Arkansas Money & Politics April 2021

APRIL 2021/armoneyandpolitics.com

TOUCH DOWN Franklin McLarty’s new SPAC lands in Arkansas

By Dwain Hebda/56

AVIATION ISSUE: Mena | Louise Thaden | Airport Q&A $5 USD

SAFE. Fly LOCAL.

Fly

We’re ready for take-off when you are.

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1 Cooperative Way • Little Rock, AR 72209 • (501) 570-2200 • www.ecark.org

NETWORK SERVICES GROUP

STOP STRESSING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND GAIN SOME MOMENTUM!

IT Support You Can Trust For Ryan Flynn, president of Network Services Group in North Little Rock, the mission of NSG is encapsulated by a quote from Ronald Reagan: “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

While Flynn certainly wants customers to remember his firm’s name, the team at NSG goes about its business with one goal in mind — the customer’s satisfaction. Whether a job entails setting up a complicated new network or the customer service needed simply to help get a PDF printed correctly, the goal remains the same.

Flynn said the team at NSG applies an old-fashioned work ethic to every job. “The things we hope to get or want to keep must be earned and kept through hard work.”

NSG was founded in 1989 as an outgrowth of a telecommunications consulting firm and now services the entire state. It grew from installing and supporting telephone systems to offering the latest digital telephone systems, managed IT services, backup and disaster recovery services, network design and VoIP services. NSG primarily serves

501-758-6058

the medical, banking, automotive and professional services industries.

And of course, NSG’s renowned customer service remains a calling card.

“We are honored to be able to serve our clients and help them reach their goals,” Flynn said. “Our mission statement is, ‘To innovate, steward and partner with organizations so that they can reach their goals, and together we will change the world.’”

Flynn also takes pride in the family atmosphere fostered at NSG throughout its 32 years. The firm now has 65 employees.

“Knowing we have created an environment that helps support about 50 families in Arkansas,” he said. “It’s not just a job, but a place that people enjoy being at, and that it feels like we are a big family is something I’m very proud that we have accomplished.”

Flynn and his team strive to make customers feel a part of the NSG family as well.

“I feel like if we truly care about other people more than we do ourselves, everything else will fall into place,” he said.

5105 McClanahan Drive Suite J-3, North Little Rock / nsgdv.com

APRIL CONTENTS

6 | Plugged In 7 | Editor’s & Publisher’s Letters 8 | Discovery Economics 30 | Executive Q&A 136 | The Last Word 24 | ‘Air’ in the family

Rose Aircraft of Mena, a family-run operation for almost 60 years, has grown into a major contributor to the local economy.

34 | Executive Extracurriculars

The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of things over the past year, among them a rise in the purchase and use of private planes.

12 | LOUISE Bentonville’s Thaden Field honors hometown hero Louise Thaden, an early pioneering aeronaut, and sets the stage for more growth.

108 | Planting seeds

Seeds planted by the Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase might someday blossom into winners at the Arkansas Governor’s Cup.

112 | Agri TV

Arkansas PBS is partnering with Arkansas Farm Bureau to produce the agribusinessfocused Good Roots series.

132 | Feels like old times

For Hog fans of a certain generation, the Razorbacks’ run to the Elite 8 brought back a lot of memories and “woke up the echoes.”

APRIL 2021/armoneyandpolitics.com

TOUCH DOWN Franklin McLarty’s new SPAC lands in Arkansas

By Dwain Hebda/56

AVIATION ISSUE: Mena | Louise Thaden | Airport Q&A $5 USD

ON THE COV E R 122 | DIAMOND HOGS Norm DeBriyn built the foundation for Dave Van Horn to grow Razorback baseball into a serious attraction in its own right for NWA. APRI L 202 1

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Arkansas’ own Franklin McLarty has launched a special purpose acquisition company to help spur economic development in the state. In keeping with this month’s aviation focus, McLarty was photographed at Little Rock’s Adams Field by Jamison Mosley.

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APRIL CONTENTS

PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER

Heather Baker | hbaker@armoneyandpolitics.com EDITOR Mark Carter | mcarter@armoneyandpolitics.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Katie Zakrzewski | katie@armoneyandpolitics.com ART DIRECTOR Jamison Mosley | jmosley@armoneyandpolitics.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Rebecca Robertson | rrobertson@armoneyandpolitics.com DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Kellie McAnulty | kmcanulty@armoneyandpolitics.com

44 | THE DIGS OF THE DEAL Mena and its airport may be stuck with a certain degree of notoriety, but airport manager Fred Ogden has many other positive “tails” to tell.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lora Puls | lpuls@armoneyandpolitics.com COPY EDITOR Lisa Fischer | lfischer@armoneyandpolitics.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Dustin Jayroe | djayroe@armoneyandpolitics.com ONLINE EDITOR Tyler Hale | thale@armoneyandpolitics.com SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Greg Churan | gchuran@armoneyandpolitics.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Tonya Higginbotham | thigginbotham@armoneyandpolitics.com Mary Funderburg | mary@armoneyandpolitics.com Tonya Mead | tmead@armoneyandpolitics.com Kyle May | kyle@armoneyandpolitics.com Shasta Ballard | sballard@armoneyandpolitics.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jacob Carpenter | ads@armoneyandpolitics.com CIRCULATION Ginger Roell | groell@armoneyandpolitics.com ADMINISTRATION Casandra Moore | admin@armoneyandpolitics.com

CEO | Vicki Vowell TO ADVERTISE

call 501-244-9700 email hbaker@armoneyandpolitics.com TO SUBSCRIBE | 501-244-9700

60 | FROM LEMONS, LEMONADE

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Local print shop owners have been forced to make some lemonade since COVID-19 delivered a substantial blow to business.

Joyce Elliott, Arkansas State Senator; Gretchen Hall, CEO, Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau; Stacy Hurst, Secretary, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage & Tourism; Heather Larkin, CEO, Arkansas Community Foundation; Elizabeth Pulley, CEO, Children’s Advocacy Centers; Gina Radke, CEO, Galley Support Innovations; Steve Straessle, Principal, Little Rock Catholic High School; Kathy Webb, Representative, Little Rock City Board

EDITORIAL INTERN Kayla McCall

CONTRIBUTORS

David Conrads, Ken Heard, Dwain Hebda, Carl Zylowski

118 | BACK ON TRACK Businesses in downtown Searcy are optimistic about regaining the momentum they felt after the city was featured on a business-makeover TV show.

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AMP magazine is published monthly, Volume III, Issue 11 AMP magazine (ISSN 2162-7754) is published monthly by AY Media Group, 910 W. Second St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, AR, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to AMP, 910 W. Second St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Subscription Inquiries: Subscription rate is $28 for one year (12 issues). Single issues are available upon request for $5. For subscriptions, inquiries or address changes, call 501-244-9700. The contents of AMP are copyrighted, and material contained herein may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. Articles in AMP should not be considered specific advice, as individual circumstances vary. Products and services advertised in the magazine are not necessarily endorsed by AMP. Please recycle this magazine.

A P R IL 2021

PLUGGED IN MARCH 2021/armoneyandpolitics.com

Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson of NorthWest Arkansas Community College appeared on AMP’s March cover. Jorgenson joined other academic and business leaders to discuss the future of workforce development.

NOW

MORE THAN EVER

Jeremy Wilson has been appointed to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

LEADERS PRIORITIZING SKILLED LABOR POOL

By Mark Carter/13

Cycle tourism | COVID at one year | Musselman’s contract $5 USD

FEEDBACK YES, ERIC MUSSELMAN IS IN LINE FOR A BIG RAISE. BUT THE DYNAMICS AREN’T SO SIMPLE. Even more so now with an elite 8 appearance. Indiana was looking but found one. Now I hear Texas is looking to replace Shaka Smart, who I felt did a great job at VCU. Arkansas better lock him in, he has made a career of changing jobs.

Joey Guidry

INSTAGRAM

Been the best year watching Arkansas Basketball in 26 years. Please pay him the money.

Janie Lane We’re giving more than that to other countries for gender studies....pay the Man!!!

David Bearden SAFE BET: EXPERTS SEE FARMLAND REMAINING A WISE INVESTMENT “Great outlook on farmland investing to diversify a real estate portfolio.”

JD Rainwater MUSIC, MEMORIES & CHICKEN: RELATIONSHIPS AT CORE OF STICKYZ/REV ROOM MODEL Love these two they are Rockstars in Little Rock!

Randall K Moore

AY Media Group publisher Heather Baker is stepping into the role of president.

BROADCASTING NOT ALL ABOUT TALKING. WHO KNEW? “Great article, Lisa, and truly entertaining.”

Jamie Burton Mcafee CRAFTSMEN, COLLECTORS: HEBER SPRINGS COMPANY HELPING FIREARMS CONNOISSEURS TELL THEIR STORIES - AMP I knew Tom Julian, great guy, and his work is impeccable!!

Ronald Harris

TOP ONLINE ARTICLES 1.

Yes, Eric Musselman is in Line for a Big Raise. But the Dynamics Aren’t So Simple (March 18, 2021) 2. Dillard’s Closing Majority of Stores in Response to COVID-19 (April 7, 2020) 3. Technopreneur vs. Entrepreneur (March 7, 2015) 4. McClard’s Opening New Restaurant in Northwest Arkansas (March 3, 2021) 5. Walmart Extends COVID-19 Emergency Leave Policy to July 2021 (December 3, 2020) 6. City of Little Rock Unveils Harriet Tubman Sculpture at City Hall (February 24, 2021) 7. Whole Hog Café NLR is Moving Down the Road (March 26, 2021) 8. Producers Rice Mill, Scenic Hill Solar Get Approval to Build State’s Largest Commercial Solar and Energy Storage Facility (March 9, 2021) 9. Getting the Message Across: Stephanie Jackson Leads Communications for LR Mayor’s Office (March 1, 2021) 10. ‘It Was a Culmination of Events:’ Jim Hendren on Leaving Republican Party (March 5, 2021)

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Arkansas State University has named a new athletics director to lead the Red Wolves.

Keith Tucker Jr. and his 15-year-old son, Keith Tucker III, have made an all-purpose sauce that is vegan and gluten-free.

@AMPPOB ARMON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

EDITOR’S LETTER

By Mark Carter

THE PARABLE OF MARCH MADNESS

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arly into March whose budgets struggle to reach $4 million.

