Bentonville in Branson

I was in Branson, MO to kick-off the Branson Chamber’s Strategic Planning Weekend. Why didn’t it surprise me that one of America’s most vibrant small towns, Bentonville, would travel to another success story, Branson? Winners tend to hang together. And, these are two of the biggest winners I’ve seen in the USA.

Bentonville was a town of 3,000 when Sam Walton moved there. In the 2000 census its population was up to 16,000 and is estimated at 25,000 today.

Ed Clifford, Chamber Executive Director, related to me about how the renaissance of the downtown started about 10 years ago, “It started with six people who each recruited another person, eventually growing to about 60 people who decided to make a difference. They identified “Seven Sacred Places” in Bentonville. They spent a whole morning brainstorming and identifying them. Some of the places they identified were The Square; Fred’s Hickory Inn Restaurant; The Peel House Mansion; The Old High Middle School; and a 200-year-old tree. All but the 200-year-tree are still there.”

Bentonville’s Main Street Program started in 2001, originating from those meetings of ten years ago. Today Bentonville has one of the finest downtowns that I’ve been in. And they are a town focused upon the future, not resting upon their laurels.