THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. PLEASE EMAIL STACY WILSON AT SWILSON@LITTLEROCKCHAMBER.COM TO BE ADDED TO WAITING LIST

Power Up Little Rock is hosted by the Chamber and presented by Arvest Bank. This quarterly series highlights important economic development trends, issues and developments within the region and the state.

Downtown Little Rock has seen a lot of redevelopment and revitilization over the past three decades - from the River Market District, to SoMa, to the East Village, and across the river in Argenta. But with changing office needs resulting from new technologies and working patterns that were accelerated by the pandemic, combined with the constant demand by residents and tourists for "what's next," we can't afford to rest.

Downtown plays a pivotal role in our economic health, and a thriving downtown is a vital component to a strong region. So, what is the plan? How do we grow? What's next?

In this session, you will hear from representatives of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, the Little Rock Convention and Visitor's Bureau, and the Little Rock Technology Park. The discussion will include the Downtown Master Plan, the new Tourism Master Plan, the future 15-acre downtown park resulting from the 30 Crossing project and the possibility of a "deck park" over I-30 between 6th and 9th Streets. You'll also hear about future projects in the works, such as the dental and veterinary schools, the Central Arkansas Library System's Main Library remodel, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra facility, and "phase 2" of the Tech Park.

Meet our panelists

Gabe Holmstrom
Executive Director
Downtown Little Rock Partnership

Gabe Holmstrom has been the Executive Director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership since April 2015. In his years as Executive Director, Gabe has added several new successful DLRP events including the Barkus on Main Mardi Gras dog parade, downtown alley parties, East Village Jam music festival, Between the Rocks river party, '80's Mall Mash-Up party, and the Bright The Night holiday tree lighting - all of which produce revenue for the nonprofit. He initiated the DLRP Ambassador Program, which provides an additional presence for residents and visitors of downtown Little Rock, and he has successfully spearheaded large-scale public art installations downtown. Through his innovation and hard work, Gabe has noticeably moved the needle forward for downtown Little Rock.

Gina Gemberling
President & CEO
Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau

Gina Gemberling is a 30+ year tourism industry veteran. A native of Emden, Illinois, she began her career after graduating from Patricia Stevents College in Saint Louis before becoming sales director of the Lincoln Plaza Best Western in Springfield, Illinois. In 1993, she transitioned to the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau as a convention sales coordinator, and rose through the organizations ranks for 24 years, culminating with a three-year tenure as executive director. She joined the Little Rock Convention & Visitor's Bureau in 2018 as the vice president of sales & services. Three years later, she was promoted to senior vice president of sales & marketing, and in 2022, was named president & CEO.

Merritt Dake
President
CEO/Founder One Health

Merritt grew up in a rural area of Southern Missouri in a town called West Plains. He graduated in 2008 with degrees in Accounting, International Studies & Chinese from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Dallas is where he started his career as a CPA with Deloitte. Through this work, he found his way into dentistry through a client group of orthodontists looking to a build a national brand. In 2012, Merritt moved to Little Rock, and alongside partner orthodontists, started a small group of orthodontic practices. Somewhat by accident, this became a multi-faceted services and products business with the mission of supporting independent providers to compete with dental consolidators. This included the founding of the orthodontic & dental practice management software company called Greyfinch which he still holds today. In 2015, a group of those providers, alongside Merritt, created Rock Dental Brands with the goals of giving providers more freedom to focus on quality treatment and improved multi-specialty peer-to-peer collaboration, while addressing the inefficiencies that make dentistry less accessible to patients. In his newest venture, One Health, Merritt strategically partners with organizations and industry professionals to address this cost and convenience issue across multiple healthcare verticals.

Jay Chesshir
President & CEO
Little Rock Regional Chamber

Under Chesshir’s leadership the Little Rock Regional Chamber has directly worked on projects accounting for more than $2.1 billion in new and expanded capital investment for the region, more than 15,000 jobs and $489 million in new annual payroll. Chesshir serves on the UA Little Rock College of Business advisory board, UA Little Rock College of Engineering & Information Technology Leadership Council, Little Rock Technology Park, the Venture Center Board and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. He is also a Ford Foundation Fellow of the ACCE Regionalism and Sustainable Development Program.

Meet our moderator

Rex Nelson
Reporter / Historian
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rex Nelson has been President of Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities (AICU) since January 2011. One of the state's most high-profile writers and speakers, he has had a long career in government, journalism and public affairs. He has been honored through the years by organizations as varied as the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas, the Arkansas Municipal League and the Arkansas chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. He's viewed as an expert on Arkansas history, Southern culture and Southern politics and has appeared on radio and television stations across the country. Nelson writes a weekly column for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state's largest newspaper, and is the author of the popular Southern Fried Blog at www.rexnelsonsouthernfried.com. His feature stories regularly appear in magazines such as Arkansas Life and TBQ.

For more information or registration issues, please contact Teuana Smith at 501.377.6031 or tsmith@littlerockchamber.com
Information on sponsorship for this event and future, please contact Stacy Wilson at 501.377.6004 or swilson@littlerockchamber.com

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