Madness, as Why are these schools Arkansans bathed in competing for the the afterglow of a 3 seed same trophy? Because well-deserved and a Americans love an program back on track, the underdog, and corporate simultaneous beauty and dealers know we can’t live absurdity of the tournament without their supply. And hit home for me. no one will ever convince The NCAA men’s me the committee doesn’t basketball championship, purposely over- and undera.k.a. March Madness, seed teams to enhance has out super-bowled the “upset” probability. I’m Super Bowl as our nation’s looking at you, 5-12 line. preeminent sporting event.

But here’s the rub: It Granted, it’s many “events” seems so wrong but feels rolled into one, but the so… right.

Who will be Road to the Final Four not next year’s ORU? Inquiring only attracts more money to casual “fans” and annual sports books than does An Rembrandt’s Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, 1637. bracket-fillers want to Evening with Tom Brady know. And, of course, 15 (by about 3x, according to Even worse. If you must expand to 68, seeds knocking off 2s is not only good TV some estimates), but culturally, I’m not sure shouldn’t the last four schools selected to but fills the right pockets. it’s even close anymore. participate represent the four lowest seeds?

There are many more beautiful March Madness unifies the sporting As in, name eight 16 seeds and let them absurdities to consider, but I do have a and sports-averse; it levels playing fields. play it out for the right to be an actual 16 point to make.

In theory, anyway. All this It’s sports and theater rolled into one. It’s seed in the actual tournament. And play-in frustration with tournament farce got me Sister Jean, Cinderella and now, finally, game winners getting credit for an NCAA to thinking of the parable of the vineyard Chuck. But it’s a beauty burrito chased with tournament win… not just patently unfair workers from the Gospel of Matthew. a churro of absurdity. (And I’m not talking but ABSURD. For all you Bedside Baptists (what’s that? another Clark Kellogg “Captain Obvious” NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball (and The mirror just bade me hello, for some analysis.) don’t get me started on the NCAA) entails reason) the parable of the workers tells the In addition to all those things that make roughly 350 schools and 32 conferences. story of a vineyard owner who pays the it so appealing, March Madness is, well, Within the same classification for basketball same wages to all his day laborers, whether absurd. (and all sports except football), you’ll find The First Four? Are you serious? The schools with total athletic-department First Four with an 11-seed play-in game?

See EDITOR’S LETTER, page 131 revenues north of $200 million and those

By Heather Baker

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

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AMP HITS THE OPEN SKIES IN APRIL

f the open skies are your thing, you’re gonna love this issue of Arkansas Money & Politics. Aviation is the focus, and the AMP redeye takes readers across the state with stops in Bentonville, Berryville, Fort Smith, Mena, Little Rock, Searcy and Stuttgart.

Dwain Hebda visits Bentonville to chronicle its unique aviation history; we showcase a couple of the state’s homegrown aerospace-industry firms; the Executive Extracurriculars feature takes a look at private planes; The Digs of the Deal touches down at Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport; and the Executive Q&A visits with the directors of Clinton National, Northwest Arkansas

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National and Fort Smith Regional airports.

Plus, Dwain talks with Arkansas native Franklin McLarty, who has launched his own acquisition firm to help spur economic development in Arkansas (and also appears on this month’s cover).

Also inside, we’ve got Razorback baseball and basketball (how ‘bout them Hogs?), winners from the Arkansas Governor’s Cup collegiate business-plan competition, our “Faces of Arkansas” special sales section and more.

There’s a lot to like in AMP. Thank you for reading, and please share your comments and ideas with me at HBaker@ ARMoneyandpolitics.com.

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DISCOVERY ECONOMICS

INNOVATION MENTALITY

Q&A WITH DR. CLINT KILTS, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES (UAMS)

By AMP Staff

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isorders of mental health — such as depression, dementia, addiction and suicide — represent major sources of suffering and death worldwide and are associated with immense economic costs in the form of lost potential and productivity.

Treatment and prevention, however, represent a daunting task. Our behaviors and thoughts are the products of organized information processing by more than 30 billion cells (neurons) capable of making more than 100 quadrillion connections (synapses) that are dynamically reorganized by our experiences across life.

Dr. Clint Kilts, Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Academy Member and director of the Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC) at the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute, researches the use of non-invasive functional brain imaging technology to explore the complex and changing relationship between the organization of information processing in the brain and human behavior and thought.

AMP: What inspired you to devote your career to psychiatry and human neuroscience?

Dr. Kilts: I’ve long been fascinated by the complexity and variance of human behavior and the potential of its biological understanding to define the origins and foundations of human mental health and illness. Envision a future world in which science-based prevention and treatment strategies have dramatically reduced the profound disabilities associated with depression, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, drug addiction and the tragic loss of life to suicide.

AMP: What can we learn about human behavior through brain imaging and its changes over time?

Dr. Kilts: It was with the advent of brain imaging technology such as electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that scientists were

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first able to explore brain activity related to ongoing human behavior and thought.

Perhaps the most amazing thing we have learned as scientists using these technologies is that human brain structure and function are dynamically reorganized in the processes of brain development and aging, but most dramatically in the service of biologically embedding our unique life experiences.

The brain in its functional organization that you have now is not the same one you had last year or even yesterday. This poses an enormous challenge to brain imaging science to understand the biology of human variation and that variation related to mental health disorders. I often think that we have evolved as intelligent human beings to the point where we have developed technology capable of understanding the very intelligence that created it.

AMP: Like all states, Arkansas has unique social and health challenges.

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Dr. Clint Kilts

Are there any such areas in which you are focusing your research?

Dr. Kilts: My recent research focus has shifted from a commitment to understand the brain biology associated with the consequences of mental health problems to that biology related to the causes of such problems. While the people of Arkansas suffer from the same mental health issues that plague individuals and communities across the United States, we suffer disproportionately in the areas of poor child health.

Across the United States, children in Arkansas rank 46th in health status with high rates of known risk factors for poor mental health outcomes, such as child poverty, childhood abuse and neglect and adverse childhood experience. We know that most mental health disorders have their origins in early human development and that early childhood (ages 1-5) represents the major developmental “sensitive period” for the robust asso-

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ciation of adversity and trauma with lifelong mental health problems.

This age group shift in research focus is complicated by the significant challenges posed by children related to the functional MRI environment.

At this point, I need to acknowledge that major impact the Arkansas Research Alliance has had not only on this shift in my research focus but also in enabling the availability of new functional brain imaging technology to support it. As a member of the ARA Academy of Scholars and Fellows, I was encouraged to think bigger but also have had access to funding support to aid the purchase of childfriendly functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology to enable this strategic research and training growth area in the UAMS BIRC. AMP: How can we best increase knowledge and understanding through research and make sure research benefits the larger community?

Dr. Kilts: First, ask the right questions of a significant problem and seek the greatest impact. Second, in my opinion, academic research institutions have not focused sufficiently on the problems of the communities that surround and support them. Community-informed research is a priority and an obligation of such institutions due to the largely public-funding model of research.

To that end, we have, through both the BIRC and NIDA training programs focused on research translation to the Arkansas community rather than the more conventional focus on clinical translation. For instance, our NIDA T32 training program has added training faculty and prioritized the recruitment and appointment of trainees that focus on ma-

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jor community-level problems, such as women in the criminal justice system and disproportionate gun violence in young Black men. The BIRC has similarly added research focus on community issues such as the mental health impact of poverty and family disadvantage.

AMP: What should the Arkansas business community and public officials know about your research and how it’s making a difference?

Dr. Kilts: I would like the business community to think of the seemingly indecipherable aspects of mental health disorders such as addiction, suicide, autism and schizophrenia as being solvable. I would like others to envision a future in which the immense social, personal, family and economic costs of such disorders are greatly diminished or eliminated, a future in which being at risk for such

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disorders triggers a science-based intervention that removes the future burden before it occurs.

My belief is that understanding the biological bases of mental health and illness, like all other fields of medicine, holds the promise to such futures. As the director of the only academic center of excellence in human brain imaging research in Arkansas, I feel a sense of profound duty to contribute meaningfully to that future.

The ARA Academy of Scholars and Fellow is a community of strategic research leaders who strive to maximize the value of discovery and progress in the state. Recently, ARA launched an Impact Grants program that helps researchers like Dr. Kilts push viable projects to fruition. Learn more at ARAlliance.org.

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When the world thinks of Arkansas in a business sense, more likely than not, several things come immediately to mind: agriculture, Walmart, Tyson Foods...

Aviation and aerospace, not so much. But Arkansas has a strong aviation thread coursing through the fabric of its business tapestry. As of 2020, the state was home to 100 companies whose primary line of business is in the aviation/aerospace sector, including industry giants such as Lockheed Martin and Dassault Falcon Jet. Plus, Arkansas’ aviation history is an interesting one, from the maintenance hub of Mena to the story of Bentonville’s Louise Thaden, who in many ways out-pioneered the iconic Amelia Earhart in the late 1920s and throughout the ‘30s. This month’s issue of Arkansas Money & Politics tells a few of the state’s aviation stories, from Thaden to thriving, under-the-radar businesses in Mena and Stuttgart. Away we go...

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AVIATION

The AVIATOR Louise Thaden,

ARKANSAS’ AMELIA EARHART,

BLAZED TRAILS FOR FEMALE PILOTS

By Dwain Hebda (Photos courtesy of Thaden Field)

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Louise Thaden, c. 1930

n the annals of American aviation history, to say nothing of the history of Arkansas, few individuals stand taller than the willowy Louise McPhetridge Thaden. During the 1920s and 1930s, Thaden was one of the most famous and captivating figures of a romantic and dangerous era in American flight.

Mentioned in the same breath as Amelia Earhart, Thaden yielded not an inch to her more well-known counterpart. In fact, in two of the signature events of her career, Thaden bested Earhart and also became, by 1929, the first and only pilot to simultaneously hold the women’s records

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for speed, altitude and solo endurance.

Given social attitudes of the day, Thaden’s rise to international prominence was the unlikeliest of accomplishments, underscored by being born in the cowtown of 1905 Bentonville. As she herself wrote in her 1938 autobiography, High, Wide and Frightened: “Since I can remember, from the time when I was seven and jumped off the barn under an oversized umbrella, I’ve wanted to fly.

For years it was merely a passive ambition. It was like the moon — completely unattainable.”

