Ozarks Regional Innovation Cluster
SBA Regional Innovation Clusters Initiative
Transportation & logistics innovation, built where America's freight decisions are made.
ORIC is the SBA-funded cluster for small businesses building or adopting technology in transportation, logistics, and industrial infrastructure across a nine-county Ozarks region. No-cost, one-on-one support from the team that has been leveraging its diverse expertise and extensive network to drive this cluster since 2014, with direct lines into the enterprises that move America's freight.
Join the clusterSee upcoming sessions
Services are provided at no cost to eligible small businesses. Enterprise partners, investors, and lenders retain sole discretion over every pilot, purchase, and investment decision.
Reported by Ozarks cluster companies since 2014.
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4,300+
jobs created by cluster companies
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$1B+
revenue generated by cluster companies
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$940M+
private and public capital secured
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7,000+
one-on-one sessions delivered
One industry. One region. A decade of operating experience.
Along a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 49, Walmart directs one of the largest supply chains in America, Tyson Foods runs the nation's largest meat and poultry supply chain, and J.B. Hunt operates North America's largest intermodal fleet. When these enterprises need routing software, fleet cybersecurity, warehouse automation, or maintenance technology, the buying decision is made here.
Target industryTransportation, Logistics, and Industrial Infrastructure, an SBA priority industry. Core markets include trucking and rail, freight brokerage and arrangement, warehousing and distribution, last-mile delivery, freight technology, transportation equipment manufacturing, and transportation infrastructure. Dual-use technologies (visibility, cybersecurity, autonomy, navigation) qualify when they serve a core freight, fleet, warehousing, or infrastructure use case.
Service regionBenton, Washington, Madison, and Newton counties in Arkansas; McDonald County in Missouri; Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, and Ottawa counties in Oklahoma. Roughly 95 percent of the footprint is rural, including four eastern Oklahoma counties home to the Cherokee Nation and other tribal nations. Rotating office hours, site visits, and virtual assistance mean a founder in Jay, Oklahoma gets the same access as one in Bentonville.
Who runs itStartup Junkie has operated the Ozarks cluster under contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration since 2014 and today runs two of the four Regional Innovation Clusters in the country. Over that decade the team has delivered more than 1,400 events, programs, and workshops and 7,000-plus one-on-one sessions by working alongside the region's enterprises, universities, investors, and economic development organizations. Those same collaborations power this cluster: partners bring the expertise, market access, and resources they are best equipped to provide, and the Startup Junkie team turns them into programming small businesses can act on.
Two lanes. One standard: a real operating problem and the potential to scale.
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Innovator Lane
Companies building technology for freight and industrial infrastructure.
Routing and dispatch, fleet cybersecurity, warehouse robotics and automation, visibility and sensing, predictive maintenance, cargo integrity, transportation equipment, and the software and data systems behind them. ORIC helps you reach the right operational owner inside a flagship enterprise and clear integration, security, insurance, and proof-of-value requirements.
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Operator Lane
Growth-oriented carriers and logistics firms adopting technology.
Small carriers, brokers, 3PLs, and warehouse operators using technology to improve productivity, pursue enterprise freight contracts, expand operations, or increase revenue. ORIC assesses the operation, matches proven tools to the need, deploys an experienced mentor, and connects financing for the upgrade.
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Eligibility
Meets the applicable SBA small business size standard
Has a presence in the nine-county ORIC region
Is commercializing or adopting a relevant technology or technology-enabled solution
Demonstrates scalable or high-growth potential
Completes ownership and non-duplication screening and agrees to follow-up so results can be reported
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Downstream impact for the whole ecosystem
Enterprises get a structured way to put real operating problems in front of vetted innovators and see solutions earlier. Universities and research centers see technology move toward market. Investors and lenders see a readier pipeline. Rural and tribal communities across the footprint gain the same access to customers, capital, and expertise as the metro core. Companies and partners outside the region take part as customers, validators, investors, and experts, while direct services stay reserved for eligible small businesses in the region.
Intensive, industry-specific support, delivered mostly one-on-one.
Counseling identifies the barrier. Experts and partners close the gap. Customer, capital, and contracting access create an opportunity. Documented follow-through converts it into a measurable result.
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One-on-one working sessions on customer discovery, product-market fit, pricing, enterprise sales, financial modeling, and growth planning, tailored to your stage and objective.
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Challenge statements from carriers, shippers, and supply chain leaders, translated into requirements you can build against, plus curated introductions when readiness and need align.
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Workshops, procurement briefings, technical sessions, and peer groups built on documented company needs, from fleet and warehouse technology to contracting and capital readiness.
