Sam Cushman
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Strategic Communications & Public Information
Sam joined the World Trade Center Arkansas team in December 2016. Since then he has worked to develop the Center into a strong and recognizable brand throughout the state and among the Center’s global partners. In addition to producing large quantities of creative and informative content, Sam is responsible for launching some of the Center’s most important communications initiatives.
These initiatives include a comprehensive campaign for the World Trade Center’s 10 Year Anniversary and creating the Arkansas Exporter Directory, the state’s first and only directory of its kind to be used for arranging business to business meetings to grow exports.
In January 2018, Sam launched the Gateways Podcast as a resource for Arkansas companies where diplomats, officials and business leaders can share their expertise and insight on international business and trade.
His graphic design and advertisement work have appeared in national publications and among the dozens of articles he writes for the Center, many have caught the attention of state, national and international media.
Sam has arranged dozens of media appearances for the Center’s trade directors and CEO, establishing his team as experts in the media’s eyes on matters of trade and international business. He also arranged the Center to be featured in the first season of Northwest Arkansas Alive.
He actively works with diplomats, elected officials, business leaders, trade directors and companies to craft strategic messaging to deliver Arkansas companies the resources and aid they need to grow their exports.
Sam holds a Certificate of European Studies from Salzburg College in Austria and is a graduate of Seinan Gakuin University’s International Exchange program in Fukuoka, Japan during which he received the Best International Student Award of 2015.
While overseas he conducted research and presented on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and he was asked to give a lecture on American identity at a prestigious prep school in Salzburg.
In addition to making special visits to the Office of the European Commission and the United Nations Office at Vienna, Sam was chosen to participate in the first Global Community Fukuoka launch event where he cultivated valuable connections with the State Department and the Fukuoka business community.
Sam is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University where he received the Governor Bob Riley Outstanding Graduate Award and finished Cum Laude with a degree in Mass Communication, Political Science and International Studies. He has lived in Salzburg, Austria and in Fukuoka, Japan and is a proud Arkansan who holds valuable connections and friendships all over the world.