Arkansas

BRTC and AR National Guard sign memorandum of understanding

Published

2 years ago

August 12, 2024

BRTC and AR National Guard sign memorandum of understanding

POCAHONTAS, Ark. (KAIT/Edited News Release) – On Aug. 12, Black River Technical College signed a memorandum of understanding with the Arkansas Army National Guard.

Signing the MOU were BRTC president Dr. Martin Eggensperger, Arkansas Adjutant General, and Arkansas National Guard Brigadier General Chad Bridges. The partnership is the first in the state of its kind.

Arkansas National Guard Brigadier General Chad Bridges, who is Arkansas Adjutant General, and Arkansas National Guard Brigadier General Michael Henderson, Director of the Joint Staff, arrived at BRTC with 17 other guardsmen aboard two black hawk helicopters.

Brigadier General Bridges remarked on the uniqueness and need for the partnership with BRTC then signed the MOU with President Eggensperger.

BRTC and the Arkansas Army National Guard hope this partnership will help keep Northeast Arkansas’s young workforce in the region and the state.

The BRTC/Arkansas Army National Guard MOU lays the groundwork for increasing curriculum and instruction collaboration.

The Arkansas Army National Guard will also house a recruiter at BRTC Pocahontas who will assist all BRTC students and will visit area high schools to provide more information about the Guard.

In addition, Guardsmen will serve as guest speakers in BRTC classrooms, particularly focusing on the durable or soft skills that are required by business and industry.

Attending with Brigadier General Henderson were Colonel Derald Neugebauer, 233rd RTI Commander and Arkansas Army NG Chief of Staff; Colonel Joseph Geaney, Director of Staff for the Arkansas Air NG; Command Sergeant Major Gregory White, State Sergeant Mayor; Colonel Anthony Sanders, Arkansas NG Director of Military Support; Major Justin Moss, Arkansas NG J-33/57; Lieutenant Colonel Eric Scarborough, Army Recruiting and Retention Commander; Command Sergeant Major Curtis Coleman, Army Recruiting and Retention; Alpha Company Commander Major Randy Vest, Army Recruiting and Retention; First Sergeant Jeff Gober, Army Recruiting and Retention; Sergeant First Class Russton Rankin, Army Recruiting and Retention Recruiter; Staff Sergeant Holden Hartsfield, Army Recruiting and Retention Recruiter; Major Cibeles Ramirez-Rodriguez, Arkansas NG State Public Affairs Officer; Zac Lehr, Arkansas NG Public Affairs Specialist; Major James Schafer, NG MTC Administrative

Officer; First Lieutenant Daniel Condit, Air Recruiting and Retention Public Affairs Officer; Master Sergeant Greg Burks, Air Recruiting and Retention Recruiter; Sergeant First Class Joshua Daffern, CSMS Maintenance Control noncommissioned officer. Several of the Guardsmen attending are natives of Northeast Arkansas.

Also attending the event were Arkansas state representatives Bart Shulz, Trey Steimel, and Jeremy Wooldridge; Arkansas State Senator Blake Johnson; Pocahontas Mayor Keith Futrell; and several BRTC Board of Trustee and Foundation Board members.

For more information about opportunities with the Arkansas Army National Guard including how the Guard can pay for college tuition and fees, contact Staff Sergeant Holden Hartsfield, Arkansas Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Recruiter, at (870) 248-4000.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

6 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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