Data-driven decision-making sits at the heart of driving impact. In being a resource for communities, Heartland Forward often deploys targeted data hubs, or centralized platforms that integrate data from various sources. 

Heartland Forward recently joined the University of Arkansas’s Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development to create the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Data Hub. 

Grounded in a goal of promoting data-driven decision-making in rural communities through access to data, the Data Hub was developed to empower regional economic development departments with the information they can use to inform local economic policies. 

The Data Hub contains two main tools:

• The Labor Market Observatory is a data visualization tool designed to help development professionals, community organizations and individuals access workforce indicators from various state and federal sources in a single tool. The tool includes custom views for all eight of Arkansas’ EDA districts, with options to drill down into the individual counties within the district—presenting information from the following areas:
  • Regional Demographics
  • Employment Trends
  • Housing and Income Data

• The Rural Profile dashboards equip regional economic development departments with the data they need, with a specific focus on certain geographies, population density groups and industry specializations. The data is organized into sections that include:
  • Economy
  • Social and Economic Stressors
  • Population and Demographics
  • Local Government
  • Infrastructure 
  • Health
  • Education

Both of these tools offer data that has never been centralized in one place. In making these tools available for economic and community leaders, Heartland Forward and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture hope to promote more impactful data-driven decision-making for rural communities. 

Heartland Forward has created other initiatives to bring similar tools to communities and regions where they could drive the greatest impact. Launched in November 2025, the Center for Investment Readiness (CIR) seeks to empower small communities across the heartland with data-driven insights tailored specifically to their communities to help local leaders create informed policy to spur economic growth and drive local investment. 

Thoughtful and effective economic development work takes targeted data and community leaders taking action. It involves businesses, educational institutions, economic development offices and other organizations working to make the economic machine hum. Without access to the right data, the machine can stall. Heartland Forward values being a resource for states and local communities to drive economic success.