Arkansas was one of the “lucky” states to get its US Census Data released early. It, as always, is interesting to peruse.
Conway, it seems, did not quite reach the 60,000 threshold we had hoped for. That’s o.k., we are moving in the right direction. Just ten years ago the city was a little over 40,000 people, and then, boom! Conway grew by more residents than my hometown, Batesville, even has.
I spent the past 13 years living in Fort Worth, TX which is the county seat of Tarrant County. Tarrant County is on a pace to out gain its neighbor, Dallas County, to the East. And believe me, if they can beat Dallas in anything, they will take great joy!
Having lived in a large city with tons and tons of opportunities, I was hesitant when I moved here a year ago. All I knew was I was making a new start and living closer to family. I also remember when some guy named Kris Allen won some kind of talent show a few years ago. I heard about that somehow.
So, I knew of Conway’s growth and recent fame, but I did not quite know what to expect. I mean, I am moving from a city of almost 700,000 people to one just a little over 45,000, or maybe 50,000, we really did not know. I really thought it was alright because it was close to Little Rock. However, now I know the truth is Little Rock is alright because it is close to Conway!
Conway has a vibrant Chamber of Commerce. They really care about their members! They want each one to succeed. The Chamber of Commerce, along with some key businesses, lead the way in making this a strong town. Conway isn’t just a town that is growing numerically, but it is a town that is growing in reputation and impact.
I knew when I got here I needed to network to find work. I was a twitter user before I moved here, so, I simply fired up twitter and began looking for folks to follow. Not only did I find folks who were active on twitter, but they engaged in conversation with me and I soon met them. I was amazed at how far along the geeky, technology community of Conway was.
Conway was given a title of one of the 10 Geekiest Cities in the U.S. by OnlineUniversities.com. The community has embraced the title, because they know that technology is the next great industry and can create a strong, vibrate economy and good jobs.
So, it seems, Conway is at a point in which it converges with the US Census, and, well, us geeks. Conway will be o.k. going forward.