#2BFayetteville

Erasing cultural boundaries "How do we strengthen each other? What is it we can do together, more efficiently?" asks Clark. "A new day in business has dawned and we are fully embracing it. It's about building bridges. With coopetition you aren't limited by boundaries." That includes boundaries between companies, cities, cultures and even countries. Fayetteville's Hispanic Heritage Festival, held every fall since 2010, was a catalyst for exploring coopetition among diverse communities here in Northwest Arkansas and beyond. Beginning with an economic development trip to Panama, Clark and his team began building relationships with businesses and higher education institutions south of the border. Trips also included Bogata, Columbia; Sao Paolo, Brazil; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mick Maggi of Maggi Consulting went on some of the Central and South American trips with the Fayetteville chamber. He's retired from AT&T global accounts, and has business relationships in Columbia, Costa Rica and Panama. He's also a member of the National Hispanic Heritage Foundation, and works with the chamber on their festival. Maggi was a founding member and served on the board of the Beaver Watershed Alliance, where he helped spearhead an effort to encourage patrons of Beaver Lake to help prevent pollution into the lake that serves as the drinking water source for one in seven Arkansans. Maggi began taking exploratory business trips to Central America shortly after he retired in 2012. Visiting with Clark at an event shortly after one of his early trips, they compared similar observations about the region. Clark invited Maggi to go with his group on their next trip. Mutually beneficial opportunities The trips exposed business people and city government officials to dynamics and details about doing business in the region, Maggi explains, things like tax-free zones in Panama, for example. "Meeting with government officials, there was much learned about the close ties to Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas," he points out. "Some of the people we met had attended the University of Arkansas and all of them knew people who had. Our global Maggi learning to cook paella at Don Benjie Geisha Coffee Plantation in Boquete Panama. Gisele De Dianous (pictured) is the daughter of the owner Benjie De Dianous. Her son, two nephews and an uncle all attended the University of Arkansas. 6 th Avenida de Fayetteville The warm welcome extended by Clark and others inspired the leaders of San Vicente Pacaya to offer to honor Fayetteville in a special way. Clark recalls the words of Mayor Gonzalez, "You have been so good to us, so welcoming and helpful, to show our appreciation, we'd like to name a street in our town after Fayetteville." The town's newly renovated 6th Avenue has now been named "6th Avenida de Fayetteville." With the relationship off to a good start, Mayor Gonzalez and Steve Clark, along with Fayetteville's Mayor Jordan, City Councilman De'Andre Jones, and other officials are optimistic about opportunities for coopetition beyond the sister city designation. Guatemala will participate for the first time in Fayetteville's 2022 Hispanic Heritage Festival. 10

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