It was great to see some friends from Arkansas at MentorCamp in Halifax last month.  It reminded me of our trip to Northwest Arkansas this past summer, when I witnessed what a startup community can and should be.

I was lucky enough in August to be one of a quartet of Atlantic Canadians – the others were Patrick Hankinson of Compilr, Shawn Carver of Fiddlehead and Gavin Uhma of GoInstant – serving as mentors in a MentorCamp held in Bentonville, Ark., the home of Walmart. Permjot Valia, the Founder of Halifax-based MentorCamp, invited us to come and serve as some of the international mentors at the event.

And as is always the case at these events, the mentors learned at least as much as the students.

What I learned is that northwestern Arkansas has learned a lot very quickly about developing a startup ecosystem. The collaboration between entrepreneurs, the University of Arkansas and local investors is something to behold.

One company we met in Arkansas demonstrated just how well all the parts worked together. Silicon Solar Solutions addresses the most acute point of pain in the solar power industry -- the high cost of materials used in solar panels. Silicon Solar has eased this problem by devising a large-grain polysilicon technology that reduces the cost of making solar panels.

Researchers at the University of Arkansas developed the patented technology, and Jeff Amerine, the university’s Director of Technology Ventures, worked with the academics and students in the University’s entrepreneurship program to devise a business development strategy to commercialize it.

While we were in Arkansas, the company pitched before the local angel association, which has been in existence for just a year, but has already invested $1 million in six ventures. Silicon Solar was one of four companies pitching the night we attended.

Between the angel meeting, MentorCamp and the startups we met at the Iceberg (the local co-working space located just off the campus of the University of Arkansas), we saw a range of companies, and came away with the sense that the startups in the region do more with less than Atlantic Canadian startups. One reason is they have to – there are fewer opportunities for funding. The other reason is that there’s a far larger corporate sector in Arkansas and the surrounding states, and the companies seem to have more traction with end users.

So what are the lessons we brought home? We can do a better job of working with student entrepreneurs to structure their companies and then getting local investors to back the young companies. We have all the components. It will take some coordination but I’m convinced we can up our game if student entrepreneurs, university industry liaison offices, investors and the startup  community all pull in the same direction.

The Canadian Startup Lawyer blog by Rob Cowan, Partner at McInnes Cooper, appears monthly on Rob’s blogging site, StartupLawyer.ca, and Entrevestor.