She was born to a farm life, the daughter of Roy McPhetridge, a traveling Men-

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Thaden Fieldhouse (above) and Thaden’s 1928 pilot certificate (below).

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tholatum salesman and Edna McPhetridge, a housewife. As Keith O’Brien writes in Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History, her parents unabashedly wanted a boy. They came close, as Louise flouted the societal norms and limitations set for girls at the time in favor of what was unflatteringly termed tomboyish pursuits.

Still, despite his later disapproval of her vocation, Roy taught his daughter how to hunt, fish and fix a car growing up and indulged her with a childhood airplane ride with a barnstormer that sealed her ambition to fly.

She attended the University of Arkansas where she

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majored in journalism but fell short of graduation, leaving early to take a sales job in Wichita, Kan. There, she started hanging around a local airplane factory, Travel Air. Seeing this, the plant’s owner, Walter Beech, was so taken with the gutsy Arkie’s determination to fly, that he hired her for his Oakland, Calif., office with the agreement that part of her salary would be paid in flying lessons. She earned her pilot’s certificate in 1928, number 850, signed by Orville Wright.

Almost immediately, Thaden (she’d married former U.S. Army pilot and engineer Herbert von Thaden in July 1928) began racing and other pursuits that pushed the limits of both pilot and machine. In 1928, she set a women’s altitude record of 20,260 feet and the following year, set separately a new women’s endurance record of 22 hours, 3 minutes and 28 seconds in the air and a speed record of 156 miles per hour. Also in 1929, she won the first all-women’s transcontinental

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AVIATION

race, the National Women’s Air Derby, in a field that included Earhart.

Three years later, she teamed up with Frances Marsalis to set a new refueling endurance record of 196 hours over Long Island. The flight featured 78 air-to-air refueling maneuvers whereby food, water, oil and fuel were passed down by a rope from another aircraft. The pair also made a series of live radio broadcasts while aloft. It was a remarkable achievement that gained national attention, even as the local press glibly dubbed it, “The Flying Boudoir.”

Such digs underscored the sexism that existed across all parts of society, aviation included. Thaden put her accomplishments to work toward advancing opportunities for women in aviation. In 1929, she and Earhart founded the NinetyNines, an international organization for female pilots, for which Thaden served as vice president and secretary. Beginning in 1930, she also went to work as the public relations director of Pittsburgh Aviation Industries and became the director of the Women’s Division of the Penn School of Aeronautics.

Amid these activities, she solidified her place as one of the greatest pilots of her era during the Depression-ravaged 1930s.

In 1936, after setting a new light-plane speed record, she and co-pilot Blanche Noyes became the first women to win the co-ed Bendix Transcontinental Air Race, again at the expense of Earhart as well as some of the top male pilots of the day, setting a new transcontinental record in the process. It was an achievement of which Time magazine wrote, “To Pilots Thaden & Noyes the $7,000 prize money was far less gratifying than the pleasure of beating the men. Among the first ten U.S. women to earn transport licenses, they have for

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years been front-line fighters in aviation’s ‘battle of the sexes.’”

Achieving in one year what many failed to approach in an entire career, Thaden received the Harmon Trophy, aviation’s highest honor given to a fe-

A bird’s-eye view of Thaden Field and the surrounding area.

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A WWII-era P51 on display at Thaden Field.

“If you have flown, perhaps you can understand the love a pilot develops for flight. It is much the same emotion a man feels for a woman, or a wife for her husband.”

— Louise Thaden male pilot, in April 1937.

By the following year, she was done — committed to spending her time raising two small children. She became a prolific writer; in addition to her memoirs, she wrote hundreds of articles on all manner of aviation. And while she’d be lured back into the cockpit over the years, flying everything from jets to gliders, the true daredevil days were over, relegated to the tributes of multiple halls of fame to which she was enshrined. These include founding inductee of the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame, plus the Smithsonian

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Institution’s Aviation Hall of Fame and the National Aviation Hall of Fame, to name a few.

Her legacy also lives on in her hometown. In 1951, the Bentonville airport was renamed Louise M. Thaden Field in her honor. In 1976, she returned to Bentonville for a rededication ceremony at Thaden Field during which Gov. David Pryor declared Aug. 22, 1976, as Louise M. Thaden Day. Three years later, she died of a heart attack.

In her memoir, Thaden detailed the sacrifices of a woman caught between two passions — her vocation and her family — in a manner all too familiar to women still today. Her writing was equally resolute regarding both, even telling of the protracted debates she and Earhart had over the merits of domesticity.

“I vowed that when the time came for raising a family, I would devote full-time to being a mother and say farewell to aviation as a vocation,” she wrote. “Amelia

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LIKE ITS NAMESAKE, THADEN FIELD CONTINUES TO INNOVATE, SOAR

Earhart thought the decision was filled with fallacies and tried on several occasions to make me see the light. She was wrong.”

But at the same time, Thaden never lost her fascination and love affair with aviation, nor her unabashed grit and directness over a woman’s place in the sky.

“Men pilots as a class are not superior to women pilots,” she wrote. “Generally speaking, women are innately better pilots than men; first, because they have a more sensitive touch; second, they are born with a more acute sense of rhythm; and third they are fundamentally more conservative.

“I have set down a few of the exciting things which have happened in my career. They constitute a very small part of my flying. Most of the work has been routine, rather monotonous as a whole, yet interspersed with high points of exquisite beauty and woven through with a satisfying peace.”

The Northwest Arkansas from which Louise Thaden emerged is a far cry from what it is today. Gone are the small, muddy communities, replaced by the glass and steel of one of the most robust areas in the entire country. Thaden Field has evolved right along with the area to provide a vital service to the rapidly growing populace.

“Flying is becoming a lifestyle in Northwest Arkansas and specifically at the Bentonville Airport, Thaden Field,” said Chad Cox, president/director of aviation for Summit Aviation/Runway Group there. “Over the last eight years, we have placed focus on where we would like to see aviation grow and are starting to see the fruits of this work.

“Many Americans think of aviation in terms of utility. The expectation of adventure and fun is often missed due to the grind of commercial travel and commercial airports. By contrast, we see Thaden Field as a jump off point for adventure.”

Over the years, the organization has introduced many innovations in programs and services from a flight school to a flying club to an in-airport diner dubbed Louise facing the runway.

Cox said improvements have only been limited by the boundaries of regulatory approval.

“There isn’t any one limiting factor for growth and developments,” he said. “But when you are doing something that is different than how things are normally done, the process tends to take a little longer, and the burden of educating the regulators falls on us.

“That said, although many of our objectives have taken longer to implement than we wanted, the FAA, our partners at the city and other organizations have always worked together to find a way forward.”

The diversity of services has enabled the airport to withstand the challenges of 2020 better than other stand-alone aviation entities, as the waiting list for the pilot’s school and increased fuel revenues of the FBO (fixed-base operator) attest.

And that, Cox insists, bodes very well for the future.

“We are set up well today at Thaden Field to serve the customers from the moment they pull up to the front door,” he said. “In the coming year, our runway gets longer and wider, more hangars will be built, and the focus on customer service will continue to be refined. Our passion is finding ways to better serve the flying community.”

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For Thaden, flying provided a “satisfying peace.”

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AVIATION

CAVU Aerospace of Stuttgart disassembles old airliners and recycles the parts.

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CEILING UNLIMITED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

FLYING CONDITIONS IDEAL FOR GROWING STUTTGART AEROSPACE FIRM

By David Conrads Photography by Jamison Mosley

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“My dream was to be a pilot, and I’m pretty sure I would have stuck with it, except for 9/11,” Hancock said. “It seems as if God had different plans for me, though.

So, here we are.”

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rowing up in Stuttgart, Bryan Hancock dreamed of becoming a pilot and flying airplanes for a living. He accomplished that goal, but circumstances later sent his life in a different direction. Today, though he still flies occasionally, he is the managing partner of CAVU Aerospace, a company that takes decommissioned airplanes apart and recycles them.

“The focus of our company is on bringing aircraft full circle,” Hancock said. “We take a retiring aircraft, take all the parts off of it, certify the parts and return the parts back into service. It saves the airlines a lot of money.”

Founded in 2010 by Hancock and his partner, Kenneth Kocialski, CAVU Aerospace takes its name from an aviation term, the letters of which stand for “Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited,” ideal flying conditions.

Though CAVU Aerospace has the ca-

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pability of recycling smaller planes, like private and corporate jets and aircraft used for general aviation, the partners have chosen to focus their efforts on commercial aircraft. Depending on the size, the planes they acquire can have between 1,000 and 1,500 component parts removed, each with a serial number and each tracked by the airline that operated the plane. Having a complete list of the aircraft’s parts provided by the owner makes it feasible for CAVU to evaluate the potential market value of those parts, without actually seeing the aircraft prior to bidding on it.

When CAVU Aerospace started, the planes it purchased were flown to the company’s facility at the Stuttgart Municipal Airport, where they were dismantled and parts sold off. It also has a mobile team available to travel to the site of decommissioned planes that can’t be flown. Hancock says that the entire process of disassembling the aircraft can generally be accomplished within 30 days.

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Bryan Hancock pivoted from flying planes pre-9/11 to recycling them.

CAVU also provides aircraft body parts for use in movies and for training purposes.

Just over a year ago, CAVU expanded its operations by opening an 80,000-square-foot component-repair facility in Mesa, Ariz. This was part of a number of asset purchases CAVU has made over the past few years. The company also added disassembly facilities in Roswell, N.M., and Victorville, Calif., to its portfolio. These investments, which also included a recycling company in Roswell, totaled about $15 million.

Not every part of a decommissioned aircraft can be reused for aviation. For CAVU, there is significant demand for parts of the body of a plane for use other than flying. Customers sometimes request that a cockpit be cut off a plane, which is then turned into a flight simulator for pilot training. In the same way, airlines have bought passenger doors and overwing emergency exit doors, which are turned into a training tools for pilots and flight attendants.

CAVU has cut out sections of wings so manufacturers can do testing on older aircraft. Movie producers have

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bought sections of an aircraft body for film productions. Some parts get turned into art and even furniture.

The conference table at CAVU’s Stuttgart headquarters is made out of the horizontal stabilizer from a decommissioned MD80 plane.

