Arthur Orduña on The Venture Center’s Lithium Plans
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Orduña: Venture Center to Launch Lithium Technology Accelerator This Year
The Venture Center of Little Rock is ramping up its efforts to boost Arkansas’ nascent lithium extraction industry, efforts that include the launch of its Arkansas Lithium Technology Accelerator this year, Executive Director Arthur Orduña tells us in this latest Lithium Link interview.
The accelerator, powered by a $200,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, applies the model the center uses for its other business accelerators to the direct lithium extraction industry in Arkansas.
Through the program, The Venture Center will work with major lithium producers in Arkansas — Standard Lithium Ltd., ExxonMobil, Albemarle Corp., Lanxess and Tetra Technologies — to identify the industry’s near- and mid-term business needs.
The center will then “discover, curate and bring” to Little Rock early- to growth-stage technology companies that could meet those needs, Orduña said.
The goal: Work with those companies to get their ideas in front of the large lithium producers, who might elect to use them in some way.
Other partners in the program include the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, South Arkansas University and South Arkansas Community College.
“We’re talking about companies that are being brought in who would be demonstrating licensable, pilotable products or solutions — depending on what they are — that a [company] could then evaluate and say, ‘OK, I’m interested in this,’ and could lead to a pilot, could lead to an actual license and deployment, could lead to an investment or acquisition down the road,” Orduña said. “So that is what we’re doing first.”
The Venture Center has not set a launch date for the accelerator, but Orduña says it will happen before the end of the year. It is one of three major lithium-related projects the center is leading.
Video
Watch our interview with Orduña, who shares how the idea for the Arkansas Lithium Technology Accelerator was born:
Also On Deck: Lithium Learns & Lithium Works
Orduña also talked about two other lithium-related initiatives the center is involved in — these aiming to meet the industry’s looming workforce and small-business needs.
Lithium Learns and Lithium Works are complementary programs that aim to train up and place a generation of lithium industry workers in Arkansas.
Lithium Learns is being led by Southern Arkansas University and will focus on growth, certification and training for new job seekers entering the industry.
The Venture Center will oversee Lithium Works, which is funded by a $500,000 grant from the Higher Industry Readiness through Educational Development (HIRED) program. It aims to place workers in the lithium industry while also providing small-business services to energy producers.
"A headline to think about this is, Lithium Learns prepares, Lithium Works places, and the end result if we're successful is these energy producers will hire local and they will buy local," Orduña said.
The overarching goal of both programs: create a sustainable talent pipeline for the lithium industry and its surrounding ecosystem in Arkansas. By equipping workers with industry-specific skills and helping businesses integrate into the lithium supply chain, these efforts aim to solidify the state’s role as a key player in the future of domestic lithium production.
