Matt Marshall 鈥�16, Hannah Corker ’16, Adam Crider ’17, James Watts 鈥�18, Tanner Cox 鈥�18, Christina Osorio 鈥�20, and David Aaron 鈥�20. While Apptegy started off with only a handful of school districts in Arkansas, the successful start-up company now works with more than 2,500 school districts across the country. Apptegy鈥檚 product is a communication platform built for school leaders and allows K-12 administrators to share news, stories, and media from a single platform, which then distributes the content to linked tools like social media accounts, SMS, voice calls, mobile apps, and websites. Apptegy also offers a number of free resources to superintendents and other school leaders like , which boasts a printed magazine, videos, and a podcast. Mass communication graduate Hannah Corker 鈥�16, who understands the importance of helping people connect, said it was this lesson that prepared her for her job at Apptegy. 鈥淚 am grateful for the personal growth that I gained from attending 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and how it ultimately led me to a career with Apptegy,鈥� Corker said. 鈥淪tudying mass communication at a school where many students are non-traditional pushed me outside of my comfort zone and challenged me on a daily basis. I was able to connect with people of all different backgrounds, which gave me the confidence to talk to anyone, something that comes up daily in my role as a senior recruiter at Apptegy.鈥� Apptegy has gained a reputation for having a unique workplace culture of high performance and thoughtfulness, resulting in Forbes naming the company one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2020 and 2021. Adam Crider, a 2017 grad who studied computer science and information assurance, said his exposure to so many different learning opportunities helped him prepare for a fast-paced work environment at Apptegy. 鈥淎s a college student, I was exposed to so many learning opportunities that helped me with multiple aspects of my career,鈥� Crider said. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock gave me a good foundation of knowledge that I was able to apply immediately to a career after graduation. It also exposed me to many networking opportunities that I was able to use to find and build relationships with mentors and future employers.鈥� Many of the graduates credited 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock for providing them with a flexible and quality education that prepared them for their future careers. 鈥淎ttending 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is the sole reason I work at Apptegy today,鈥� said Matt Marshall 鈥�16, who studied computer science and math. 鈥淭he computer science program prepared me to be a software engineer and gave me the tools needed to work at a high performing startup. The university gave me the opportunity to meet people in the Little Rock startup community. My earliest exposure to Apptegy was from connections I made at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, and that was a life changing experience for me.鈥� Apptegy continues to grow rapidly and is looking to hire 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock graduates. To learn more about working for Apptegy, see their open positions at .]]> /news-archive/2021/12/16/josiah-johnson-commencement-2021/ Thu, 16 Dec 2021 13:51:39 +0000 /news/?p=80567 ... Graduating Student Spotlight on Josiah Johnson]]> During his time at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Johnson has been an integral part of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center鈥檚 Startup Team, which specializes in assisting clients who have never been in business or had to learn about business before. He鈥檚 also been recognized for his research that looked into the impact on small towns that have been featured on the TV show 鈥淪mall Business Revolution.鈥� His research project earned first place in economics during the 2021 Student Research and Creative Works Expo. What are your thoughts on graduating? I am excited. I started college a little later in life, and it鈥檚 nice to catch up to where my friends are. In this last semester, it feels that a lot of my efforts have been recognized. It鈥檚 validating that my four years have been worthwhile. Why did you start college a little later in life? I鈥檓 25, so I started my freshman year when I was 21. I had a little later start than most people. I had Lyme disease in middle school that went undiagnosed for a while, and I actually never attended high school. After getting my GED, my first full-time job was a transition back into the real world. I knew I couldn鈥檛 go to a university straight off the bat, so I saved money for a little while. I actually wrote my Donaghey Scholars essay on the value of attending college. It allowed me to research the pros and cons of getting a degree. Why did you choose 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock?