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The Leadership Mountain Home Class of 2026 took the stage at the Chamber’s State of Education Breakfast on Friday, Sept. 18, to present The Hatchery, its student pitch competition, to a room of educators and business leaders.
The presentation opened the class’s Education Day, a full day spent looking at how local schools and colleges prepare students for work. The breakfast was held at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home.
The Hatchery is the class’s Community Impact Project. As the Observer reported earlier this month, the free contest is open to young people ages 14 to 21 in Baxter and Marion counties and will split $5,000 in startup funding among four finalists.
Applications are due Friday, Oct. 23. A live preliminary round is set for Nov. 5, with the finals on Nov. 14.
The breakfast itself was the second annual education forum hosted by the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce. Mountain Home Christian Academy Administrator Doyne Byrd, Mountain Home Public Schools Superintendent Allyson Dewey and ASUMH Chancellor Bentley Wallace each gave updates on their schools.
Scott Hamby of NEXT Powered by NAEC, the event’s sponsor, gave the opening remarks. Educators, business leaders, community partners and Chamber investors made up the crowd, according to the Chamber.
After breakfast, the leadership class toured the ASUMH campus and its Technical Center. Members saw the programs and training open to students headed for college, technical careers or straight into the workforce.
The class then moved to Mountain Home Public Schools for a look at several hands-on learning spaces. Stops included the agriculture and manufacturing classroom, the Family and Consumer Sciences classroom and the Runway Coffee Shop, which students run themselves.
The Chamber said the visits showed how students are building practical skills and trying out career paths while still in high school.
Class members also heard about Cleared for Takeoff, the district’s podcast. The district uses the show to tell stories about its students, staff and programs.
Entrepreneurship has been a running theme for this year’s class. In July, members toured the Ozarks Small Business Incubator in West Plains, Missouri, and heard from a panel of local business owners.
Leadership Mountain Home is a Chamber program. Participants spend a year learning about the organizations, industries and issues that shape the area, and each class finishes a project of its own.
Letty’s Mexican Restaurant catered the breakfast. 870 Coffee Co. provided the coffee, and AVA Water sponsored the water.
Applications and the full competition packet for The Hatchery are available at enjoymountainhome.com/workforce-development.
