This year's Heartland Summit centered on economic competitiveness, from attracting investment and preparing workers for an AI-driven economy to strengthening strategic industries, education and health.

• The two-day event is hosted by Heartland Forward, a think-and-do tank focused on accelerating economic growth across the middle of the country.

The background: Co-founded by Steuart Walton and Olivia and Tom Walton in 2018, the Summit brings leaders together to tackle shared challenges, strengthen connections and turn ideas into action.

• This reflects Heartland Forward's broader work across research, policy and community-driven programs, with a goal of generating $500 million in economic impact across the heartland by 2030.

The details: Prominent voices featured at the two-day event included…

• Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State; Director, Hoover Institution.
• Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer, Alphabet and Google.
• Jim Farley, President and CEO, Ford Motor Co.
• Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock.
• Jack Clark, Co-founder and Head of Public Benefit, Anthropic.
• And more, including policymakers, investors and philanthropists from across the country.

Plus: Major announcements included…

• 🛠️ A new partnership between Heartland Forward and The BlackRock Foundation to expand access to skilled careers and create more opportunities for the next generation of workers.
• 💸 The Center for Investment Readiness is scaling its work to the state level, starting with Tennessee.
• 🍼 Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America announced $20 million for maternal-health efforts in Arkansas and Kentucky, while Heartland Forward launched a new Maternal Resiliency Index.
• 🌆 Huntsville, Ala., Grand Rapids, Mich. and Oklahoma City, Okla. were named the 2026 Secret Sauce Communities.

• 📝 A survey commissioned by Heartland Forward, AI on Main Street, found small businesses in the heartland use AI at the same rate as small businesses in the rest of the country.
• ✏️ Heartland Forward will implement rootEd Alliance in Oklahoma and is placing advisors in select schools for the 2026-27 school year. Additionally, the Arkansas Department of Education announced a goal to extend rootEd Arkansas to 100 schools across the state by 2030.

The impact: Together, the conversations and announcements showed what competitiveness can look like in practice: more investment, stronger talent pipelines and communities better equipped to turn their existing strengths into long-term growth.