A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

Alison Nation, Chief Marketing Officer at Visit Bentonville, joins us for a candid look at destination marketing in Bentonville, AR. We talk about Bentonville's "more is more" moment, from Crystal Bridges and the Momentary to parks, trails, restaurants, and a year-round calendar that turns a quick weekend into a repeat habit.

We break down how Visit Bentonville operates: leadership advocacy, a sales team that recruits conferences and sports events, and a communications team running the website, email, social media, and PR. Alison explains that visitors plan 30 to 80 days out and why seasonal campaigns matter.

Then we get into funding. The Advertising and Promotion Commission tax supports Visit Bentonville, and a 50/50 split sends tourism dollars back into the city for parks and facilities like Lawrence Plaza. The same visitor economy that fills hotels also improves life for locals and strengthens small businesses.

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A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

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Champagne has a reputation for being pricey, precious, and a little intimidating, so we invited someone who loves it enough to build a whole place around fixing that. Chef Aaron Walters joins us from Muselat in Bentonville, Arkansas, a Champagne bar and kitchen designed to make sparkling wine feel welcoming, easy to explore, and genuinely fun, whether you’re a die-hard bubbles fan or someone who usually orders Prosecco.

Aaron shares the logic behind some of his favorite food pairings, including the unbeatable Champagne and fried chicken combo, plus rotating menu creativity like truffle-forward dishes, gluten-free breading that stays crispy, and even Korean-style rabbit “wings.” We also discuss Muselet favorites like their smash Burger Mondays with global inspiration, and the origin story behind the name “Muselet."

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A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

We sat down with Executive chef, Dennis Kelley to discuss how Written By the Seasons utilizes the local Farmers Market to create a seasonal menu. 

We discuss how they build relationships with local farmers and how they get to taste what is growing to make sure it’s something that they actually want to use.

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

Mountain Bike Hall of Famer and longtime event voice Nat Ross joins us to explain what sets Northwest Arkansas apart from other cycling destinations, from its trail network and easy access points to a welcoming community that makes it simple for first-timers, families, and seasoned riders to jump in.

We also dig into fall travel and BikeTober, including the Square To Square ride on the Razorback Greenway, the Arkansas High Country Race, and Big Sugar Week, plus junior development and the growing economic impact of cycling in Bentonville.

Curious about mountain biking or gravel cycling in Northwest Arkansas? Hit play, then subscribe, share, and leave a review.

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

We met with Arkansas High Country's race director, Chuck Campbell, to discuss the upcoming race. We talked about what the race is and what it entails.  

Beyond the race, we discussed how more women are participating than ever. Through Women to the Finish Line, they are providing mentorship and making positive changes to the race this year. 

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

We sat down with the CEOs of Experience Fayetteville, Ryan Hauck, and Visit Bentonville, Kalene Griffith, to talk about their most recent partnership with Wheel the World to become more accessible, friendly cities. 

Wheel the World does not just focus on being ADA-compliant but also highlights what local hotels and restaurants are doing well in accommodating not just travelers with physical disabilities, but also sensory needs as well. 

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

We sat down with Marcus Wirsig of Ari Bikes and talked about how Ari Bikes focuses on making the bike-buying experience personalized and customized.

Not only does Ari have a customer-first model, but they are also focused on being involved in the local biking community. 

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

We sat down with Austen Bailly to discuss reimagining the permanent collection as a thematic experience, mixing time periods and media to tell the story of American art. Austen shares why integration matters, why "this place is for you," and how a piece like "Two Grey Hills" connects art, family, and economics into one story. She also explains how the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art continues to focus on making art accessible to all.

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

We sit down with David Wright from Bentonville Parks and Recreation to unpack how Bentonville, Arkansas has evolved from a place people moved to for corporate work into a destination built around outdoor recreation, arts, leisure, and real community connection.

We dig into the big idea that public spaces are more than parks and trails. They are community infrastructure. David explains how intentional placemaking turns a town’s personality into something bigger than a single downtown square, and why that matters in a fast-growing city. Then we talk about how the goal of Gateway Park is to create a connected experience across multiple parks without forcing people to drive from spot to spot.


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A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.  

A 40-mile paved trail sounds simple until you ask the real question: how do seven cities agree on a shared vision, find the money, close the gaps, and keep improving it year after year? We sit down with Tim Conklin, Executive Director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, to unpack how the Razorback Greenway became the critical artery for biking, walking, rolling, and exploring Northwest Arkansas.

We get specific about the forces that made it possible: regional collaboration in the 2000s, a $15 million federal TIGER grant, and major matching support from the Walton Family Foundation. Tim explains how those investments helped connect Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville into a world-class trail system and why the Razorback Greenway Alliance matters for long-term maintenance, wayfinding upgrades, and future improvements like potential lighting.

Then we look forward. The Razorback Greenway corridor plan shifts the conversation from “we built a trail” to “what happens along the trail.” We talk creek corridor protection, rewilding for shade and habitat, smarter stormwater approaches, safer commuter bike networks, complete streets, and how new neighborhoods can grow around an active transportation spine without losing the open spaces that define the region. If you care about bike infrastructure, trail tourism, transportation choice, or how fast-growing communities can plan better, this one is for you.

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A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.  

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.