Hancock never imagined that he would one day be running a company with 75 employees at four locations in four states. He enrolled in flight school right after graduating from Stuttgart High School in 1987. Once he got his pilot’s license, he moved to Florida for further training, gave flying lessons for a while, then moved to Alaska. He flew professionally for eight years, working for several airlines out of Alaska and Denver, finally landing a job flying the Airbus A319 and A320 for United Airlines while based in Chicago.

Then 9/11 happened. The airline industry was hit hard, and Hancock was furloughed from United. He went to work for a company that did aircraft recycling in Memphis. In 2010, he and

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Kocialski, who he had met while they worked for different companies in the aviation parts aftermarket, decided to join forces and started CAVU Aerospace back in his hometown of Stuttgart.

“My dream was to be a pilot, and I’m pretty sure I would have stuck with it, except for 9/11,” Hancock said. “It seems as if God had different plans for me, though. So, here we are.”

As far as the future of CAVU Aerospace, Hancock plans to stabilize and maintain the growth the company has experienced in the past few years.

“We’ve gone through a huge growth spurt and made huge investments over the last three or four years, getting everything we wanted into place,” he said.

“I think that’s about all we’re going to do for a while. We’re pretty much focused now on getting all aspects of our operations completely lined out. I don’t have any big growth plans or any additional purchases or additions to make in the next couple of years.”

A P R IL 2021

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AVIATION

IN MENA,

Rose Aircraft Services Blooms

By David Conrads

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hen Jack and Norma Rose moved with their three young children to Dallas in the mid-1950s, Jack had no interest in airplanes and knew nothing about them. His people were farmers and loggers, and flying airplanes did not figure into his or his family’s experience in rural Polk County.

While living in Dallas and working as a cab driver, he stumbled into a job with Braniff Airlines, and everything changed.

When the Rose family moved back to Arkansas eight years later, Jack was a licensed airplane mechanic, an avid pilot and passionate about all things aviation.

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The family business started out overhauling airplane engines but evolved to refurbish interiors.

(Photos courtesy of Keith Rose)

Jack and Norma returned to their hometown of Hatfield so they could raise their kids in a rural community, and so Jack could get into the aviation business.

On July 3,1964, he opened Jack Rose Aircraft in a corner of a hangar at the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, where he worked on airplane engines. At the time, the Mena airport was not much more than a few old hangars and a 3,000foot grass runway with no lights.

“Those were some lean times,” said Keith Rose, Jack and Norma’s son, who is currently co-owner and CEO of the family business now called Rose Aircraft Services. Keith recalled living in a house

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without indoor plumbing and his mother working as a secretary at a school while his father did whatever he could to scrounge up work on plane engines.

The hard work and sacrifice paid off. By the late 1960s, Jack and Norma had built a successful engine overhaul business and had started buying and selling used aircraft.

In the early 1970s, the Roses sold a used plane that needed some upholstery work on a seat. In those days, there were few companies in the United States that did work on airplane interiors and none in the Arkansas area. Norma and her mother-in-law, Lilly, a seamstress, fig-

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FAMILY OPERATION EXPANDS REACH TO LITTLE ROCK, BEYOND

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ured out how to fix the seat. Soon after, Lilly learned to sew aircraft interiors by completing a mail-order correspondence course in furniture upholstery.

“That’s how it started,” Keith said.

“From there, my mother got calls from other contacts they had in the aircraft resale industry. The interior business just took off.”

They set up a sewing shop in a new hangar they built at the Mena airport, which they still operate out of today. By the later ‘70s, Rose Aircraft employed some 40 people to work on interiors, including upholstery and cabinetry. “Over the years, we evolved from just a little general aviation-refurbishing center, working on smaller planes, to focusing primarily on corporate jets and turboprops, bigger planes. That’s still our primary thing,” Keith said. “We work on everything from a small single-engine trainer up to Gulf Stream Challengersized planes.”

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The company also does a lot of work for flight schools as well as a significant amount of work for various government defense contractors. It recently completed contracts refurbishing fleets of planes for the Air Force and Navy.

In the 1980s, the company got into painting aircraft. From there, it added other services, like heavy maintenance and avionics. “We offer one-stop shopping,” Keith said. “We can provide anything that you need for your aircraft while it’s here in Mena, with the exception of some highly technical things like overhauling a turbine engine or something of that sort.”

Today, Rose Aircraft Services has about 100 employees working in some 200,000 square feet of hangar and shop space, and it refurbishes between 100 and 120 planes a year.

“It’s been very successful for us,” Keith said. “Our business has stayed relatively stable, although we’ve been up and down

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with various economic conditions. The 2008 recession hit us pretty hard, as it hit everybody hard. We managed to survive and continue to grow.”

The early 1970s, when the U.S. economy went into recession, was another period that hit the family business hard.

Aircraft refurbishing is an industry that is typically less affected by recession than others, but Jack Rose Aircraft, as it was still called, was more into buying and selling used aircraft, and it had an Aero Commander dealership.

“Dad had a million dollars worth of airplanes out on the grass runway,” Keith said. “Interest rates were high, and no one was buying.” Though the company did not go bankrupt, the manufacturer took back the planes, and Jack had to take a job for a few years with an aviation company in Van Nuys, Calif., working overseas, mainly in Southeast Asia. When he returned to Arkansas a few years later, the interior refurbishing business was

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Rose works on private planes, corporate jets, commuter airlines and now even military aircraft

well-established and growing quickly, and the company was back on its feet.

Over the years, Rose Aircraft Services has branched out into other ventures in the aviation industry. In 2008, the company bought the Mena Air Center Services FBO, which provides a wide range of services, including fuel, to aircraft owners and pilots using the airport. More recently, it acquired the former Hawker Beechcraft facility in Little Rock and has developed the space into a full-fledged aircraft paint and interior business. Prime Completions focuses primarily on private jets and corporate jets and is the company’s first foray outside of Mena.

Rose Aircraft Services has always been a family-owned business. Keith and his sister, Brenda Sloan, the third generation of Roses, are the current owners. Keith is the CEO, and Brenda oversees interior design and accounts receivable as well as serves as the company’s vice president

and secretary/treasurer. Though keeping the company family-owned is not a high priority with Keith, he and Brenda both have children working in the business.

So, it appears likely there will be a fourth generation of Roses to take over when the time comes.

“As long as the kids want to continue the business, that’s fine,” said Keith, who sees room for continued growth, especially work for the Department of Defense and work on smaller planes. “None of us have exactly the same kind of passion that Dad had for aviation. He loved flying and being around airplanes. For us, it’s the family business. At the same time, we’re grateful for the opportunity and passionate about success in a very dynamic and exciting industry and making the business succeed, and doing it the right way. It’s paid off. Our children who are involved in the business want to carry on the legacy.”

the years, “weOver evolved from just a little general aviation-refurbishing center, working on smaller planes, to focusing primarily on corporate jets and turboprops, bigger planes.

”

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AVIATION/POLITICS

NEW HEIGHTS? LEGISLATION INTENDED TO UNBURDEN AVIATION INDUSTRY

By Carl Kozlowski

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“It’s a project that we’ve worked on for the last several sessions,” explained Jett, who has served as the chairman of the legislature’s Revenue and Tax Committee for the last four sessions. “Arkansas is unique in the way that funding flows into a special-use fund within the Department of Aeronautics like the sales tax on airplanes, parts and Rep. Joe Jett repair and fuel for aviation. That money then flows out to the 92 airports across the state of Arkansas, enabling them to be better maintained than those found in most other states.

“This exemption makes it possible for more planes to be

tate Rep. Joe Jett has been a passionate fan of aviation his whole adult life. He worked as an air traffic controller amid the dramatic strike in 1982, has an airline-transport pilot’s license and is a singleengine flight instructor. On weekends, the Republican from the Clay County town of Success even relaxes by flying a friend’s crop-dusting plane over rural Arkansas farmland.

That love of all things flight-related has carried over into his legislative career, where he has sought to create bills that help Arkansas’ $14 million aviation and aeronautics industry thrive. His latest measure, which began life this session as House Bill 1010 before being signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson as Act 142, amends the sales-and-use tax exemption for sales of certain aircraft, and should provide a great boost to the many RMOs — Repair Maintenance and Operations specialists — employed across the state.

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sold within Arkansas and kept here for all the attendant maintenance, repairs and painting that comes along with a change of ownership. And that ultimately keeps more money in the state and provides plenty of jobs in those support industries.”

Catering to the aviation industry is vital, Jett notes, as it is one of the state’s largest business sectors. One of the top beneficiaries of the tax-friendly legislation is Carl Finch, who heads the Air Resource Group, an aviation consulting business that offers charter brokerage services, turnkey aircraft management and market intelligence analysis to clients nationwide from its Little Rock headquarters.

Finch notes that Act 142 is “very important” for the state, as it not only boosts the prospects of the support industries but also adjusts the prior laws governing sales taxes to generate more revenue for the state. The law resulted from a series of bills that gradually created exemptions for sales tax on aircraft starting with those that weighed 12,000 pounds, then 9,000 pounds and then removing the tax from all planes sold to out-of-state buyers.

With buyers freed from the onerous tax, they now are more likely to stay in Arkansas for all the support work that’s key to any sale.

“Arkansas probably had one of the worst flyaway laws, which means that when an aircraft transaction takes place, it then leaves the state that the transaction was made in,” Finch said. “Basically, if an aircraft is going to be sold within a state but be based somewhere else and subject to sales-and-use

This exemption makes it possible for more planes to be sold within Arkansas and kept here for all the attendant maintenance, repairs and painting that comes along with a change of ownership.

taxes there, nobody’s going to pay sales tax twice on an airplane, and they do whatever it takes to make sure they don’t.

“The way the law used to be written is if a transaction was closed with the aircraft on the ground in Arkansas, regardless of who the buyer or seller was, the seller was obligated to collect sales tax on that. No one’s gonna do that, so they’ll do whatever they have to do to avoid paying the tax. And if you couldn’t close the transaction with the aircraft on the ground, all that was negated.”

A private plane lands at North Little Rock Muncipal Airport.

(Photos by Jamison Mosley)

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AVIATION

EXECUTIVE

Q&A

BY MARK CARTER

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he skies turned less friendly in 2020 when COVID-19 put much of the world on lockdown.

