Technology Ventures Director to Appear on Saturday Morning Meeting

Photo by University Relations

Jeff Amerine, director, Technology Ventures

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Jeff Amerine, director of Technology Ventures, the University of Arkansas’ technology transfer office, is scheduled to be featured in forthcoming episodes of Saturday Morning Meeting with 8th and Walton.

8th & Walton, a Bentonville firm that teaches Walmart Stores Inc. suppliers the nuances of doing business with the world’s largest retailer, produces the weekly talk show. It is broadcast at 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays on Northwest Arkansas’ NBC affiliate, KNWA.

Host Derek Ridenoure conducts interviews and moderates an expert panel that engages in a roundtable discussion focusing on current topics and trends. Panelists and special guests include former Walmart executives, business journalists, authors, university professors and consultants — all with views and opinions about how business is done with the world’s largest and most influential retailer.

Amerine will be featured in interviews with Ridenoure during the May 3 and May 10 episodes of Saturday Morning Meeting. Amerine will describe the University of Arkansas’ role in the region’s venture ecosystem and how it is relevant to the retail and vendor community.

“My objective was to highlight open innovation, the ARK Challenge and some of the other events and networking that the university has been in the middle of over the past few years,” Amerine said.

The ARK Challenge — funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce with matching funds from the University of Arkansas, Winrock International and others — is an annual a 14-week business acceleration program that invites teams from all over the world to participate.

Amerine has also agreed to be a panelist on the May 15 and May 29 episodes of Saturday Morning Meeting.

Amerine joined the university as a technology licensing officer in 2008 after a successful 18-year career as an executive and builder of technology businesses. He held senior leadership positions in seven startup ventures and three Fortune 500 companies and teaches entrepreneurship in the university’s Sam M. Walton College of Business.

He is also an adviser to Innovate Arkansas, an initiative operated by Winrock International for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission that grows and sustains knowledge-based companies in Arkansas.