Summary

On this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Cyrus Sigari, who was appointed by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as Chairman of the Arkansas Council on Future Mobility (ACFM). The ACFM recently released its Arkansas Future Mobility Report, which provides a bold, visionary and specific plan to ensure the state’s leadership in advanced mobility. Cyrus is also Co-founder and Managing Partner of UP.Partners. UP.Partners is an early venture capital firm building companies that move people and goods cleaner, faster, safer and at a lower cost on the ground, in the air, over the sea and in space. Additionally, Cyrus is Co-founder and Executive Chairman for jetAVIVA, a global brand that selects, acquires and sells high-performance aircraft–and he serves as a Board Member of Bentonville-based Game Composites, which designs and manufactures the world’s finest and most nimble aerobatic aircraft. Furthermore, he leads UP.Summit, the definitive annual gathering of leaders from around the world who are rethinking the future of transportation. Throughout the episode, James and Cyrus discuss the Arkansas Future Mobility Council’s recommendations and how Bentonville is a key driver in the State of Arkansas’ leadership in advanced mobility. 

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Show Notes

(0:51) Introduction to Cyrus

(4:23) Cyrus’s Background

(7:43) Objective of the Arkansas Future Mobility Council

(15:51) Implementing Council Recommendations

(19:34) Advancing Mobility in Bentonville

(25:15) UP.Partners Macro and Micro Trends in Mobility Report

(35:06) Mobility Megatrends

(40:03) #BecauseBentonville Story

(42:47) Closing Question

‍Links

James Bell

Bentonville Economic Development 

Cyrus Sigari

UP.Partners

UP.Summit

2023 Macro and Micro Trends in Mobility

Arkansas Future Mobility Report

Quotes

“I haven’t had a lot of experience dealing with government related initiatives, but this certainly made me hopeful about how when you get people with a common vision to work together, some exceptional work can happen…I’m pretty fired up, and I think we’re just getting started.” - Cyrus Sigari, (9:00)

“The bottom line is we have a collective vision, a great moment in history to take real action, to take advantage of these opportunities, work together as a community, create a plan, present the plan and then let the community run forward with it. I feel really blessed to have the opportunity to have a small part in all that.” - Cyrus Sigari, (14:23)

“The most important skill [future engineers and scientists] will need is language…The amount of resources we need to be putting towards helping people learn how to translate a vision from their mind into spoken or written word is the new computer science.” - Cyrus Sigari, (23:36) 

“...we all have some sort of divine purpose in our hearts and minds, and there’s tools out there to help us realize those purposes that can be of service to all of humanity…I think we’re in a hopeful time, and that’s one of the more exciting things for me on a day-to-day is my job is literally to stare at hope.” - Cyrus Sigari, (37:08)

“I think education is going to be one of the biggest areas of explosive growth that we see as a result of these sorts of technologies and, like I said, I feel fortunate to be alive during this time.” - Cyrus Sigari, (39:10)