As vaccinations increase and things appear to be inching back towards normal, at least in the United States, air travel is picking back up. Passenger numbers at the state’s three largest commercial airports — Clinton National in Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas National in Highfill and Fort Smith Regional — were down approximately 60 percent over 2020, mirroring national numbers.

Arkansas Money & Politics spoke with representatives of these airports about how they coped with an abrupt halt to air travel in March 2020 and adjusted throughout a pandemic year.

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FRIENDLY SKIES ONCE MORE? Airports ready to put pandemic in ‘departures’ column

Bryan Malinowski, Executive Director, Clinton National Airport AMP: How’s the commercial airline industry doing, a year out from the initial shutdown? Starting to see it creep back?

Malinowski: Spring break boosted departing passenger traffic, or enplanements, at Clinton National Airport to 63 percent of pre-COVID levels, as leisure travelers comprise the majority of our passengers. We do expect a decrease over the next few weeks, with kids back in school, until we hit Memorial Day weekend and move into summer.

Mead and Hunt, an air service-development consultant representing the airport, projects our enplanements will stabilize around 65 percent later this year. The increase in traffic at Little Rock has allowed airlines to add additional options. We now have additional scheduled service to Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami and St. Petersburg-Clearwater. Nonstop service to Washington, D.C., that was provided preCOVID has resumed, and we expect seasonal service to Destin-Fort Walton and Los Angeles to return for the summer.

AMP: Whereas other businesses could pivot, there wasn’t much commercial airports could do in a situation like COVID. How did Clinton National adjust?

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Malinowski: The airport has been utilizing federal grants to fund operations. We also implemented austerity measures, such as only purchasing necessities, delaying some capital purchases and freezing open non-essential positions. Thankfully, there were no layoffs with Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission staff.

AMP: Once things open back up completely, do you expect to see a surge in travel? Could consumers see ticket prices go up?

Malinowski: We are seeing a rise in passengers correlating with increasing vaccination rates. The airport operates like a shopping mall in that airlines lease space to operate here. We do not set airline ticket prices — a function determined by the airlines and influenced by what the market will bear. Today’s market has fewer flights and fewer seats available.

AMP: Now that renovations and runway expansions have been completed in recent years, what’s next for Clinton National?

Malinowski: The airport never reaches its destination in terms of making upgrades to provide our customers with the best possible experience. Our airport is one of only a few debt-free commercial airports in the country, and we don’t anticipate any major changes to the terminal until a long-term passenger recovery has occurred.

However, we are actively working on projects in the airfield, including a $60 million multiyear safety enhancement to Taxiway Charlie, and installing curbside canopies along the front access road to the terminal.

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Andrew Branch, Chief Business Development Officer, NWA National Airport AMP: Post-pandemic, will passengers return in droves to commercial air travel, or will there be a gradual transition back to pre-COVID patterns?

Branch: We believe those traveling for leisure will return much earlier than business travel. This is a trend that is already apparent with very strong leisure travel demand for spring break and with bookings this summer. That said, we are starting to see more business travelers and have heard from some of our corporate partners that they are beginning to travel with greater frequency.

AMP: How does a regional airport like XNA get by when commercial air travel is impacted in such a way?

Branch: XNA is lucky to have a very strong board of directors, which has been fiscally responsible in the years leading up to the COVID pandemic. Because of this, XNA possesses reserves that guaranteed our ability to survive this extreme downturn in air travel.

Also, the federal government has provided significant funding through the COVID relief bills that have been passed.

We have also worked diligently to find areas where we could cut expenses and also to protect any revenue sources we A P R IL 2021

AVIATION can. Overall, XNA will exit this pandemic as strong as it’s ever been financially.

AMP: NWA seems primed to continue its impressive growth. What does continued growth mean for XNA? Branch: NWA definitely doesn’t seem to have slowed down. As the population grows, demand for air travel will also grow. XNA anticipates needing to improve and grow our facilities for this increased traffic in the coming years.

AMP: How important to the region is XNA, in terms of not just logistics but perception?

Branch: Airports are economic-development engines. They provide the ability for local businesses to connect to the world and also bring businesses from around the world conveniently. Without the connectivity an airport like XNA provides, businesses in the area would have a tougher time meeting with customers and vendors that are not located in Northwest Arkansas.

From a perception standpoint, an airport with great connectivity communicates to the world the strength and vitality of a region. XNA’s varied routes and commercial service with multiple air carriers tells the world that Northwest Arkansas is strong and can provide opportunities to all who decide to locate here.

Fort Smith Regional Airport

AMP: Were 2020 numbers down more than you expected?

Griffin: Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect, as this was new to all of us in the airport industry. We’ve all gone through tough times, but it was a new experience to have literally all passenger traffic drop so drastically.

AMP: Were they on par with what other smaller commercial airports experienced, and do you expect those numbers to begin to creep up over the next few months?

Griffin: Our passenger numbers decreased around 62 percent in 2020, which was in line with the national average. We have already seen an increase in passenger numbers [in 2021] and are hopeful that this trend will continue as more people have access to the vaccine and travel becomes part of our lives again.

Michael Griffin, Director, Fort Smith Regional Airport

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AMP: How important is it for local and regional residents, not to mention area industry, to have a local option for commercial air travel and not be reliant on NWA?

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Griffin: A majority of our passengers are business travelers. Having a local option is critical to attract and maintain many businesses and industries in the region. We are the closest airport for many in parts of eastern Oklahoma and the Arkansas River Valley area. Whether travelling for business or pleasure, it is also a great convenience not to have a long drive home after landing.

Our role as an airport has not changed.

Although 2020 was a different year for us, our role in the community has not changed. We continue to be an important component in growing and maintaining the region’s economy.

AMP: What’s next for Fort Smith Regional? Once we’re past the pandemic, do you foresee more flights or new destinations anytime soon?

Griffin: Going forward, our goal is to continue to grow our passenger service.

Although we lost Delta service during the pandemic, American is back to offering the same number of flights as pre-pandemic times. We are also working with a national air service-consulting firm to attract either additional destinations or airlines.

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EXECUTIVE EXTRACURRICULARS

Central Flying Service, Little Rock

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CLIPPED WINGS B U S I N E S S AV I AT I O N E X P E R I E N C E S SOME TURBULENCE

By Dwain Hebda || Photography by Jamison Mosley

EXECUTIVE EXTRACURRICULARS

“It’s starting to show signs of picking up now, but we’ve got a long way to go before we get back to prepandemic levels.”

Dick Holbert, Central Flying Service

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curtailed business trips in favor of virtual meetings. In some cases, the business has returned; in others not so much.

Dick Holbert, CEO of Central Flying Service in Little Rock, said corporate business was down by about half. “I think about 47 percent to be more precise,” he said. “It’s starting to show signs of picking up now, but we’ve got a long way to go before we get back to pre-pandemic levels.

“It was obviously pandemic-related, and it was kind of interesting because you would have people who wanted to go somewhere, but then they’d cancel the trip because they found out that the location they were going, the hotel for example, was shuttered, and there was no place to stay.

You had situations like in the Northeast where they had a two-week quarantine if you entered or left the state. So, that was a chilling situation for travelers.”

Corporately owned aircraft also logged fewer miles in 2020, but signs are that this segment of the market is coming back.

“From a business side of it, you had Zoom meetings, and the need or desire to go someplace during the pandemic was muted,” Holbert said. “You had the whole issue of where can I go? Do I need to go that badly? That’s even true of the people that own the airplane and didn’t have to worry about the transit. They just had to worry about what are they going to do when they got there.

“Now, I’m privy to fuel sales of other operators in our business around the country, and they have seen their fuel sales reach back up. I think maybe they’re, on balance, maybe 10 percent down from pre-pandemic. So that’s a pretty good rebound. That shows that people are flying.”

Not unlike the virus itself, seemingly no

n the four decades it’s been in existence, Omni Air Charter has withstood economic ups and downs, stepped-up regulatory presence and rising equipment and fuel costs. But 2020 was something altogether different, according to Toni Finkbeiner, co-owner.

“Initially, when we started out, we were of the mindset that people aren’t going to want to fly commercial, so this might actually pick up our business,” she said. “But that didn’t happen because everything just came to a halt. People found ways to connect with Zoom or whatever. They just did not go anywhere.”

Finkbeiner said losing the corporate traveler cost the Little Rock charter service, which serves a market area predominantly in Arkansas and adjoining states, roughly 80 percent of its business. And even as other parts of society started to come back, such was not the case for aviation.

“I wouldn’t say it’s improved even now,” she said. “Even since things are kind of getting back to normal, it’s almost like those [virtual meeting] things are in place, and it’s not as urgent to deal with people in person because we’ve got all of these new ways to communicate now that weren’t really utilized before. Our business really hasn’t picked up as much as we would have hoped at this point.

“We still have the occasional same type of charters that we’ve always had, like taking a family on their vacation for a week or so. They’re filling up the whole plane, and they’re still doing those kinds of things, but nothing like it was.”

Across the country, the story has been largely the same for aviation in general and charter outfits in particular. Fearful of the spread of COVID-19, corporations

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EXECUTIVE EXTRACURRICULARS

A Piper PA-18-150 Supercub at OZ1 Flying Club. (Photo provided)

“I’ve got an airplane that we are putting on our charter certificate; that means the FAA has inspected it and blessed it and said you can fly this for hire,” he said. “It’s a larger jet, and it requires approval by the TSA [Transportation Security Administration], because we have to check the no-fly list. We get five passengers on board; we have to know who they are, and we have to check to make sure they’re not on the nofly list.

“TSA has to approve the individuals who will actually make those calls to see if the passengers are on the no-fly list, and they’re our pilots, basically. Our pilots had

one was immune to the market forces the pandemic wrought. Flight Global magazine reported in September 2020 that industry giant NetJets, the world’s largest business aircraft operator with a fleet of more than 750 jets, plummeted 90 percent from 400 daily North American flights to 40 yearover-year between mid-March and midApril. Rival Flexjet hit a similar wall with only about 20 percent of flight volume compared to 2019.

Holbert said regulatory entities didn’t help the situation, in part due to their own challenges with COVID, but also due to a bureaucracy that has stymied the recovery.

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“The overall view is positive... We think we are in a better position to succeed than ever.”

justment of existing services also helped take the edge off of the pandemic-related slowdown.