聽 The first thing is that the college is close to my family and where I grew up. I wasn鈥檛 sure about relocating. For me, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was a good opportunity because of the proximity and familiarity. I was preparing to take out quite a bit of loans until I found out about the Donaghey Scholars Program, which ended up working out really well for me. Who were your favorite professors at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock? I have to mention Dr. Rhet Smith. I am co-authoring with him, and I am still entertaining the idea of getting a Ph.D. in economics because of him. Dr. William Jergins, Dr. Moiz Bhai, and Dr. Casey Rockwell were all wonderful professors as well. I am thankful to both Dr. Simon Hawkins and Dr. Jessica Scott from the Donaghey Scholars Program for their support and open office where I could always ask questions. What are some of the highlights from your college years? My favorite class has been applied econometrics with Dr. Jergins. I looked at the effect of earned income tax credit programs on personal consumption and estimated the effect it would have in Arkansas. Understandably, we might expect people who have earned income tax credits to increase their personal consumption. I was able to utilize everything I鈥檝e learned in class and work. Going to present my research at the Southern Economics Association Conference this November was a totally new experience, and I was grateful for that opportunity. One professor liked my research so much that he wanted me to apply to his university鈥檚 Ph.D. program in economics. I also studied abroad right before COVID. It made me more open to international travel. I was in Seville, Spain, during spring 2020. I got to go skiing for the first time, and I actually thought I picked it up pretty quickly. Tell me about your work with the ASBTDC? My work at the ASBTDC has been great. I first went to one of their events, and asked if I could just volunteer for them. It just so happened that they needed someone to cover an employee who was going on vacation. After that, they offered me the job. The work I鈥檝e done has complimented my education and made me realize my interest in market research. I love working with data and transforming that data into something that makes sense for people who don鈥檛 like crunching the numbers. With the Startup Team, I definitely have clients that I check in with often. I hope they will be very successful. The things I鈥檝e learned in class and on the job can help entrepreneurs who haven鈥檛 done something like this before or maybe didn鈥檛 go to college or business school. It鈥檚 empowering that I can give recommendations to new business owners andI hope to visit those businesses once they open. What are you looking forward to after graduation? I have a great job here at the ASBTDC and I am weighing getting a master鈥檚 degree in business information systems. I鈥檓 still open to other job opportunities. Whatever I do, I would like it to involve research, big data, or business consulting. Those are the three areas that interest me the most. What advice would you give to new students? I鈥檓 a big fan of Google Calendar. I spent my first week of classes with my syllabi, and I put all of my due dates and all of my class dates in my calendar. I didn鈥檛 want to be caught by surprise. I definitely recommend the Mathematics Assistance Center where I had several tutors that were wonderful. I also encourage going to all the on-campus events and making connections. I loved living on campus and hosting game nights. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Part of me wishes I could be here longer. I鈥檝e done a lot at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, and I鈥檝e enjoyed my time here. I couldn鈥檛 have imagined going to another school. The benefits that the Donaghey Scholars provided exceeded my college expectations. I loved my cohort and the community we鈥檝e built. It鈥檚 intimidating starting college from scratch, and I felt that I started with a great group of friends.]]> /news-archive/2021/12/07/business-entrepreneurs-achieve/ Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:25:20 +0000 /news/?p=80496 ... Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center Creates Startup Team to Help More Entrepreneurs Achieve Their Dreams]]> Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC), based at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, has created a Startup Team that is helping new entrepreneurs bring their business ideas to life. The Startup Team, which began this fall, specializes in assisting clients who have never been in business or had to learn about business before, including entrepreneurs who are turning a hobby into a business or creating a new business from scratch. “Our demand for information and resources for startup businesses has increased significantly over the past 18 months,鈥� said Wendy Orvis, ASBTDC startup specialist and Startup Team leader. 鈥淲e formed the Startup Team to help meet this demand.鈥� ASBTDC provides no-cost confidential business consulting and other resources to current and prospective entrepreneurs. Since Sept. 1, the Startup Team has processed 292 incoming requests and consulted with 172 clients. Managing many of these new clients are ASBTDC employees and 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock business graduate student Elizabeth Henry and undergraduate student Josiah Johnson. 鈥淓lizabeth Henry and Josiah Johnson listen to our startup entrepreneurs’ needs and help them create a plan to meet those needs,鈥� Orvis said. 鈥淭hey have worked with clients on business plans, financial projections, marketing, and strategic planning. They have also worked with clients who weren’t ready to move forward yet and provided resources and training to encourage their success. Both Elizabeth and Josiah are impressive and intelligent and excellent with our clients.” Henry, an MBA student with an emphasis in financial accounting analysis, said that being the daughter of a small business owner has really helped her appreciate the impact of the Startup Team. 