Dr. Anthony Kinkel begins as first NWACC senior VP of enterprise relations

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NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) is excited to announce that Anthony Kinkel has been named its first-ever senior vice president of enterprise relations. 

In the new role, Kinkel, who holds a doctorate in higher education leadership from the University of Minnesota, will strategically spearhead the college’s workforce and professional skills training team’s engagement and coordination with Northwest Arkansas’s business and industrial sectors, as well as its K-12 partners, to enhance NWACC’s ability to seamlessly educate and train workforce for the future.  

He will report directly to NWACC President Dennis Rittle, serving as an essential member of the college’s President’s Cabinet. As a part of the senior leadership team, Kinkel will be able to collaborate with colleagues to ensure that NWACC helps students see a clear connection between what they are learning and future career opportunities. The position is funded for one year through a Walton Family Foundation grant, with an option to extend. 

“We are thrilled to have someone of Dr. Kinkel’s experience join our leadership team and thankful to the Walton Family Foundation for making this possible at such a crucial time for our region and our state,” President Rittle said. “I have been directly involved in the regional workforce intermediary planning process, and with Dr. Kinkel’s leadership NWACC will continue to fulfill our role in preparing the talent pipeline for Northwest Arkansas.” 

To develop an operational plan based on the community’s needs and wants, for the next year Kinkel and his team will meet with regional industry and education partners, asking how NWACC can better serve them. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the changes it is expected to bring to our economy will be a major topic. 

Kinkel said, “Strategic planning is about choices and partnerships, which is why we’re starting a robust review of the workforce needs of this region – driven by our businesses and industries.”

A former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and Senate, Kinkel said he fell in love with higher education while serving as an adjunct instructor at Central Lakes Community & Technical College in Brainerd, Minn. Since then, he went on to serve as chancellor of the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville; president of Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colo.; president of Wichita State University-Tech in Wichita, Kans.; and president of Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma, Tenn.

Also, Kinkel was the executive director for the Minnesota State Board for School Administrators and executive director and CEO of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges. Most recently, he served as the vice president of development for the Mount Dora Christian Academy and Children’s Home in Mount Dora, Fla.

To learn more about Workforce and Economic Development at NWACC, go to: www.nwacc.edu/workforce.