“We split our maintenance department into two distinct teams to prevent a potential full shutdown on maintenance,” he said. “The business jet traffic was down but filled with more sales of smaller aircraft. Charter needs increased, so we spent much of the year overhauling our charter program to put us in a better position to provide more charter services in 2021 and beyond.

“OZ1 Flying Club is a part of our ecosystem, and club events became less about getting together in the club lounge and more about fly-out events where people can distance. We continued to grow the club to a membership now beyond 250 aviation enthusiasts.

“The overall view is positive. Because of the adversity experienced last year, aviation companies have found ways to adapt.

We think we are in a better position to succeed than ever.”

Despite the stagnation in her business, Omni’s Finkbeiner shares such optimism for the future. In many ways, her only option is to think positively, she said.

“I’m always optimistic. I mean what else can you do?” she said with a laugh. “It’s just the two of us, my husband, Chris, and I, and we have two aircraft on charter. We’re getting more calls, more interest anyway.

So, we’re hopeful, is the best I can say.”

to go to Memphis to get fingerprinted. We have had all our paperwork in to the TSA for at least, I’m going to say two months.

There is one person that we’re dealing with in Washington, D.C., who cannot seem to get around to approving us. So, we’ve got a large jet that is not available for charter because we’re waiting on the TSA to say go.

I can’t imagine an excuse why they haven’t said it.”

The cruelest trick of all is that the industry began 2020 at its healthiest in some time. Chad Cox, president and director of aviation for Summit Aviation/Runway Group, said that was the case for the Bentonville outfit.

“Until mid-March, we thought this would be the year to eclipse all years in terms of operations,” he said. “Then, bam!

COVID comes along, and we stopped all of our in-house flying from March 14 until May 4. When we did get back to flying, masks became mandatory, and sanitation of the planes was added as part of our preflight/post-flight.”

As a fixed base of operations (FBO), Cox said the company had other revenue streams upon which it could rely.

“We did see some of our club members and flight students take a pause, but those spots were filled with others who were on the waitlist,” he said. “At the end of the day, 2020 was our best year in terms of hours of instruction and fuel sold.”

Cox said creative management and ad-

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COMMERCIAL AIRPORTS IN ARKANSAS Arkansas’ eight commercial airports and the airlines that serve them.

NAME

CODE

Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport, Adams Field

LIT

CITY

COMMERCIAL CARRIERS

Little Rock

-

Allegiant (ALLE) American Airlines (AA) Delta (DEL) Southwest (SW) United (UNI) Frontier (F)

-

Allegiant (ALLE) American Airlines (AA) Delta (DEL) United (UNI) Frontier (F)

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport

XNA

Highfill (Bentonville)

Fort Smith Regional Airport

FSM

Fort Smith

- American Airlines (AA)

Texarkana Regional Airport, Webb Field

TXK

Texarkana

- American Airlines (AA)

Jonesboro Municipal Airport

JBR

Jonesboro

- Air Choice One (AIR)

South Arkansas Regional Airport, Goodwin Field

ELD

El Dorado

- Southern Airways Express (SOUTH)

Boone County Regional Airport

HRO

Harrison

- Southern Airways Express (SOUTH)

Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport

HOT

Hot Springs

- Southern Airways Express (SOUTH)

TOTAL PASSENGERS IN 2020 AND EARLY 2021 FOR CLINTON NATIONAL, NWA NATIONAL A look at the total passenger numbers, enplanements and deplanements at Arkansas’ two major commercial airports, Clinton National (LIT) in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas National (XNA) in Highfill. Passenger counts were down 56 percent for 2020 in Little Rock and 61 percent in NWA. LIT Jan. 2020 — 158,475 Feb. 2020 — 151,122 March 2020 — 86,229 April 2020 — 11,968 May 2020 — 28,982 June 2020 — 51,769 July 2020 — 73,498 Aug. 2020 — 79,278 Sept. 2020 — 77,701 Oct. 2020 — 88,115 Nov. 2020 — 84,961 Dec. 2020 — 85,644 Jan. 2021 — 72,572 Feb. 2021 — 62,270 Total passengers in 2020 — 977,742 Total passengers in 2019 — 2,241,716

XNA Jan. 2020 — 135,708 Feb. 2020 — 134,735 March 2020 — 70,552 April 2020 — 6,491 May 2020 — 17,001 June 2020 — 32,914 July 2020 — 50,346 Aug. 2020 — 51,198 Sept. 2020 — 50,404 Oct. 2020 — 63,211 Nov. 2020 — 57,313 Dec. 2020 — 51,234 Jan. 2021 — 45,065 Feb. 2021 — 42,249 Total passengers in 2020 — 721,107 Total passengers in 2019 — 1,846,374

AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE COMPANIES IN ARKANSAS Ability LLC Fayetteville

Bishop Aviation, Inc. Hot Springs

Highland Machine Works, Inc. East Camden

Advanced Integrated Technologies, Inc. Mountain View

Boyd Interiors Mena

Jevac Machine Inc. McNeil

Aerial Patrol, Inc. Maumelle

C & H Aircraft Restoration, Inc. Evansville

Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control East Camden

Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. Camden

CAVU Aerospace Stuttgart

LRDC Systems LLC Little Rock

AeroNautique Sherwood

Central Flying Service, Inc. Little Rock

Maynard, Inc. Fayetteville

Aerotech Machine Corp.

Batesville

Class A Tooling Cabot

Mena Air Center Mena

Ag Air Aircraft, Inc. Corning

Cobalt Aero Service LLC Hot Springs

Mena Aircraft Engines, Inc. Mena

Airborne Air Ambulance/Airborne Flying Service, Inc. Hot Springs

Craft Manufacturing & Tooling Inc, dba CMT Inc Hot Springs

Mena Aircraft Painting Mena

Crider Aircraft Painting, Inc. Mena

Mt. Ida Machining, Inc. Mount Ida

Custom Aircraft Cabinets, Inc. North Little Rock

Mundo-Tech, Inc. Rogers

D & N Machining Greenwood

ORC Products, Inc. Springdale

DA Pine Bluff Arsenal Pine Bluff

Pinnacle North Corporate Aircraft Interiors, LLC Little Rock

Air Charter Express North Little Rock Air Lease International Hot Springs Airmotive, Inc. Clinton AirReady MRO Services, Inc. Melbourne Air Resource Group Little Rock Airtech Supply, Inc. Hot Springs Allied AgCat Productions, Inc. Walnut Ridge American Defense Components Stamps American Eagle Airlines Bentonville American Rheinmetall Munition, Inc. Camden Amfuel Magnolia Amos Flying Service, Inc. Batesville Arcturus Aerospace Machine Little Rock Arkansas Aeronautics, Inc. West Memphis Arkansas Air Center Jonesboro Arkansas Turbine Services, Inc. Pocahontas Arloe Designs, LLC North Little Rock Aviation Graphix USA LLC Bella Vista Aviation Interior Services, Inc Searcy Aviation Repair Technologies (ART) Blytheville Avionics & Systems Integration Group LLC North Little Rock B & D Design Services, Inc. Springdale B&M Painting, LLC Camden Barrett Aviation, Inc. North Little Rock BEI Precision Systems & Space Company, Inc. Maumelle Bemco, Inc. Centerton

Dassault Falcon Jet Corp.

Little Rock Dawson Aircraft, Inc. Clinton Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. Little Rock Devol Aviation Inc. Fayetteville Ducommun Electronics Solutions Group Berryville Ducommun Electronics Solutions Group Huntsville Duke Manufacturing Fort Smith Edmonds Aviation LLC Searcy ESNA Arkansas - Div of Novaria Pocahontas Esterline Defense Technologies ARO East Camden Executive Aviation Services LLC Fayetteville Ferra Aerospace Rogers Flying Investments LLC Fayetteville Freedom Works Mfg. Inc. Hot Springs Frost Flying Maintenance, Inc. Marianna FTS, Inc. Little Rock Galley Support Innovations (GSI) Sherwood Game Composites, LLC Bentonville General Dynamics Ordnance & Tactical Systems Inc. Hampton

POL Systems Inc. Magnolia POL Systems LLC Camden Pratt & Whitney PSD, Inc. Springdale R & C Aviation, Inc. Mena Raytheon Missile Systems - Weapon Integration Center Camden East Camden Rose Aircraft Services, Inc. Mena Rotorcraft, Inc. Pocahontas Safran Electrical & Power Usa, LLC Little Rock SGL Composites, Inc. Arkadelphia Shield Aerodynamics LLC Pine Bluff South Delta Aviation Helena-West Helena Spectra Technologies LLC East Camden Stallings Aircraft Propeller Mountain View Standard Aero Little Rock Triumph Aerostructures Hot Springs Triumph Airborne Structures, LLC Hot Springs Triumph Group Fabrications Hot Springs Trutrak Flight Systems Inc Springdale TWH Enterprises, Inc Batesville

Grandeur Fasteners, Inc. - Danville Danville

Vision Technologies, Inc. Rogers

Hampton Aviation, Inc. Mena

Wolfspeed Fayetteville

This list contains the names of aerospace and defense firms doing business in Arkansas as of 2000. Source: AEDC

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THE

DIGS OF THE DEAL

MENA INTERMOUNTAIN MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

‘TAILS’ TO TELL, ECONOMIC ENGINE TO DRIVE

By Katie Zakrzewski

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THE DIGS OF THE DEAL Photos courtesy of Fred Ogden

Mena Intermountain, as seen from the air five miles out from the southwest, sits on one of the only flat spots in the rugged Ouachitas between Fort Smith and Texarkana.

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I

MENA AIRPORT’S COLORFUL HISTORY SPAWNS STORIES, INCLUDING, YES, THAT ONE

n the quiet, unsuspecting Southern mountain town of Mena, you’ll find a small airport that has provided aviation services since World War II. Though it was once part of an international controversy, the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport has brought much more good than notoriety to the surrounding region since the Barry Seal scandal of the 1980s.

Mena Intermountain’s inception was militaristic in nature, but it has morphed to include charter-based and private, aeronautical travel and repair. The airfield was originally built in 1942, when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) determined a need for an emergency land strip between Fort Smith and Texarkana. As one of the only flat spots in a mountainous portion of the state, Mena was designated as the site for the airport.

Fred Ogden, manager of Mena Intermountain, has collected a host of stories over the years from the town’s older folks that helps illustrate the airport’s colorful past.

