Business for Cameron Smith & Associates (CSA), a recruiter for NWA's retail supplier industry, is back to pre-pandemic levels.

Why it matters: Recruiting within the retail supplier industry is a sign of optimism in the economy.

Driving the news: Retail sales in April were flat, but in March they were up more than 10%, which was the largest gain in the previous 10 months, reports Axios' Hope King.

• Walmart's recent first-quarter earnings beat forecasts.

Context: Cameron Smith's initial focus when he founded the company in 1994 was on the supplier industry, though it now accounts for between 30 to 40% of his business.

• CSA's placements plummeted by 85% in the second quarter of 2020 as companies everywhere had hiring freezes.
• But as summer wore on, businesses started filling empty spots again, keeping recruiters busy.

Smith's business, which has diversified into other fields including construction and international C-suite placements, is on track for a record year, he says.

What to watch: Walmart's annual shareholders' meeting is Wednesday, which may give some indication of how its leaders are thinking about the rest of 2021.

June is Pride Month, which celebrates LGBTQ people and commemorates the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots, when people rioted against a police raid at The Stonewall Inn in New York City.

What's happening: Several events are going on around NWA to celebrate Pride. Here are a few.

June 5: You Belong — a community resource fair with food, music, and drag shows. The event will focus on how domestic violence affects the LGBTQ community, co-hosted by The Momentary and the NWA Women’s Shelter.

• 12-5:30pm at The Momentary in Bentonville
• Tickets are free but required

June 12: Crystal Bridges' Forest Concert Series — featuring Little Rock-based Dazz & Brie and Kansas City band True Lions.

• 7-9:30pm. Tickets are $12 for adults and free for people under 18

June 18: 21c Bentonville Pride Patio Party

• 6pm at The Hive in Bentonville
• Tickets are free but required

June 20: Ozarks Drag Brunch: Advocates and Allies

• 12pm at Fayetteville Town Center
• Tickets are $120 for a buffet for four

June 24: NWA Trans March — this new event is a protest against the state's recent passage of laws concerning transgender and gender non-conforming people, according to event host Northwest Arkansas Equality.

• Starts at 7pm at West Avenue and Spring Street in Fayetteville

June 25: Out in the Ozarks — comedy show featuring Matteo Lane

• 8pm at Fayetteville Town Center
• Tickets are $260 for a table of four

June 26: The 17th annual NWA Pride Parade

• Starts at noon on Dickson Street in Fayetteville

Of note: The usual NWA Pride Festival in Fayetteville that includes street vendors will not happen this year because of COVID-19, according to Northwest Arkansas Equality.

• An insurance company will pay $3 million in a settlement over the Bella Vista stump dump fire. (5 News)
• The Fayetteville City Council will decide tonight whether to make Juneteenth an official city holiday. (Fayetteville Flyer)

• A well-known workers' rights advocate plans to address Walmart shareholders this week. (Axios)
• See an analysis of the safety of Arkansas' bridges. (Arkansas-Democrat Gazette)
• Arkansas was one of five states where 95% of nursing homes saw "long-duration" COVID-19 outbreaks. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

Congrats!

🎧 If you're looking for something to listen to while mowing the lawn or commuting, we've got a few local podcast suggestions:

• TV and radio personality — and fellow Arkansan — Bobby Bones, recently sat in as a guest on the Razorback Daily to talk sports and his upcoming show, "Breaking Bobby Bones," which premiered on National Geographic TV yesterday.

• Fayetteville's NPR affiliate, KUAF-FM, recently concluded a five-episode series, "The Movement That Never Was: A People's Guide to Anti-Racism in the South and Arkansas." All episodes, as well as links to panel discussions on each, are available on KUAF's website.
• There's a constant stream of content from Randy Wilburn's "I Am Northwest Arkansas." The most recent episode is Randy's interview with Wes Craiglow from NWA's Urban Land Institute.
• The great-grandson of Tyson Foods founder, John R. Tyson, was interviewed at Herman's Ribhouse for a recent episode of "To Dine For." The podcast is centered around interviews with entrepreneurs and innovators at their favorite restaurants.
• For the business wonks out there: Brent Williams, associate dean in supply chain management at UA's Sam M. Walton College of Business, joins the college's "Be Epic" podcast to give a breakdown of a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) developed for the school.

Yesterday wrapped up National Bike Month.

For those interested in a little friendly competition, there was a challenge among workplaces, divided by staff size, through Love to Ride NW Arkansas.

• Riders earned points for every mile ridden and every day of participation, plus for encouraging others to ride.

The top three workplaces in the top three staff size divisions as of 3pm Monday:

• Employers with 2,000 plus staff: Walmart, University of Arkansas, J.B. Hunt Transport
• Employers with 500-1,999 staff: City of Fayetteville, Northwest Medical Center, Fayetteville Public Schools
• Employers with 200-499 staff: Thaden School, Crafton Tull, WEI Bentonville

The bottom line: Love to Ride reports 1,332 riders pedaled nearly 200,000 miles during the month, cutting 6,576 pounds of CO2 emissions.

Our thought bubble: Based on what we see in the overall results, engineers and architects like bikes. We'd love to see a bike-off between all the firms.