FREE SPEED DATING WITH 14 LENDERS: ASBTDC's Lender Quick-Connect Is May 13 in Little Rock
The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) is hosting a free Lender Quick-Connect event on Wednesday, May 13th, from 1–4 p.m. at the UA Little Rock Reynolds Business Center. In a single afternoon, registered business owners will sit down one-on-one with up to seven lenders from 14 confirmed Arkansas financial institutions, including Arvest Bank, Chase Bank, Arkansas Federal Credit Union, Hope Credit Union, Southern Bancorp, Communities Unlimited, FORGE Community Loan Fund, and Regions Bank, among others. Registration is free and required in advance; ASBTDC matches each attendee with relevant lenders based on their industry, credit history, business stage, and project scope.
Getting in front of a traditional lender as an individual business owner usually takes weeks of phone tag and cold emails. This event condenses that process into one Wednesday afternoon, and ASBTDC does the matchmaking for you. Whether you need a $50,000 equipment loan or a Little Rock realtor wants to discuss an SBA 7(a) line of credit for a new team, attending this event with a one-page executive summary of your business is the fastest path to a real capital conversation in Central Arkansas right now. The event is funded through ASBTDC's federal SSBCI grant, meaning there is no charge to attend.
Register today at asbtdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/70372508, or call ASBTDC's Laterika Tooks-Staton directly at 501-804-4530. Prepare a one-paragraph summary of your business, the amount you are seeking, and how you plan to use the funds. That is all you need to walk in the door.
Arkansas Cuts Income Tax Rate to 3.7%, Signed Into Law May 6th
On May 6th, Governor Sanders signed into law both HB1001 and SB1, the products of a special legislative session she called on April 29th. The new law lowers the top individual income tax rate from 3.9% to 3.7%, retroactively effective January 1st, 2026, and reduces the top corporate income tax rate from 4.3% to 4.1% beginning January 1st, 2027. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration estimates that approximately 1.1 million Arkansas taxpayers will see a reduction in their tax burden.
For a self-employed business owner or S-corp owner in paying themselves a salary, a 0.2-percentage-point rate cut is real money, and because it is retroactive to January 1st, 2026, money has already been over-withheld this year. That means a potential refund when filing 2026 taxes. On the corporate side, the rate drops to 4.1% in 2027, which matters for any LLC or corporation owner doing tax planning right now. Combined with last month's permanent 20% small business federal deduction, Arkansas small business owners are sitting in one of the most favorable tax environments in state history.
Call your accountant or CPA this week and ask two things: (1) Do my 2026 withholdings need to be adjusted to reflect the new 3.7% top rate? and (2) Are there any year-end moves I should make now, given the 2027 corporate rate cut? Even a 30-minute tax planning call can translate to hundreds or thousands of dollars in savings.
Free Federal AI Training Is Now Available at Your ASBTDC: What the AI for Main Street Act Means for Conway Business Owners
The federal AI for Main Street Act of 2026 has fully activated Arkansas ASBTDC centers as AI training and advisory hubs, providing free, structured AI education and one-on-one AI consulting to any Arkansas small business owner at no cost. The Act created a four-tier curriculum: from AI fundamentals through advanced 12-month AI strategy roadmaps, and established a credentialing pathway that SBDC-certified business owners can use when applying for certain federal contracts and SBA loan programs. Priority sectors explicitly targeted in Arkansas include food service, retail, healthcare-adjacent businesses (dental, physical therapy, clinics), and professional services — businesses representing the majority of Conway and Central Arkansas's small business community.
The gap between small businesses using AI and those not using it is measurably widening in 2026, with 82% of small business employers now investing in AI tools, according to the SBE Council's 2026 survey. Arkansas ASBTDC consultants are now certified to advise on AI tool selection, implementation, and ROI for free. A Conway restaurant owner can walk into an ASBTDC session and walk out with a curated list of vetted AI tools for inventory, staffing, and customer service, matched to their specific budget and tech comfort level. A Little Rock property manager can get a free AI implementation roadmap. None of this requires a tech background, a large budget, or a consultant retainer.
Go to asbtdc.org and request a free one-on-one consulting session. Specifically mention "AI advisory" in the request form. ASBTDC now lists AI-specific counseling as a standalone core service. The session is confidential, free, and available to any Arkansas for-profit business, from a solo operator to a 50-person firm.
Sba Disaster Loan: Arkansas Businesses Affected by January’s Winter Storm Have Until January 29th, 2027 to Apply
On April 29th, the SBA issued an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) declaration for Arkansas, triggered by the severe winter weather that struck the state from January 23rd–26th, 2026. The declaration makes low-interest federal disaster loans available to small businesses and private nonprofit organizations across multiple Arkansas counties that experienced economic losses, even if the physical property was not damaged. The application deadline is January 29th, 2027, and loans can be up to $2 million, with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and terms up to 30 years.
The January 2026 winter storm hit Faulkner County as well as Pulaski, Lonoke, Saline, and dozens of other Central Arkansas counties. If your business lost revenue, experienced supply chain disruptions, had staff unable to report to work, or was forced to close during the storm, you may qualify for this loan, even if your building suffered no physical damage. EIDLs can be used to pay payroll, fixed debts, accounts payable, and other working capital needs that went unmet because of the disaster. Many business owners miss this window because they assume "disaster loan" only applies to physical damage.
Visit lending.sba.gov today to check eligibility and start an application. The process takes approximately 30 minutes online. If you have questions, call the SBA disaster assistance line at 1-800-659-2955.
Walton Foundation Launches Strategy 2030: $548M Annual Giving Machine Refocuses on NWA and the Delta: With Small Business at the Center
On May 6th, 2026, the Walton Family Foundation officially launched "Home Region Strategy 2030," a new five-year grantmaking framework that refocuses the foundation's work specifically on Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. The strategy's two regional pillars both include explicit commitments to small business: the NWA component targets "supporting entrepreneurs by expanding access to capital." The Delta component emphasizes "enhancing small business resilience to broaden local economic opportunity." The foundation awarded $548.8 million in grants in 2024 alone, and its grants range from $20,000 to more than $30 million per recipient.
The Walton Family Foundation does not give grants directly to individual small businesses; it funds nonprofits, educational institutions, and partner organizations that then deliver programs, capital, and resources to businesses in the region. However, Strategy 2030's explicit focus on "access to capital for entrepreneurs" and "small business resilience" in both NWA and the Delta signals that the foundation's grantees, including groups like Southern Bancorp Community Partners, FORGE Community Loan Fund, Winrock International, and the Arkansas Women's Business Center, are about to receive significant new funding to expand their programs. Delta-region businesses in Desha, Jefferson, Phillips, and Monroe counties should watch for new loan products and technical assistance programs from these organizations over the next 12 months. For NWA businesses, the capital access expansion signals new CDFI and alternative lending products coming to the region
Action Step
Search the Walton Family Foundation's public grants database at waltonfamilyfoundation.org/grants-database to identify which organizations in your county have already received Walton funding, then contact those organizations directly to learn what new programs they are launching under Strategy 2030. This is how small businesses get ahead of the funding wave before it becomes widely known.
Thumbnail photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/letter-tiles-beside-cash-5912590/