The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals encompass a wide variety of important concerns that must be addressed jointly on a global scale. However, it may not be necessary to devise a comprehensive strategy to support these endeavors. The accumulation of activity at the local level will have large-scale results at the national or global levels. Based on this philosophy, Dr. Bao Hoang has led the Entrepreneurship Access Resource Network (EARN), a collaboration of representatives from the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce, Small Business and Technology Development Center, and Ranking College of Business to promote entrepreneurial activities in southwest Arkansas where has been economically poor, with significant poverty and unemployment rates.
As chair of the EARN committee, Dr. Bao Hoang has collaborated with other committee members to discover resources that are beneficial to local entrepreneurs. He also collaborates with the Venture Center in Little Rock, the state capital, to develop an accelerator in the Southwest region of the state. The proposed accelerator will play an important role in encouraging innovation and establishing new, high-growth firms among Southern Arkansas University’s student body and the surrounding community.
The project is likely to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the region, resulting in poverty reduction, economic development, and innovation, all of which are addressed in the UN’s sustainable development objectives. Dr. Hoang’s leadership of this effort qualifies him to serve as a mentor for AAPI Achieve, Arkansas’ first mentorship program for Asian-descendent entrepreneurs. The Venture Center, Arkansas’ primary entrepreneurial support institution, coordinated the one-year program. The mentor was initially paired with a mentee, and the two will meet monthly to discuss how to grow their present enterprises. Along with directing the EARN committee, the AAPI mentoring involves Dr. Bao Hoang in community service to promote entrepreneurship and innovation throughout the state
Author: Riley Pham, Ph.D.
