Arkansas

Arkies in the Beltway | Week of June 30, 2024 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

2 years ago

July 7, 2024

Arkies in the Beltway | Week of June 30, 2024 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

This is “Arkies in the Beltway” for the week of July 7, 2024. I’m Alex Thomas, Washington Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and in a change of pace, we are not spending time this week focusing on national politics and the Arkansans influencing those discussions.

Rather, we’re taking a break from our usual coverage to discuss this year’s Congressional Art Competition.

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Since 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated in the nationwide contest, submitting portraits, illustrations, photographs and other media in hopes of representing their state in a rotating exhibit located below the U.S. Capitol.

Winners from each U.S. House of Representatives district are recognized in the year-long display.

The Democrat-Gazette spoke with the four Arkansas teenagers represented in this year’s exhibit and discussed the inspiration behind their submissions.

STORY: Young Arkansas artists honored in annual art competition exhibit

Thank you for supporting “Arkies in the Beltway!” Make sure to stay up to date with all news involving Arkansas at arkansasonline.com. You can also follow what’s happening in the nation’s capital by checking me out on social media; my handle across all platforms is @AlexHouseThomas.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

2 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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