鈥淲e work with aspiring new entrepreneurs who are just starting off with an idea to people who want to create a legitimate business out of a side hustle,鈥� Henry said. 鈥淢y dad is a chef, and I grew up watching him struggle with the small business side of things. I want to make the process seem less scary for our clients. I really love watching an idea become a business. It鈥檚 one of the most fulfilling tasks I鈥檝e ever had.鈥� The Startup Team helps clients develop business ideas and create business plans. They also advise prospective business owners about startup steps such as registering a business, getting a business license, applying market research, developing a budget, marketing, seeking funding, and more. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been heavily involved in market research at the ASBTDC,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭hat has been my fascination, but this has made me think more about how to use market research in a useful way. I love working with a ton of data, but that alone is not helpful for business owners. You need to answer very specific questions that will help their business grow. After working on the Startup Team, small business consulting has become one of my passions. Now I feel like I could start my own business if the opportunity ever arose.鈥� The owners of a growing hot sauce business said that they couldn鈥檛 have started their businesses without the help of the Startup Team. 鈥淢y friend, Chris Mansur, has a little farm in Little Rock. We both love hot sauce but don鈥檛 love paying for it,鈥� said David Dunavant, co-owner of . 鈥淚 suggested we learn how to make hot sauce using the peppers he grows on his farm. Let鈥檚 sell it to our friends and clients. Neither of us do this for a living. I鈥檓 a college professor and an alumni. This hot sauce business was never supposed to be a business. We kept on getting such good feedback so we decided to keep on making it and start a business.鈥� Since they have begun, their hot sauce brand has proven popular and is being sold by several businesses, farms, and restaurants in central Arkansas. 鈥淚鈥檓 a teacher, and Chris is a bartender,鈥� Dunavant said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never really owned our own business before. Every aspect of this journey is new for us. I can鈥檛 emphasize enough how awesome Elizabeth Henry, our consultant, has been. We have formed a limited liability corporation, hired a lawyer, registered the company with the treasury department, and gotten a tax ID number. Elizabeth is the hero of our story. Without her, it would have taken weeks or months to figure out all the steps needed to open our business.鈥� Henry said it鈥檚 been rewarding to see how her clients have developed their line of hot sauces into a successful business. “My favorite part of helping clients is being able to help them turn their dreams into reality,鈥� Henry said. 鈥淭hat sounds so cheesy, but so many of my clients come to me with just an idea and no idea how to get started. I love being able to watch that idea turn into a full-fledged business.鈥� Laura Fine, ASBTDC state director, said Henry and Johnson are gaining valuable business expertise by helping first-time entrepreneurs evaluate and execute their business ideas. “The students who work in our program are valued members of the ASBTDC team,鈥� Fine said. 鈥淲e rely on them to help us serve the high volume of inquiries we get from people exploring entrepreneurship and seeking help starting businesses. ASBTDC provides a real-life learning laboratory for students where they interact with a variety of entrepreneurs and new business ideas every day. In the classroom, a student鈥檚 goal is to learn and achieve a good grade. At ASBTDC, the goal is to help clients make informed decisions such as whether or not to invest their savings in a new business or to quit a full-time job to start a business.鈥� Visit to learn more about ASBTDC鈥檚 services for new entrepreneurs, or complete the to begin working with the Startup Team on your business idea.]]> /news-archive/2021/06/30/johnson-explores-impact-small-business-revolution/ Wed, 30 Jun 2021 21:34:23 +0000 /news/?p=79130 ... Johnson Explores Economic Impact on Towns Featured in 鈥楽mall Business Revolution鈥�]]> Josiah Johnson, a senior finance and economics major from Sherwood, is researching the impact on small towns that have been nominated for and featured on the TV show 鈥淪mall Business Revolution.鈥澛� In the TV show, an ultimate prize of $500,000 is awarded to a small town for revitalization efforts. The prize is allocated primarily to six business ventures in each winning town to renovate stores and storefronts, improve marketing strategies, and establish a brand for each small business and town. 鈥淪mall Business Revolution鈥� became well known in Arkansas when Searcy was selected as the season four winner of the Small Business Revolution Main Street Competition and the recipient of $500,000 for revitalization for six small businesses and the downtown area.