Recompete
ARI is an Economic Development Administration (EDA) Recompete Strategy Development Grant Awardee to helping communities in Southeast Arkansas significantly increase local coordination and planning activities for workforce support and development.
As Strategy Development Grant recipients of the Economic Development Administration’s Recompete program, ARI is spearheading a strategic initiative to enhance workforce engagement across southeast Arkansas. This program is part of the broader efforts under the Biden-Harris Administration’s CHIPs and Science Act, which provides significant funding to stimulate economic recovery in distressed areas. ARI’s strategy targets persistent issues such as poverty and economic instability in the Arkansas Delta. The project, 'Working for Southeast Arkansas', involves rigorous research and community interaction to devise effective solutions to increase community competitiveness and improve overall quality-of-life for all.
Our Team
Thrive Nonprofit Consulting
Bridget Ciaramitaro
Bridget is an applied anthropologist who has conducted qualitative research in West Tennessee, Arkansas and North Mississippi for Alliance for Rural Impact, East Arkansas Planning and Development Corporation, utility companies, emergency management organizations, foundations and hospitals. Her applied anthropology research and consulting outcomes have been published in books and journals and, she has won regional, national and international awards.
Bridget works with nonprofit organizations in strategic business planning, board development, critical problem solving, succession planning and fundraising. She is a certified trainer in Bridges Out of Poverty, Ethical Fitness and other leadership programs. She developed and delivers the 12-week Before You Ask program offered by the Assisi Foundation of Memphis. This program focuses on standards of excellence for nonprofit capacity-building and program development. More than 1,000 nonprofit leaders have completed this program. She is also a nationally licensed consultant in Standards for Excellence In Ethics And Accountability.
Geordy Wells
Geordy was part of the initial team that completed the groundwork research in Phillips County, AR for this project. In the nonprofit sector, he has produced significant outcomes in the process of nonprofit board development & training and currently works with community development corporations in marginalized neighborhoods. He is a trained mediation conciliator in conflict resolution through the Peacemaker Ministry process and has extensive experience in working with churches and faith-based organizations. Geordy has been a small business owner for most of his professional life. He graduated from Rhodes College and has served on a number of church and nonprofit boards. Mr. Wells is also a Standards For Excellence Licensed Consultant.
Newry Corporation
Newry Corp. is tasked with industry outreach to gain a broader understanding of employer needs as they relate to the current and future workforce. This work will inform a strategy on the primary and secondary opportunities to impact employers, specifically as related to advanced technology and innovation.
Matt Szugye
Matthew Szugye is the president of Newry, a boutique consultancy. Matt advises leaders of major blue-chip companies to mid-sized manufacturers on matters of growth, innovation, and improving operations.
Before joining Newry, he founded Fresh Fork Market, a local food distributor that connects local growers with restaurants and consumers.
Mr. Szugye has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s General Management Program.
The Solutions Group
The Solutions Group is tasked with the development of a communication strategy and plan for internal and external audiences, that connects with hard-to-reach populations for the purposes of worker recruitment, worker retention, worker readiness and engagement.
Dana D. Kelley, Principal & Creative Director
With more than four decades of experience in the marketing, advertising and public relations industry, Dana has been at the helm of his own firm for more than 38 years. In addition to directing the creative output of the agency, he is an astute public relations practitioner (PR degree from ASU), accomplished writer and expert at digesting market and consumer data to create messaging strategies. His op-ed column in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is published weekly (education is a favorite subject). After living in Jonesboro for more than 20 years, he now resides in rural Lawrence County.
Vanna Headley, Business Development
Vanna is results-oriented with a 10+ year track record of driving business success for diverse clientele within the marketing industry. With more than five years of entrepreneurial experience as a local business owner herself, as well as a degree in Marketing from Arkansas State University, she brings a unique blend of strategic vision, analytical prowess and client-centric focus to every project she undertakes. She was raised in St. Francis County.
Lee Kelley, Senior Strategy Manager
Five years with the agency, Lee has worked in varying capacities on the vast majority of our accounts and within nearly all of our widespread campaigns at the earliest and highest stages of strategy development and logistical execution — including each research project in that time and in the planning and coordination of outreach and recruitment events. In support of all aspects in our agency, from strategic planning to relationships to creative production and execution, Lee’s played a large role in helping us more than double in size the last three years. Prior to joining the agency, Lee graduated from Arkansas State with a Bachelor of Science degree with a split major of Business/Marketing and went on to work two-and-half-years as an Operations Supervisor at American Greetings Corporation in Osceola, where he managed hundreds of local employees from 2017 to 2019.
