Daniel Hintz founded the Velocity Group in 2014 to provide a systems-based approach to placemaking, focusing on the dynamic ways the individual parts of a project interrelates within the larger community context. It his belief in the power of collective wisdom and working with people driven by a common vision that provides the powerfully collaborative outcomes of Velocity Group projects. Daniel has cultivated his approach over a lifetime of work as an actor, filmmaker, chef, educator, non-profit executive, small business owner, property developer, restauranteur, event producer, social service provider, community advocate and volunteer, informing his uncommon approach to the work of placemaking and community experience design.
As CEO/Chief Experience Officer of Velocity, Daniel has worked on a wide variety of projects all over North America, including downtown master plans, regional economic development initiatives, branding and marketing strategies, private development projects and tenant programming, event production, art and cultural initiatives, restaurant and hospitality concepts, public outreach and engagement, and public policy work. He has also founded Blockline, LLC, a private development company that aligns strategic investments, catalytic projects and associated tenant programming that supports both solid returns and strengthens the adjacent neighborhoods.
Daniel served as Executive Director of Fayetteville Downtown Partners, where he produced the Fayetteville Arts Festival, structured the formation of the Fayetteville Arts Council, co-wrote the initial Fayetteville Public Art Policy, crafted the state’s first municipally formed Arts District in downtown Fayetteville and changed state BID law to include the arts as a fundable line item, among other projects. He went on to serve as Executive Director of Downtown Bentonville, Inc., where he managed and facilitated economic development, experience design and marketing for the 1,768-acre downtown district. Growing the non-profit downtown association from two to seven employees, expanding organizational revenue by 300%, directly recruiting over $50 Million in downtown investment and producing 400+ events that generated over 750,000+ visitors to downtown, his work fostered a growing art, entertainment, culinary, and entrepreneurial scene which has earned national attention.
In 2008, he earned an Experience Economy Expert certification from Joseph Pine and Jim Gilmore. Their thoughts on the rising consumer value of experience and authenticity were listed by TIME magazine as a Top 100 Idea Changing the World. He was the editor for the annual statewide magazine Block, Street, and Building: New Urbanism in Arkansas published by the Arkansas Times from 2016-2019. Daniel now serves on the Advisory Board for First National Bank of NWA, the Programs Chair on the Board of Urban Land Institute of Northwest Arkansas, and as a Commissioner for the Bentonville Advertising and Promotions Commission, among numerous other volunteer and philanthropic endeavors. He holds a BFA in Film from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Daniel served as Executive Director of Fayetteville Downtown Partners, where he produced the Fayetteville Arts Festival, structured the formation of the Fayetteville Arts Council, co-wrote the initial Fayetteville Public Art Policy, crafted the state’s first municipally formed Arts District in downtown Fayetteville and changed state BID law to include the arts as a fundable line item. He went on to serve as Executive Director of Downtown Bentonville, Inc., where he managed and facilitated economic development, experience design, and marketing for the 1,768-acre downtown district. Growing the non-profit downtown association from two to seven employees, expanding organizational revenue by 300%, directly recruiting over $50 Million in downtown investment and producing 400+ events that generated over 750,000+ visitors to downtown.