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Industry-specific expertise from Startup Junkie's 800-plus mentor network and an expert bench of current and former executives from the region's flagship enterprises.
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A direct line into university laboratories, licensing pathways, faculty expertise, and research talent, led by former university technology-commercialization leadership.
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Agency targeting, Phase I and II strategy, registrations, budgets, commercialization plans, drafts, and submission support for federal and state non-dilutive programs.
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Showcase events in front of investors, lenders, and enterprise buyers, paired with capital-readiness reviews, diligence preparation, investor targeting, and lender referrals.
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Coordination with APEX Accelerators and export specialists on contracting, certifications, and export readiness, plus advising on ownership, cybersecurity, data protection, and IP.
Demand to outcome, in six steps.
Every accepted company gets a single case lead and a next action tied to a business objective within five business days. Then 30-, 60-, and 90-day follow-up on every active opportunity.
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Structured interviews with flagship enterprises, carriers, shippers, and public partners turn recurring operating problems into challenge statements and validation pathways.
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Pipelines, referrals, universities, investors, and targeted outreach across all nine counties surface relevant technology, credible customer problems, and scalable potential.
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Eligibility, ownership, needs, and non-duplication screening. Intensive-service companies receive a written commercialization action plan.
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Counseling combined with qualified experts, university resources, capital partners, and specialized programs. ORIC keeps responsibility for the case and follow-through.
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Technical review, demonstrations, customer introductions, investor meetings, or federal-funding pathways when readiness and need align. Other parties keep every purchasing decision.
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Case records track services, milestones, referrals, products, markets, capital, contracts, revenue, and jobs, separating what ORIC controls from what customers decide.
A regular cadence of expert-led, impact-driven sessions.
Focused sessions on transportation and logistics innovation, led by the operators, investors, and researchers who shape the industry, with rotating office hours and site visits that reach every county in the region. Join the ORIC community and be the first to know about upcoming events.
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Nov 2026
ORIC Kick Off
Details and registration coming soon.
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Dec 2026
ORIC Session
Details to come.
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Jan 2027
ORIC Session
Details to come.
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Feb 2027
ORIC Session
Details to come.
Industry, research, capital, and community, working as one cluster.
ORIC works in collaboration with key in-region, publicly traded supply chain companies and a robust network of industry operators, universities and research centers, investors and lenders, workforce organizations, and economic development and government partners. Each contributes the expertise, access, and resources it is best equipped to provide, and every pilot, purchasing, investment, and contracting decision stays with the partner making it.
Operators, not administrators.
A deliberately flat structure with no middle management. Senior decision-makers, the consulting bench, and the mentor network are directly available for every case.
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Jeff Amerine
Project Manager & Team Leader
Founder and Managing Director, Startup Junkie. Brings 40+ years of technology, business, and early-stage investment leadership, including senior operating roles inside the industry as Managing Director of IT at FedEx Freight and VP of Communications Systems at American Freightways. Investor in 90+ ventures as General Partner at Cadron Capital Partners.
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Brett Amerine
Project Executive
Managing Director, Startup Junkie. Service-disabled U.S. Air Force veteran and PMP who co-leads the Ozarks cluster as key personnel; managed $46 billion in national security space launch assets as an Air Force contract manager; co-founder of Cadron Capital Partners and the Tonic Fund.
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Matthew Ward
Operations & Reporting Lead
Senior Executive Consultant who has advised 300+ ventures from idea stage to $25M in revenue. Built the Lithium Regional Innovation Cluster from concept to launch in under a year; as former Fuel Accelerator director, doubled executed enterprise pilots in one cohort. Runs ORIC operations and reporting.
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Caleb Talley
Ecosystem & Partnerships Lead
Executive Director, Startup Junkie Foundation. Since 2021, has more than doubled the Foundation's team, reach, and programs, and secured more than $7.5 million in new grant funding. Leads ORIC partner recruitment, onboarding, and engagement across the nine-county region and the quarterly advisory process.
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Daniel Koonce
Marketing & Events Lead
Director of Community Events and Partnerships, Startup Junkie Foundation; leads 1 Million Cups Bentonville, co-hosts the Startup Junkies Podcast, and produced Startup Crawl, the organization's largest annual event. Drives cluster programming, member communications, and regional outreach.
Tell us what you're building or operating.
Every accepted company gets a case lead and a first action within five business days. Membership is free. The information below is what SBA asks every cluster to collect at intake; it stays within Startup Junkie and, as required, the SBA.
Small business with a presence in the nine-county region
Transportation, logistics, or industrial infrastructure use case
Building technology (Innovator Lane) or adopting it to grow (Operator Lane)
Prefer to talk first?
Book a no-cost consult or email matthew@startupjunkie.org.