Directory · Who to call before you build

Free reference lists for Northwest Arkansas

Built and maintained by The NWA Trade Guide for Benton and Washington counties. Everything here was checked against a primary source, and anything we could not confirm says so plainly instead of guessing.

Last checked July 28, 2026 · No login, no fees, no paid placement

All directories

Every list here is all free, all searchable in your browser with nothing to sign up for. Nothing on these pages is a paid listing, and no business paid to be included or ranked.

30 checked links, 7 groups

NWA Local Resources

License lookups, utility rebates, hazardous waste drop-off, permit offices and free local classes, grouped by the job in front of you rather than by which agency owns the form. The soft entry point if you do not know which list you need yet.

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2,532 licensed contractors

NWA Contractor Directory

Every contractor holding an active Arkansas license with an address in Benton or Washington County. Search by name, city, license class or specialty.

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153 supply houses

NWA Supplier & Branch Directory

Supply houses and branches across plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, lumber, rental, concrete and paint. Counter hours and locations included.

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22 jurisdictions

Permit Guides, One Per City

Twenty city guides plus the unincorporated parts of both counties. Department, phone, counter hours, online portal, fee schedule and adopted code edition for each, with the gaps flagged instead of guessed.

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Both counties, every jurisdiction

NWA Permit Office Directory

Who to call before you build, for every city in Benton and Washington County plus the unincorporated areas people always get wrong.

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44 programs, 35 employers

Paid Training & On-the-Job Training

Employers who hire you first and train you second. Apprenticeships, paid training and OJT in water and wastewater, lineman, HVAC, welding, diesel, automation and more.

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54 programs

Trade Schools & Apprenticeships

Programs, apprenticeships and certifications within driving distance, with real costs and lengths where the school publishes them and honest blanks where it does not.

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17 courses, 89 open sessions

NWTI Short Industrial Courses

Northwest Technical Institute's short courses in ammonia refrigeration, boilers, electrical controls, PLCs and robotics, every one with a published price, none of it findable in a web search. Arkansas employers can be reimbursed up to 75 percent through the Office of Skills Development.

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115 funding programs

Grants & Financial Aid

Money for training and for home efficiency work. Federal, state, utility and industry sources, split by whether it is aimed at homeowners or trade pros.

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192 farm and land programs

Farming, Land & Conservation

USDA loans, NRCS cost-share, Extension training, market access and the local office addresses you actually need. Built for small farms, poultry growers and landowners.

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Guide · every claim sourced

The Contractor's Guide

Start it, run it, close it clean: business setups compared, insurance translated for construction, federal tax and hiring rules, partnering, and shutting down without penalties. Every claim linked to its official source.

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50 states, 250 checked links

Contractor Links, All 50 States

Business filing, contractor licensing thresholds, workers comp rules, tax registration and new-hire reporting for every state, checked against official sources.

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Just launched, free to post

NWA Job Board

Homeowners post projects with a real budget. Contractors post the sub work they cannot get filled. Listings are written by the people who post them, licenses are yours to verify, and we never touch the money.

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48 tracked items

Events Calendar

Trade shows, classes, workshops, fairs and bid deadlines in one place. Month and list views, filterable by trade, audience and city.

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Editorial · 6 min read

Editorial: Get Paid to Learn a Trade

Springdale Water Utilities pays $24.53 an hour and lets you earn the license after you are hired. 44 employer programs, and only 10 publish what they pay.

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Editorial · 5 min read

Editorial: When, and How Much

Only 7 of 54 local trade programs publish both a start date and a price, and some scholarship deadlines run backward from the start date. Counts computed from our own published directory data, with a dated correction on the school we got wrong.

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Editorial · 6 min read

Editorial: The HVAC Training Gap

NWA added 14,744 people in a year and has three local HVAC programs an adult can enroll in, plus zero registered HVAC apprenticeship classrooms. Every figure sourced.

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Updates itself as dates pass

Archive & Annual Watch List

What ran and came down, plus a month-by-month record of what recurs so next year does not start from a blank page.

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How to read these lists. A listing here is not a recommendation. We confirm that a license, address or program exists on the record, and that is all. Always verify a license number and insurance yourself before hiring, and call ahead before driving to a counter or a class.

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