More than 300 City Officials from Across America Convene in Little Rock for National League of Cities Leadership Meeting and Education Program

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS — June 25, 2018 — More than 300 officials from 39 states are convening this week in Little Rock, Arkansas, for the National League of Cities (NLC) Summer Board and Leadership Meeting and NLC University Leadership Forum. Over the next three days, groups meeting include NLC’s board of directors, the seven federal advocacy committees and member councils. At a Wednesday press event, NLC will release new research on the future of work, analyzing how technology, trade and shifting demographics are shaping the modern American workforce. At the press event, Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel will join local officials at the Little Rock Technology Park, where she is expected to discuss the federal-local partnership to support the nationwide deployment of next-generation broadband technologies.

“The City of Little Rock is proud to welcome the hundreds of city officials in town for the National League of Cities meeting this week as we chart a path forward on the biggest issues facing America’s cities,” said National League of Cities (NLC) President Mark Stodola, mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas. “This week is significant for the City of Little Rock — not only because the NLC is advancing their national municipal policy here in our city, but it’s also good for our local economy. The economic impact of the NLC being here is nearly $500,000.”

In addition to governance activities, NLC’s board of directors is expected to vote on a resolution on Tuesday calling on Congress and the administration to make sure that federal funding disbursed to states for opioid prevention and treatment makes its way to local programs. In 2016, NLC and the National Association of Counties (NACo) created the National City-County Task Force on the Opioid Epidemic to provide policy recommendations to address the nation’s opioid and heroin abuse crisis. Mayor Stodola and Gary Moore, judge/executive of Boone County, Kentucky, chaired the task force.

For the first time ever, NLC University will be holding a forum in conjunction with the Summer Board and Leadership Meeting. The forum, entitled “Leading Through Disruption,” will provide almost 100 city leaders with trainings on how to deal with the everyday challenges of change, including fostering strong communities and advocating for local priorities on the state and federal levels. National experts including Results for America; The Intersector Project; former councilmember and leadership expert Malcom Chapman; and communications strategist and founder of the Tom Sawyer Company, Carolyn Sawyer, will be leading the trainings.

The next major NLC convening will be the organization’s annual conference, City Summit, taking place in Los Angeles from November 7-10. More than 4,000 city leaders are expected to attend to collaborate on solutions to the common challenges facing America’s cities.