Next Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit Set for October 2027
The next Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit will take place in October 2027, Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Hugh McDonald announced Sept. 14 in Little Rock at the kickoff for the fourth cohort of the Arkansas Lithium Technology Accelerator (ALTA), a program of The Venture Center.
“The next one, put it on your calendar, will be October of next year,” McDonald told luncheon attendees. “So I expect we’ll have a lot more good news between now and then.”
The event will be the third such summit hosted by the state. Previous events took place in 2024 and 2025 and attracted hundreds of attendees from all over the world.
ALTA Cohort Presentations
During the kickoff, representatives from each of the three ALTA cohort companies gave presentations about their operations and goals.
Arcam: President Lincoln Miara said the MIT spinout, which recycles battery scrap into LFP cathode material, is scaling its China plant to 15,000 tons a year and is scouting Arkansas for its first U.S. factory.
ACT-ion Battery Technologies: Chief Technology Officer Jin Lim said the company’s water-based process makes cathode material in two to three hours instead of days. It plans to begin pilot production next month and calls Arkansas a strong candidate for a commercial plant.
Princeton Critical Minerals: Co-founder Z. Jason Ren, a Princeton University professor, said its brine-concentrating technology recovers water and needs a footprint 150 times smaller than evaporation ponds. The company is seeking Arkansas partners for a demonstration unit.
More: Arkansas Business reporter Chloe McGehee attended the kickoff and filed this report.