City of Bentonville developed “Bentonville Blueprint,” which outlined a strategic economic development plan and sparked the idea for a program to intentionally develop a talent pipeline to support identified sectors critical to the region’s growth.
Ignite Professional Studies program was officially introduced with its first “career strand”offering Technology to 16 students. Teresa Hudson was named Director.
Seven career strands were added over two years, including Construction Management, Digital Design/Photography, Health Sciences, Video Production, Culinary Arts, Education Innovation, and Global Business.
Bentonville Public School District opened the Ignite Center for Advanced Professional Studies, a 6,000-square-foot facility on North Walton Boulevard in Bentonville, which housed six of the eight career strands. The other two strands –Construction Management and Culinary Arts – met in Wildcat Way and Brightwater, respectively.
Ignite added two career strands: 1) Aviation - Air Mobility and 2) Industrial Design. Ignite partnered with the Thaden Field to host the Aviation – Air Mobility strand. Ignite also increased its capacity, including adding an Annex building, to accept additional students in Education Innovation, Global Business, Health Sciences, and Technology.
Jessica Imel was named Director following Teresa Hudson’s retirement. The Ignite Industrial Design and Construction Management welcomed students back to a newly renovated 9,000 square-foot space that prepares students for next-generation technical careers. FANUC robotics, CNC manufacturing technologies, Programmable Logic Controlled (PLC) modules, and Amatrol interactive trainers offer hands-on, authentic experiences in engineering and industrial maintenance topics.
The Ignite program expands with the addition of the Law-Public Policy career strand, Tango Flight Airplane Build in Aviation and an additional focus area in Health Science for Integrative Health.
Ignite continues to expand its impact, now serving 600 students across 10 career strands. The program deepens its focus on workforce readiness through professional experiences and new initiatives in Maternal Health, AI Literacy and Entrepreneurship. The program spans 5 locations in the Bentonville area.