聽聽 Johnson is analyzing data from 59 towns that were nominated for or appeared on the show. He is utilizing the contest among small towns for a large revitalization award to study the spillover effects and general efficacy of small business initiatives in small towns. The project compares and quantifies the impact of the award on various economic outcomes of winning towns relative to non-winning nominees. Johnson was awarded first place in the Economics Division for his project, 鈥淓stimating the Impact of Small Businesses on Crime in the Local Community,鈥� at the 2021 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Student Research and Creative Works Expo. Johnson received a 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Signature Experience Award to help fund his research. Johnson also received the 2021 Karen M. Russ Memorial Award for Excellence in Research and a $500 scholarship. The award is named in honor of Karen Russ, who worked as the research and community engagement librarian in Ottenheimer Library when she passed away in 2017. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to look at small businesses and how to improve them,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淢y mentor, Dr. Rhet Smith, and I came up with the idea of studying the impact of being on the show. Being on 鈥楽mall Business Revolution鈥� has a distinct, instant impact for the towns. We wanted to know what happened to towns that win compared to towns that don鈥檛.鈥� Johnson is examining data that includes but is not limited to sales tax receipts from the Internal Revenue Service, gross domestic product from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and local employment and wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the second phase of research, Johnson collected crime data from the FBI鈥檚 Uniform Crime Reporting program to explore the second-order effect of the investment on crime. 鈥淚f there is economic growth, is there an effect on crime?鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淔or example, if there are more people on Main Street, there could be an increase in pickpocketing. However, perhaps more eyes on the street or more employment opportunities would deter and prevent criminal activity. Preliminary results suggest that winning towns experience relatively fewer property crimes suggesting that investments in small businesses and main street revitalization initiatives can have larger impacts than strictly economic ones. They can potentially be a creative method of crime reduction. 鈥� Johnson, who is also a market research assistant in the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, is expanding his research as part of his final project for the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program. After he graduates in December, Johnson plans to work in economic research and publish the results of his research in an academic journal next year. He said the results of his project will be of interest to investors and policy makers looking into developing small business initiatives and programs in the future.]]> /news-archive/2021/05/07/winners-student-research-creative-works/ Fri, 07 May 2021 14:16:19 +0000 /news/?p=78964 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Honors Winners of 2021 Student Research and Creative Works Expo]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has selected the winners of the 2021 Student Research and Creative Works Expo. The annual event features the latest innovative research, service or professional work, and creative projects by the student researchers at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.聽 The expo also featured presentations by the 2021 winners of the Signature Experience Awards, which provides students with grants to fund a signature experience, including a research project, creative activity, or community project, to enrich the students鈥� academic experience at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.聽 鈥淚n its fourth year, the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Signature Experience has matured into a foundational pillar of undergraduate and graduate student research and creative work with the generous support of the Donaghey Foundation,鈥� said Dr. Jeremy Ecke, director of undergraduate research at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.聽 The winners include:聽 Undergraduate Creative Works Cristie Armstrong, first prize, 鈥�The Album Keeper鈥� Logan Sellen, second prize, 鈥�Goodbye: An Exploration of Death and Grieving in a Time of Separation鈥� Andrew Chun and Caleb LeFevre, third prize, 鈥�From Campus Tree to Campus Table鈥� Economics Josiah Johnson, first prize, 鈥淓stimating the Impact of Small Businesses on Crime in the Local Community鈥� Aleigha Smith, second prize, 鈥�NBA and the Tax Problem鈥� Maximilian Holzmueller, second prize, 鈥�Detecting Plant Diseases with AI鈥澛� Education Sarah Carlat, first prize, 鈥�The American Canon is Outdated鈥� Engineering Elias Perez Reyes, first prize, 鈥�Crossbow Loading Mechanism鈥� Chance Melby, second prize, 鈥�糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Classified: An Intentionally Vulnerable Web Application Focused on Teaching K-12 and Undergraduate Students about Web Application Security鈥� Phillip Bryan, third prize, 鈥�Continuous Improvement Web Application鈥� Humanities Jaelan Nelson, first prize, 鈥�The History Behind Lorraine Hansberry’s Famous Play A Raisin in the Sun鈥� Lindsey Carl, second prize, 鈥�The Mermaid Hunter鈥� Alyia Goudeau, third prize, 鈥�Beyzus: The Duality and Complexity of the Nature of Beyonc茅 Giselle Knowles鈥� Life Sciences Avery McLean, first prize, 鈥�The Future of Agricultural Herbicide Regulation: The