Ogden shares that Jimmie Angel, the famed aviator who was the first to fly over Angel Falls in Venezuela in 1933, would often stop

Mena’s Geyer brothers, Walter and Hartzell, were WWII fighter pilots who gave flying lessons to local residents.

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We don’t have a lot of big “agriculture, but we do have this little jewel, and it’s been a good thing for Mena.

”

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An American Eagle commuter jet, parked at Mena Intermountain, awaits maintenance.

at Mena Intermountain to visit his good friend, a man known as Hendrix.

Hendrix, as Ogden recalled, had gone through pilot training during World War I, but the war had ended just as his training did.

Another well-known aviation tale from Mena is that of the Geyer Brothers, Walter and Hartzell. A doctor and an undertaker, respectively, the two brothers were fighter pilots during World War II. Upon their post-war return to Mena in the late 1940s, the brothers started an unofficial flying school, where they gave flying lessons to the locals. When the field that would later be home to the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport was designated an emergency field by the CAA, the Geyer Brothers moved their school to the more official, then grassy-field, area.

In the 1960s, Hamp Edwards, one of the most renowned pilots in Mena, began to establish an aeronautical franchise in the small town, Ogden said.

Edwards started a fixed-base operation (FBO) in the area outside of the airport. This FBO allowed individuals to charter a flight, buy gasoline for an aircraft or rent a hangar in which to store an aircraft. Edwards’ influence was pivotal in establishing the groundwork for what would soon become Mena’s thriving industry.

“Everybody knew Hamp,” Ogden said. “One time, he was on the field and a mail courier ran near and handed him an envelope. All it said was, ‘Hamp: Mena.’ That was it. There was no street address, no ZIP code, no state. I don’t know that a post office would even try that nowadays, but since

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THE DIGS OF THE DEAL

Visitors to the Mena airport on a given day might see aircraft such as a Ford Trimotor from the Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Museum in Oshkosh, Wisc., and restored Stearman biplanes like those flown in Cole Brothers Airshows from 1947 to 1963.

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literally everyone knew Hamp at that time, there was no wondering who the letter belonged to.”

Ogden shared more stories about aeronautical legends in Mena, the presence of whom were pivotal in

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Mena’s airbound development. One such legend is Leo Overturf who, in the mid-1960s, owned a large aircraftrepair business in the Oklahoma City area. The growth of Mena’s aircraft industry attracted Overturf to the town, and he began to export a large amount of his cosmetic repairs and general aircraft-refurbishment jobs to Mena. Ogden notes that this was another piece of Mena’s economic development puzzle.

“That’s how the airport as it is now came into existence to a large degree — there are a lot of repair and maintenance shops in the field for a town our size,” Ogden said. “You can bring in airplanes on the back of a flatbed trailer, and they leave looking like a new one. There’s four or five paint shops on the field, a couple of places that work on airframes, there’s an engine shop, there’s a couple of avionics shops. I think they’re actually about 18 businesses that are all based here.

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So now, when people that are in the aviation business hear about Mena, most of them think repair and maintenance.”

BARRY SEAL But it was in the early 1980s when the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport’s reputation took a more infamous turn.

Adler Berriman “Barry” Seal was a commercial airline pilot from Baton Rouge, La. But Seal was also a major drug smuggler for the Medellín drug cartel, trafficking tons of marijuana and cocaine into the United States.

President Ronald Reagan would later use Seal in a quest for evidence that leaders in Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, which Reagan opposed, were shipping cocaine into the United States, but only after several deals with federal authorities to keep Seal out of the public eye. There would also be allegations that the CIA used Mena as a base to help train pilots and troops for intervention in the Nicaraguan uprising by the Contras during the ‘80s. Seal wouldn’t be busted until 1983, when he would then act as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Association. Eventually, of course, he would become the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s character in the movie, American Made.

It makes sense, then, that in 1982, Seal was already identified by federal agents as a “major international narcotics trafficker” when he moved his aircraft to Mena from his base in Baton Rouge. That same year, Reagan appointed now Gov. Asa Hutchinson to be the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Hutchinson in turn ordered William Duncan, an investigator for the IRS, and Russell

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You can bring in airplanes on the “back of a flatbed trailer, and they leave looking like a new one. ”

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Military aircraft are frequent visitors to Mena, including small transport jets, the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter used by the U.S. Army.

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Welch of the Arkansas State Police to keep an eye on the sleepy rural town for signs of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Many investigators and police officers who staked out the area surrounding the airport witnessed extra — and illegal — fuel tanks being installed on Seal’s aircraft before he took off quickly into the night, with no lights on to avoid announcement of his arrival or departure.

Federal agencies had failed to make law enforcement in Arkansas and Louisiana aware of Seal’s extensive brushes with the law. Local law enforcement presumed that he was simply a drug runner — they couldn’t imagine that he was involved in something much greater.

Eventually, on Feb. 19, 1986, a small group of Colombian gunmen would murder Seal in a Baton Rouge parking lot, at the halfway house where a federal judge had ordered him to stay while on probation. Reagan would go on to use evidence gathered from Seal’s travels and drug smuggling as evidence against the Sandinistas, while failing to mention Seal at all.

And at the center of the political whirlwind of federal agencies and criminal activities and foreign organizations was the humble Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, the subject of speculation for decades to come.

“Mr. Seal’s line of work probably did require the skills of an airplane mechanic, and he temporarily moved his operation here, allegedly. That said, well, I think he did own a house here. He was only here on one or two occasions, unlike the movie with Tom Cruise portrayed,” Ogden said. “And he kept his footprint small as far as getting his airplanes worked on. That was about the extent of his operations, from

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what I understand. He didn’t bring drugs into the airport. But I would venture to guess that most airports with the kind of facilities that we have here… they probably knowingly or unknowingly helped people get their airplanes fixed and engage in that kind of business. That doesn’t make it right.”

Ogden discussed the misportrayal of Mena in American Made.

“They didn’t accurately portray our town. There’s this theme in the movie that everybody was in cahoots and knew what was going on, but that in fact is not the way it was,” he said.

“And there were a lot of law enforcement people that were there, and they knew what was going on to some degree, I guess, just because of the unusual deposits going into the banks and whatnot. They were thoroughly investigating this and trying to put a stop to whatever various things might’ve been going on out here.

“In fact, I’ve heard that the sher-

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iff at the time was on his way out here to end everything and shut down the operation when a fax came through at the last minute from the DEA, and they more or less said to leave this guy alone. I think that’s appeared in some of the Freedom of Information Act documents that came to light in recent history. This is, of course, is all third-hand and gleaned from reading about it and talking to some of the people around here over the years.”

Both Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport and the city of Mena have been able to shift perception to a more positive light in recent years.

In the 2036 Arkansas Statewide Airport System Plan Update, it was revealed that the first round of economic output dispersed throughout Arkansas because of the services offered at Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport

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Fred Ogden; a commemorative B-25 Devil Dog bomber.

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It does my heart “ good to see young people coming out here and finding a decent paying job…

”

The Mena airport’s economic impact is estimated to hit $29.9 million.

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was estimated to be $29.9 million. In the second round of economic output, an additional $18 million spent in the Natural State was traced back to the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport. The airport alone provides 739 jobs with a payroll of $14.7 million and a total output of $47.9 million. The airport recently has seen $8.2 million worth of new construction projects on the property through various “shovel ready” projects and as the result of grant funding.

“It’s an economic engine here for us, and the neat thing about it is, it’s money coming in from out of town and mostly out of state, which isn’t bad for a county of 20,000,” Ogden noted. “So, we bring the work here, and it impacts the state. And I’m proud of that. We don’t have a lot of industry in this part of the state. We don’t have a lot of big agriculture, but we do have this little jewel, and it’s been a good thing for Mena.”

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Aeronautics has ensured that the city will continue to grow.

“It’s kept a lot of young people here. I think there are probably 250 jobs out here, maybe 300, and that’s not a lot, but the town of Mena is 5,700 people, only half of which are working age. So, that’s a pretty good chunk of the labor force,” Ogden said of the number of local young adults working at the airport. “For instance, when I got out of college, the unemployment rate here was around 17 to 18 percent in 1983. And of course, things have economically improved here and in the nation in general over time. It does my heart good to see young people coming out here and finding a decent paying job in their hometown, so that they don’t have to go off somewhere else to work.”

Today, a host of airplanes still makes the journey to Mena to get painted, get their frames straightened and to have their engines worked on.

Doctors, celebrities, lawyers, busi-

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The Mena airport supplies 739 local jobs and has seen $8.2 million worth of new construction projects, including runway expansion and new hangars.

ness executives and politicians from around the world come through Mena Intermountain. Airplanes used in museums and in movies, such as Tora! Tora! Tora!, have all made a stop in Mena for touch-ups and repairs.

Ogden said the airport still plays a role in politics today, albeit a much brighter one. He shared that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has made stops at the airport in the past, and other politicians, including the transportation secretary under Donald Trump, have made a point to stop in Mena as well.

“Elaine Chao had a soft spot in her heart for small airports. Usually the bigger airports conducting the big passenger operations usually get the funding, but she always made sure there was a piece of pie cut out for airports of our size,” Ogden said. “ And that has made a real difference.”

While some of Mena Intermountain’s past is cloaked in secrecy, it’s clear the airport has made a commitment to have a positive impact on the well being of its community and The Natural State as a whole. And it’s apparent the airport is determined to use its runway to deliver the charm of Arkansas to the rest of the world.

A wise man once said, “With a mile of pavement, you can go exactly one mile down the road. But with a mile of runway, you can go anywhere in the world.”

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You never know who might be getting out of a plane that lands at Mena Intermountain.

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Franklin McLarty behind $276M launch of Arkansas special-purpose acquisition company

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

By Dwain Hebda Photography by Jamison Mosley

FINANCE

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Franklin McLarty and MDH Acquisitions has touched down in Arkansas.

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f you didn’t know “I THINK ARKANSAS IS JUST SPECIAL... YOU’RE better, you’d easily mistake FrankSITUATED IN A FEW DIFFERENT REGIONS, lin McLarty for DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU’RE STANDING IN one of a million other corporate guys — a THE STATE. I THINK THAT PROBABLY ORIENTS banker, maybe, albeit A SENSIBILITY AND UNDERSTANDING THAT one considerably less buttoned-down than ALLOWS ARKANSAS TO PUNCH ABOVE ITS stereotype.

