The research project that Johnson, a Sherwood native, completed for his final project for the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program ahead of his December 2021 graduation has been published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Johnson now works as a data analyst at , a successful education-technology company based in Little Rock.

The article, 鈥�,鈥� is Johnson鈥檚 first published academic article. Johnson and his co-author, Dr. Rhet Smith, a former 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor, explored how a television show contest among small towns for a $500,000 revitalization award could support economic policies for crime reduction.

When he was a senior finance and economics major at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Johnson researched the impact on small towns that have been nominated for and featured on the TV show 鈥淪mall Business Revolution (SBR).鈥� 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 in 2019.

According to Johnson and Smith, the success of small businesses is a vital component of small towns, since local businesses provide employment opportunities and generate revenue for the local economy. This article compares and quantifies the impact of the award on various economic outcomes of three winning towns relative to 45 non-winning nominees. The results of his project can help investors and policy makers looking into developing small business initiatives and programs in the future.

Johnson and Smith observed the changes in three of the show鈥檚 winning towns: Wabash, Indiana; Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania; and Searcy, Arkansas. Using police agency-level data from the FBI鈥檚 Uniform Crime Reports, the authors found that property crimes declined following the SBR investment in two of the three winning tons. After the initial year of investment from SBR, Wabash experienced an estimated 59 percent decline in property crime while Bristol Borough experienced an estimated 55 percent fewer property crimes.

They estimated that the declines in larceny and burglary following the towns鈥� participation in SBR resulted in an average annual savings of around $100,000 for Wabash and $83,000 for Bristol Borough. While the $500,000 SBR prize is mainly awarded to six small businesses, the economic benefits of a revitalized main street and crime reduction is a benefit to the whole town.

No change in crime rate was found for Searcy, but the authors caution that they were only able to study one year of crime statistics for the town during their involvement in the TV show and that effects of being on SBR may yet be seen.

鈥淲hile the effects of the investment in Searcy may materialize after our sample period, we note that 2 of the 6 businesses that SBR assisted in this town were not operating as of 2022,鈥� the study said. 鈥淭he lack of first stage evidence and high business failure rate suggest the Season 4 investment in Searcy was not as impactful as the previous seasons and may be the reason we do not observe a second order effect on crime in this town.鈥�

Johnson said they hoped for more definitive findings from Searcy, but the positive effects of being involved in SBR may have been minimized by the onset of COVID-19 in 2020.

鈥淪earcy was different from the other two winning towns we studied,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲e only had one year to observe the crime stats, so we didn鈥檛 get to see the long-term effects of airing on 鈥楽mall Business Revolution.鈥� We didn鈥檛 see any change in the crime statistics in Searcy, but I think that could be due to COVID-19 occurring only a year after they won 鈥楽mall Business Revolution.鈥欌��

The research earned Johnson several accolades during his senior year. He was awarded a 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Signature Experience grant to help fund his research and received first place in the Economics Division at the 2021 Student Research and Creative Works Expo. Additionally, Johnson also received the 2021 Karen M. Russ Memorial Award for Excellence in Research and a $500 scholarship.

鈥淚 am definitely happy that I did this study,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚 think it turned out really well, I learned a lot, and I am appreciative of Dr. Smith. I am grateful for the experience, and it鈥檚 been a lot of fun to explore the economic impacts of small towns supporting small business.鈥�

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While attending University Night at , the sophomore web design and development major said she has her eye on the Little Rock-based educational technology company as a strong contender for a potential future employer.

鈥淚 have been following Apptegy for a while,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淚 see that Apptegy is a big technology company in Arkansas, and I want to go into tech, specifically software development.鈥�

Signing up for University Night, which gave 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students a chance to connect and learn about careers from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock alumni who work at Apptegy, was a 鈥渘o-brainer鈥� for Kennedy.

糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and Apptegy partnered to hold University Night on April 27. The successful event was yet another way that 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is contributing to growing the Central Arkansas workforce by being innovative about connecting industry partners with upcoming graduates.

While Apptegy started off with only a handful of school districts in Arkansas, the successful start-up company now works with more than 3,000 school districts across the country. The company has just opened an office in the United Kingdom. Apptegy鈥檚 Thrillshare product is a communication platform built for school leaders. allows K-12 administrators to share news, stories, and media from a single platform, which then distributes the content across 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.

Apptegy鈥檚 19 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock alumni were proud to welcome potential new members to the Apptegy family. Katie Edwards, a 2020 graduate of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, works as a human resources generalist on Apptegy鈥檚 People Team, and it鈥檚 her job to help build a team of great people to work at Apptegy.

鈥淭ech startups are usually something found in New York, so I was immediately interested with Apptegy being in my hometown,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淚 started here last November, and I already love it. It鈥檚 a welcoming and energetic place to work. Earning my MBA at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was like a restart for me, something new and fresh, and so is working at Apptegy. There aren鈥檛 many companies like it.鈥�

After taking a tour of Apptegy, Maria Romero, a senior marketing major at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, was impressed by Apptegy鈥檚 employee benefits like weekly catered lunches, a gym, and health and wellness programs.

鈥淚 think this event is wonderful,鈥� Romero said. 鈥淢y biggest takeaway is that Apptegy puts in so much effort to take care of their employees. I鈥檓 glad that 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has made a bond with Apptegy and wants to help students get into successful careers.鈥�

Josiah Johnson, a December 2021 graduate of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, recalls how he leveraged his experience with an award-winning research project he conducted at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock into a position as a data analyst at Apptegy. His research studied the effects of a television show contest, 鈥淪mall Business Revolution,鈥� on small town crime.

鈥淎pptegy asked if they could talk to me, and I asked if they had any data analyst positions open,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 at the time, but a month later they called me back and said we need to invest more in our data team. I used my paper to leverage my experience in economic research to show how I would be an asset to the data team.鈥�

Johnson鈥檚 research project, has recently been published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

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 .

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