Biological Evaluation and International Response in Regard to Impending Glyphosate Regulation鈥� Tram Nguyen, first prize, 鈥�Removal of Estrogens from Drinking Water Using Graphene Oxide-Based Filtration Membranes鈥� Gabrielle Roberts, second prize, 鈥�Enzymatic studies of F104G SaMTAN mutant enzyme from Staphylococcus aureus鈥� Mataya Duncan, second prize, 鈥�Active Transport Processes of Dictyostelium discoideum Rab32C鈥� Physical Sciences Hannah Krehbiel, first prize, 鈥�Novel FRET-based ionic materials for bio imaging applications鈥� Tripti Shukla, second prize, 鈥�Refolding of S. aureus MTA nucleosidase to analyze biological activities鈥� Stuti Chatterjee, second prize, 鈥�Tunable sized combination nanodrugs based on ionic materials鈥� Kajal Desai, second prize, 鈥�Revisiting the chemical stability of molybdenum disulfide membranes鈥� Lauren Langmaid, third prize, 鈥�Studies in the hydridic reduction reactions of alkynyl hydrazones via sigmatropic rearrangement to form allenes鈥� Mariela Saavendra-Duran, third prize, 鈥�Carbon storage in Fourche Creek Wetlands鈥� Hayley Turner, honorable mention, 鈥�Ouch! Determining Factors that Affect Kidney Stone Growth, Formation, Mineralogy, and Morphology鈥� Shannon Bione, honorable mention, 鈥�Dirt on the street: Environmental and Health Impacts of Urban road dust鈥� Shiraz Atif, honorable mention, 鈥�Cigarette litter-derived carbon materials for the adsorption of dye pollutants from water鈥� Social Sciences Landon DeKay, first prize, 鈥�Community Issues in Little Rock: The Interplay of Religion, Politics, and Income鈥� Savannah James, second prize, 鈥�The Effects of Political Party Issue Focus鈥� Alex Corrales, second prize, 鈥�Statute of Limitations Reform: A Window of Hope鈥� Graduate Education Codi Blackmon, first prize, 鈥�Begin Again: Reassessing Graduate Orientation鈥� Engineering Awaad Al Sarkhi, first prize, 鈥淏uilding a Data Washing Machine for Unsupervised Entity Resolution of Unstandardized References Sources鈥� Humanities Mackenzie Nunnally, honorable mention, 鈥�Women in Ceramics: Forms of Femininity鈥� Life Sciences Ashley Esparza, first prize, 鈥�Localization and Functional Characterization of Dictyostelium discoideum Rab32c鈥� Quinshell Smith, first prize, 鈥�Nanostructured Antibacterial Aluminum Foil Produced by Hot Water Treatment against E. coli in Meat鈥� Qingfang He, second prize, 鈥�Molecular Mechanisms and Anatomical Development of Transfer Cells鈥� Ilham Kadhim, third prize, 鈥�Up-regulation of Osh6 boosts an anti-aging membrane trafficking pathway toward vacuoles鈥� Physical Sciences Zach Smith, first prize, 鈥�Calculating the Urban Contribution of Surface Water Quality through Cl and 87Sr/86Sr Mixing Models within the Fourche Creek Watershed鈥� Thuy Le, second prize, 鈥�Conductive thin film characterization鈥� Social Sciences Melissa Herrington, first prize, 鈥�Image-Based Sexual Abuse and Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery as Intimate Partner Violence鈥� In the upper right photo, Josiah Johnson, a finance and economics major, completed a statistical analysis of the spillover effects and general efficacy of small business initiatives in small towns featured in the TV show Small Business Revolution for his first-place project for the Student Research and Creatives Works Expo. Photo by Ben Krain.]]> /news-archive/2021/02/19/asbtdc-build-your-own-business/ Fri, 19 Feb 2021 20:37:23 +0000 /news/?p=78395 ... ASBTDC Continues Build Your Own Business Series for Student Entrepreneurs]]> The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center is continuing its BYOB, or Build Your Own Business, initiative for University of Arkansas at Little Rock students this semester. ASBTDC launched the BYOB initiative last fall for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students who plan to start a business, have an idea for a side business or startup company, or have research with commercial potential. The center is offering a new webinar series and free business consulting for students with entrepreneurial ambitions:

• • Feb. 25 鈥� 鈥�鈥� 鈥� ASBTDC鈥檚 Elizabeth Henry will share the lean canvas approach to get a new business off the ground.
  • March 31 鈥� 鈥�鈥� 鈥� ASBTDC Market Research Assistant Josiah Johnson will discuss how to use online resources to gain valuable insights into your existing or prospective business and industry.
  • April 20 鈥� 鈥�鈥� 鈥� 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock grad Connor Donovan will talk about his journey in launching Me Mentor, a new virtual mentorship platform that connects students and young adults with professionals who serve as mentors and provide career support and education.

The presenters are all current or former 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students. ASBTDC business consultants will also hold virtual office hours just for 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students from 1-4 p.m. on the first and third Friday of the month. The one-on-one appointments are free and confidential. Students who plan to start a business, have an idea for a side business or startup company, or have research with commercial potential can all benefit from participating in Build Your Own Business, according to ASBTDC Entrepreneurial Services Manager Heather Robinette. 鈥淲e can help students make their dreams a reality,鈥� she said. For more information or to set up a consulting appointment, contact Robinette at 501-831-9134 or聽hbrobinette@ualr.edu.]]>