Envoy can't even manage enough flying out of Miami (an AA hub) to make that work for the people recruited out of Florida. What makes you think that they can put together enough lines to make someplace like XNA, TUL, or LIT a viable mini-base option?

The big draw to Republic isn't the 13 bases. Their recruiters lie to new hires, too. They can credibly boast about better work rules and pay and an all 175 fleet. They tell naive CFIs that Republic flies for all three majors, so they have a foot in the door. They tell them fast upgrades are coming again when they get another 100 175s on property (CFIs don't know about scope clause limitations).

Yes, if a dude lives in Indy, he'll probably stick it out at flight school for a few more months waiting for a class date. But that isn't the decision process most people make.

A dude living in Austin has no base. Unfamiliar with the reality of commuting, he figures his best commutes are Houston and DFW. So that generally means he'll start with Republic, Skywest, and The Envoy. (I give him credit to know to avoid Mesa). He applies to all 3, gets offers from all 3, and now it's time to choose. The Republic recruiters tell him that he'll have a class in about 3 month and can hold Houston right away. That 3 months turns to 9 if he lets them string him along that much. Or he might believe the Envoy recruiter saying he will flow in 5 years.
Or he might drink the blue Koolaid and take the Skywest FO oath... who knows?

He might even keep that Republic offer in his back pocket, get a free type rating and collect a (small) paycheck from The Envoy for a few months while chilling in an LGA hotel on reserve. I met a few dudes who have done that.

Bottom line, mini-bases aren't going to do Jack Shiznit to improve QOL at The Envoy.