As students and educators return to school this month it is a great time to reflect on the excellent educational offerings we have in our area. We have great K-12 schools including private schools, the Fort Smith Public Schools and Future School, and tremendous post-secondary institutions such as UA-Fort Smith and the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

This month, the Chamber is especially thankful for the support of our business community as we celebrated our appreciation of our Fort Smith teachers in the k-12 systems, and for the start of our newest Leadership Fort Smith and Junior Leadership Academy classes.

As we grow closer to the construction completion of the Peak Innovation Center our excitement with students beginning those pathways this semester is palpable. Our region is fortunate to have had a number of great career and technical education programs, but five years ago, we knew it was time to step up our game. In partnership with FSPS, UAFS, the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce and local business and industry, we have been rethinking the way we approach career and technical education. This approach has positioned us to create an additional source of talent for current and future companies and build a long-term pipeline of technically skilled talent for them. At the center of this effort is Peak.

Peak Innovation Center, which will operate as part of the Fort Smith Public School system, is a state of the art, career and technology center has begun classes this month with students being on site for courses later this school year. Located in East Fort Smith, at the corner of Zero Street and Painter Lane, Peak will offer career pathways to approximately 43,000 total students from 22 regional school districts and will focus on four distinct programs – Advanced Manufacturing, Information Technology, Healthcare Sciences, and the Arts.

11th and 12th grade students enrolled in the programs at Peak will earn technical concurrent credit from the Western Arkansas Technical Center at University of Arkansas – Fort Smith and will be able to walk across the stage at graduation with two key things … a viable career plan and relevant skill sets to serve them well, whether they choose to go to work after high school, attend some kind of post-secondary college or university or do a combination of both. This collaborative, community-based approach reinforces the importance of the educational partnerships in our region and will make a significant difference in the workforce needs of today, as well as the future.