Walmart’s 9th annual Open Call concludes today, and over 1,100 entrepreneurs and suppliers are in town with products to pitch. 

• Shark Tank, Bentonville edition: Open Call is Walmart’s largest sourcing event that brings shelf-ready products to shoppers across the country in-store and online. Those attending Open Call are hoping to land a deal with Walmart and Sam’s Club merchants evaluating hundreds of products today. 
• U.S. Jobs: This year’s selected group is the largest in Open Call history and is part of Walmart’s commitment to invest $350 billion in American businesses and their items made, grown, and assembled here in the U.S. 

Read the full Talk Business & Politics story HERE. 

Northwest Arkansas’ J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced a recent collaboration with the leading autonomous driving technology developer Waymo.

• Becoming autonomous: J.B. Hunt and Waymo will be working together on autonomous trucking technology, including a pilot delivering goods for J.B. Hunt customer Wayfair, one of the world’s most prominent destinations for the home. Waymo has experience building autonomous driving technology that spans over 20 million miles on public roads and 20 billion miles in simulation. 
• Testing further: The latest pilot will span six-plus weeks during July and August on a highway in Texas, and it will be the first in-depth autonomous transportation of home goods and furnishings between the collaborating companies. With this partnership, innovative thinking and autonomous technology will advance J.B. Hunt’s mission to create the most efficient transportation network in North America. 

Learn more HERE. 

After a two-year hiatus, the annual Yarnell’s Ice Cream Festival is returning next month! 

• Samples: July 30th at 9a will mark the 9th annual festival, which will take place during the Bentonville Farmers Market at the Bentonville Square. There will be free samples of ice cream for everyone at the concession trailer, and photos with Scoop, Yarnell’s ice cream mascot, will also be available to attendees.
• Cold cream: The main festival event, Arkansas’ coolest ice cream eating contest dubbed “FreezeFest,” will take place every hour from 9:30a to 12:30p. Two contests are for kids, and two are for adults. The participants who eat the most in each 5-minute competition will win a year’s supply of ice cream.

Read the full KNWA story HERE.

The second annual OZ Kids Bike & Book Festival is in the Bentonville Public Library’s backyard this weekend. 

• Party at the library: The event is on Saturday, July 2, from 9-11:30a and will showcase activities for all ages. There will be a giant inflatable slide and landing pad, a Strider Bikes’ introductory skills course, a family-friendly yoga class, face painting, crafts, live music, and food! 
• Read and go: The library will have a book giveaway of popular titles and host a princess for storytime. Pedal it Forward is providing bikes to 75 kids at the event, contributing to the event finale of biking to the Bentonville Square.

Click HERE to RSVP for the free event. 

A new restaurant is opening in Bentonville soon, focusing on the farm-to-table experience. It's called Conifer. 

• A safe table: Conifer will be a 100% gluten-free restaurant centered around nurturing the community. The menu is inspired by the head chef's French, German, and Classical training, and all the ingredients will be sustainable and local or regional. A fire deck oven at the restaurant's center will cook everything — fresh bread, fish, vegetables, etc. 
• Community meals: The restaurant will be in The Howard in Downtown Bentonville and will include a 200 sq. ft self-serve farm stand stocked with local produce alongside the full-service restaurant with inside seating, a bar, patio, lounge area, and a private dining area. 

Conifer is on track to open before August. Keep updated HERE.