The Natural State Housing Summit
About this Event
The Natural State Housing Summit is a statewide convening in Little Rock bringing together legislators, municipal leaders, housing practitioners, and key stakeholders to align around Arkansas's most pressing housing challenges and advance actionable policy solutions. The summit will feature expert voices from across the country who will provide regional and national on housing production strategies, regulatory reform, and proven policy models.
Through structured sessions and facilitated dialogue, the summit will elevate solutions that are working in other states, preview legislative priorities ahead of the 2027 Arkansas session, and strengthen the cross-sector coalition needed to move housing production forward at scale.
Agenda
🕑: 07:45 AM - 08:15 AM
Breakfast and Registration
🕑: 08:15 AM - 08:45 AM
Welcome
Host: Duke McLarty
🕑: 09:15 AM - 10:15 AM
How to Get Arkansas Building Again
Host: Marc Dunkelman
Info: This country used to build things: transit lines, power plants, the housing people actually need. It largely does not anymore. Marc Dunkelman, a fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and author of Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress and How to Bring It Back, argues that the cause is not a lack of ambition but a system that allows almost anyone to slow almost anything down. He will explain how that gridlock took hold, why housing has borne the brunt of it, and what it takes to get unstuck and build anyway.
🕑: 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Inside the ROAD to Housing Act: What the New Law Means for Arkansas
Host: Mike Kingsella
Info: Mike Kingsella, CEO of Up for Growth, joins Chairman French Hill, Congressman – Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, at the summit to break down the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: what it actually does, why it managed to draw support across party lines, and where its provisions could make the most difference. The conversation moves from the details of the law itself to the practical question every attendee is really there for, what it means for housing supply, affordability, and policy in Arkansas specifically.
🕑: 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
By the Numbers: The State of Housing in Arkansas
Host: Mervin Jebaraj
Info: Mervin Jebaraj, Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Walton College of Business, presents the most current data on housing supply, cost, and demand across Arkansas, giving attendees a shared, evidence-based picture of where the state stands.
🕑: 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Lunch- Provided
🕑: 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM
Introducing Groundwork's Housing Agenda & 2026 Housing Champions
Host: Duke McLarty
Info: This session offers a brief introduction to Groundwork's policy agenda for expanding housing access across Arkansas, built on months of research, coalition input, and conversations with communities across the state. Following the introduction, Groundwork will introduce this year's Housing Champion awardees, honoring the individuals and organizations whose advocacy and partnership helped bring this agenda to life.
🕑: 12:50 PM - 01:45 PM
What's at Stake: The Impact of Groundwork's Policy Agenda
Host: Makinizi Hoover
Info: Panelists Mackenzie Hoover of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tushar Kansal of Pew Research, and Abby Hughes Holsclaw of Asset Funders Network dig into what Groundwork's agenda could mean for housing markets, employers, and the communities counting on more affordable options.
🕑: 02:30 PM - 03:30 PM
Keynote: Rewriting the Rulebook- How Memphis Unlocked New Housing
Host: John Zeanah
Info: John Zeanah, former Chief of Development and Infrastructure for the City of Memphis, tells the story of how a close, deliberate look at fire code requirements opened the door to housing types the city had effectively locked out for years. He'll walk through how Memphis identified the problem, built the case for changing it, and got the reform across the finish line, offering a concrete, replicable model for cities and states, Arkansas included, looking for practical ways to expand housing supply.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 23.18
