re: Just booked my trip to Fayetteville....

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This is one I would disagree with. I mean, there are plenty of jobs available, but that doesn't necessarily mean the "opportunities" are better. If you are working for a vendor of Wal-Mart, you really have a limited ceiling to your career unless you are willing to move to wherever that companies' HQ is. Outside of that, if you aren't working for the UA or one of the Big 3, there isn't a whole lot out there.

What you forget about Little Rock is that it has a huge health care sector. Baptist Health and St Vincent are HUGE hospitals, and that's not mentioning UAMS. If you haven't driven by UAMS lately, you should, because it is like a small city in itself. There are thousands of doctors/researchers/students there, I consider it LR's "answer" to the UA. It's just a much more professional crowd compared to the college students at UA.

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I don't know if you've been in NWA much but there are jobs outside of the big 3.

The larger vendors have big offices and the positions that go with them in NWA. The vendor jobs may have ceilings but they are much higher than the average ceiling you will find in the rest of the state including LR.

I would not brag too much on the finance sector in LR (or anywhere), specially when it is looking like Stevens may be interested in purchasing Metropolitan. If you hadn't heard, Metropolitan has been laying people off, at least up here. The rumor is Metropolitan is positioning itself to be purchased by Stevens. (BTW, Metropolitan had terrible timing on trying to create a presence in NWA)

IMO, Stevens and the insurance sector carry the finance sector in LR. BTW, Stevens can thank a little retailer in NWA for helping it grow. Taking Wal Mart public was a big benefit for both companies.

Axciom is struggling and will continue to struggle for some time. Hopefully the VC in charge will make the right decisions and salvage Axciom. Those are good jobs and I'd hate to see them lost.

UAMS and the other hospitals are good jobs and help stabilize the LR area. My wife actually worked at St. Vincents and now works at one of the local hospitals up here. While NWA has 7 hospitals they do not have the volume of the ones in LR.

Fayetteville definitely has a younger crowd but students do not dominate the scene in NWA, at least not any longer. Rogers/Bentonville has an older, more established/professional crowd and is more akin to LR, just a little smaller. This group has also become much more diverse with the influx of people to the area.


Great discussion and love the name SwineFlu.