Perla Kelley, Certified Agency Account Manager (C.A.A.M.)
Perla has more than seven years of Marketing experience. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in International Business with a focus in Marketing. She worked for more than 5 years with the largest John Deere dealership in Arkansas, Greenway Equipment, marketing directly to rural towns in Arkansas and Missouri. She currently serves The Solutions Group as an Account Manager, being the direct line of communication to help clients meet their marketing goals with the agency services. Perla grew up in an agricultural family in Mississippi County and now resides in Jonesboro.
Anna Long, Senior Projects Director
Anna has been with The Solutions group for more than 17 years and has 22+ years of marketing and advertising experience in several industries such as telecommunications, banking, non profit, retail, agriculture, healthcare, higher education and more. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with a double major in Advertising/Public Relations and Marketing. Anna’s expertise spans all aspects of project management: client liaison, market research, production management, media planning & purchasing, and more. Anna is originally from Mississippi County and now lives in Jonesboro.
Tessah Luebke, Social Media Specialist
Tessah has more than 9 years of experience working with technology, social media, graphic design, website development, and marketing strategy. She graduated from Arkansas State University with a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. Originally from DeWitt, Tessah now resides in Jonesboro, where she continues to expand her influence within marketing and the dynamic field of social and digital outreach and engagement.
Jobs For the Future and Rural LISC
Jobs For the Future (JFF) and Rural LISC are tasked with intervention vetting. This team of nationally renowned experts will analyze, and vet recommended strategy interventions using data and comparisons of success from around the country.
Veronica Buckwalter, Jobs For the Future
For more than 15 years, Veronica has helped communities build collaborative, transformative workforce systems that anticipate, reflect, and respond to the increasingly diverse needs of America’s job seekers.
Veronica came to Jobs for the Future (JFF) in 2016. As a director of Solutions Design and Delivery, she specializes in Public Workforce System Transformation. Her work aims to understand, elevate, and replicate innovative practices focused on expansion of equitable practices, human-centered design, job quality, and data disaggregation within the public workforce system. Her subject matter expertise includes employer engagement, sector partnerships, labor-market information, equitable practices and approaches, strategic planning, research and evaluation, and systems thinking.
Prior to JFF, Veronica spent 4 years as director of the Center for Industry Research and Workforce Alignment (CIRWA) at Delaware Technical Community College in Dover, Delaware. She oversaw all labor market research that served to guide academic and policy decision-making at the college’s four campuses. Her role connecting the college to local employers and community leaders was key to ensuring academic programs were in-demand and reflective of today’s technology and skill needs.
Prior to Delaware Tech, she was Director of Workforce Initiatives at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry where she oversaw state and federal workforce grants and programs including the state’s nationally recognized sector partnership initiative and the State Workforce Development Board.
Veronica received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science/International Relations from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2007 and a Masters of Public Administration from Penn State University in 2009. She resides in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, a rural community in the north central part of the state.
Julianne Dunn, Jobs For the Future
Julianne Dunn is the Senior Program Officer of Workforce + Financial Prosperity. Dunn manages a comprehensive portfolio of community and economic development programs, including the Rural Works program, a workforce development initiatives that leverages the momentum of rural communities to reimagine and redevelop the workforce ecosystems that impact their communities, as well as the financial literacy education and coaching, small business and entrepreneurship, and Safety & Justice programs. She works to align the workforce, financial capability, business development and retention, and justice efforts, and to highlight the innovations and challenges of rural markets to foster a 21st century economy.
Previously she served as the Instructor-Economic Development for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Community, Professional, and Economic Development, primarily leading a rural economic development project focused on retail and tourism. She also led efforts in youth entrepreneurship, leadership development, and diversity, belonging, equity, and inclusion efforts around the state. Additionally, she has served as the Assistant Director of Field Service for the Clinton School of Public Service, as a Facilitation Coach for UFacilitate, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine.
Julianne has a B.A. in political science from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a Masters of Public Health from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health, and a Masters of Public Service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. She lives in Kansas City, Kansas, where she is a proud supporter of the KC Current, and the other local professional sports teams.