WEIGHT CLASS A LITTLE BIT.” You easily picture the Catholic High School grad on the million in a February IPO. Also referred sidelines of a soccer field watching his to as special purpose acquisition compakids on Saturdays or cutting the grass nies (SPAC), such ventures are part of a in some comfortable, upwardly mobile raging trend on Wall Street, public firms neighborhood. He speaks with an easy that exist solely to buy other companies, humor that’s engaging and authentic, as thereby taking them public. a true son of the Natural State.

To this end, MDH Acquisitions’ very But spend a little more time around name states its purpose in life, aligning McLarty — brother to Arkansas auto with McLarty’s unpretentious, straightbaron Mark McLarty and son of former ahead style. There’s no fancy wordplay Arkla Gas CEO and White House Chief or dancing around the central goal. of Staff Thomas “Mack” McLarty — and What you see, right down to the letteryou discover this is not your average head, is what you get. boy-next-door middle executive.

“It’s just really exciting how this all Having cut his teeth on his family’s came together, very organically and natfar-flung and diverse corporate interurally,” he said. “We’ve been able to be ests, he’s one of a new breed of finansuccessful in the heartland of the United cial entrepreneurs: smart, opportunistic States, where a lot of the big, bold brackand audacious enough to launch a Wall et investors from the coast aren’t really Street-style business venture from the established anymore. That’s where we heart of down-home Little Rock. think we have a competitive advantage, As McLarty sees it, address is incior loaded dice, to say it another way.” dental and opportunities universal, MDH Acquisitions’ birthing comes but there’s something innately satisfyduring a SPAC feeding frenzy. Far from ing about succeeding in places others a new concept, SPACs have enjoyed a ignore. recent run unlike anything the market “I think Arkansas is just special. The has ever seen. SPACs raised $32 billion way it’s situated geographically, it’s sort in IPO fundraising in 2016; three years of a transitional state,” he said to delater that number reached $13.6 billion, scribe its mojo. “You’re situated in a few per Investopedia. Last year, 248 SPACs different regions, depending on where raised $83 billion, and as the Harvard you’re standing in the state. I think that Business Review reported, the new year probably orients a sensibility and unis poised for yet another big showing. In derstanding that allows Arkansas to January 2021 alone, such vehicles have punch above its weight class a little bit.” already raised about $26 billion.

McLarty has landed some Mike Ty“Part of the reason SPACs are so popuson-sized jabs recently. In July 2020, he lar is that it’s a much more efficient way to launched MDH Acquisition Corp., a go public,” McLarty said. “The regulatory blank-check company that raised $276

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FINANCE regime made that process more onerous, as well as expensive, than it was in the days of John Tyson, J.B. Hunt and Sam Walton. In fact, as we started to evaluate SPACs, one of the things I thought about was, could any of those guys have taken

50 percent fewer companies that trade publicly than there were 20 years ago.

Some of that is the effect of private equities taking companies private, but to Franklin’s point, the regulations have made it so difficult. It’s nerve-wracking

Franklin McLarty and MDH CEO Beau Blair (seated) are optimistic that a focus on America’s heartland will reveal some hidden gems.

a year and a half off and spent millions of dollars to go public way back when, when they were running their company in a very hands-on way? Probably not.

“As a matter of fact, there are some companies that are going public via SPACs that could do a traditional IPO offering, and they’re choosing not to. I’ve got a friend who sold his company via SPAC, and he said, ‘Look, we’re going to [go public] anyway; this saves us a year and a half.’”

Beau Blair, MDH’s chief executive officer, said, “If you look today, there are

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because you don’t know what’s going to happen in a traditional IPO until the day you process. You don’t know what the valuation is going to be, you don’t know if it’s going to succeed. It could get pulled, and then you’re out legal fees, accounting fees, etc.

“That’s the brilliance of a SPAC; within a short period of time, you can provide certainty and have the expectations set for the founder of the company to be able to access the public markets.”

With the capital it raises via an IPO, the SPAC goes shopping for a company to

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For their part, McLarty and Blair acknowledge some of the activity that’s gone on in this space has been shaky, but that due diligence and rigorous assessment of potential targets can still reveal solid companies geared to meet investor expectations. They say that’s especially true in what they define as the heartland, a middle-America region of the country many on Wall Street have ignored for too long. And, they say, MDH Acquisitions Corp. is uniquely oriented to discover them.

“It’s a methodical process that we’re doing right now in our tier system,” Blair said.

“It’s rigorous due diligence, it’s talking to the management, sitting down with them and really understanding their projections, their outlook. And then, you need to look at the industry and the sector and see what kind of trends are going on there.

“We’ve got eight deals that we’re looking at that are Tier One. They fit the criteria of, is this a sector that we know? What’s the size of the company and does it fit our metrics?

You’ve got to come up with your metrics to manage your time and really evaluate the deals. Then, we’ve got probably another six or seven in what we’re calling Tier Two. We just don’t know enough about these companies, but the concept is interesting, and we’re going to learn more.”

McLarty added, “You look at some of the companies that are going public right now through SPACs and a lot of them are very quality companies. I didn’t say all of them are quality companies, in my opinion. That’s where the proof will be in the pudding.

“I do think our team has very complementary skill sets and backgrounds. I came up, really, as an operator through the hotel business, automotive transportation and so forth. Other team members bring a slightly different skill set to the table that, I think, is a really complementary set of perspectives. If we all start nodding along on the same deal, that’s probably a pretty good sign that we need to pay close attention to that one.”

“PART OF THE REASON SPACS ARE SO POPULAR IS THAT IT’S A MUCH MORE EFFICIENT WAY TO GO PUBLIC. THE REGULATORY REGIME MADE THAT PROCESS MORE ONEROUS, AS WELL AS EXPENSIVE, THAN IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF JOHN TYSON, J.B. HUNT AND SAM WALTON.”

acquire. Once that deal is consummated, the SPAC ceases to exist, its shareholders now having been converted to stakeholders in the acquired entity.

McLarty said, “From my side, it’s very much like a traditional IPO, it’s just sequenced a little differently. There is a meaningful amount of regulatory requirement from every facet — legal, accounting and all of that — when you launch a SPAC. The company, when we do a deal with somebody and they take over our shell and take over the stock ticker, they’re still going to have to go out and build enthusiasm with analysts and deliver results and so forth and so on.”

SPACs are not without their detractors, turned off by what critics call a lack of transparency. In a typical stock purchase, for instance, the investor knows something about the company they’re buying into. SPACs are not compelled to identify what kind of company they intend to go after, let alone identify potential acquisition targets.

Another knock on many SPAC-acquired companies is their subpar performance post-merger. With so many SPACs angling in the market — all of whom must meet a two-year deadline to acquire a company — some critics argue the pool of quality acquisition targets may be past diluted. Just last month, The New York Times wrote about the post-acquisition struggles of Richard Branson’s spaceflight business, Virgin Galactic, taken public via a SPAC led by billionaire venture capital investor Chamath Palihapitiya. What was then the gold-standard example of a SPAC in action has quickly become a cautionary moral that even the whales can be wrong.

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MEDIA/SMALL BUSINESS

COMMERCIAL PRINTING THROUGH THE

PANDEMIC

LOCAL PRINTERS TALK CHALLENGES, PIVOTS AND OUTLOOKS

By Katie Zakrzewski // Photography by Jamison Mosley

Arkansas Money & Politics sat down with the owners of three local commercial print shops in Central Arkansas and asked them about the pandemic’s impact on business, techniques to save their companies and what the future holds.

Magna IV Kristi Dannelley is the CEO/owner of Magna IV in Little Rock. Magna IV was founded in 1975 by Pat and Gary Middleton as a pre-press shop. The Middletons went on to acquire several companies over the years. Today, Magna IV is a turnkey marketing solutions business that seeks to provide marketing solutions to supercharge marketing teams’ productivity.

Dannelley calls Magna IV a one-stop shop. “It’s rare to find as many capabilities in one format as you would find here: we have wide format, digital-offset printing, direct mailing, a full programming staff, and we build custom marketing portals for web-to-print solutions,” Dannelley said. “We offer promotional products. We source both domestically and internationally, and we offer full warehousing and fulfillment services.”

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AMP: What are some major issues that commercial printers have faced in the last year?

tation products. So yes, we became a distributor and began marketing and providing those to our clients too.

Dannelley: The main issue was really decline in revenue in April of last year. Things just took a nosedive. As for Magna IV, our core clients are in the national restaurant, fitness, nonprofit and event industries. So as you can imagine, all of those things, like restaurants and gyms, shut down. Events came to a standstill; nonprofits weren’t hosting events.

A lot of our solutions and services were geared towards very program-related campaigns and campaign management, and all of those ground to a halt. There was no March Madness. Maybe we would have done a Cinco de Mayo promotion for a national brand that rolled out to all locations, but we didn’t do that — they were closed. So, revenue really took a nosedive as things were shuttered.

AMP: All things considered, were there some silver linings?

Dannelley: One of the silver linings is you get to see what your leadership team is really made of, and I have to say that I was super impressed by how our team rose to the occasion and our employees really dug in and got creative.

The resilience that I saw and the growth in leadership that I saw was fantastic. I mean, people really, really rose to the challenge. Their leadership skills will forever be changed and strengthened. We learned to pivot in ways — we found some new channels for growth. We are adding digital advertising to our offerings.

I don’t call us a printer anymore, because we really do provide turnkey marketing solutions. If you’re going to put your brand on something, or you’re going to launch a campaign, we’re the people you come to to execute that goal. And so, part of that means if we’re going to be a true turnkey provider, we have to have all digital advertising expertise. And so, we have a team of five people focusing on that.

AMP: What changes have you had to make within the last year to stay afloat?

Dannelley: The very first thing we did was to focus on cash flow and bringing our operational cost in line with the reality of the situation. So, we got really lean. We contracted as much as we could, and then we began to focus on where we were going to pivot. And so we pivoted to a lot of COVIDrelated things.

We started to offer PPE. We began to customize masks.

We began to offer directional signage and partitions. We already had really great infrastructure in place for business-to-business e-commerce fulfillment, because again, remember, we have a full staff of programmers, and we build portals. We had to print portals for national brands.

And so we were very accustomed to fulfilling business-tobusiness well, so we began to pivot to fulfilling for e-comm business-to-consumer e-comm clients. That’s been a really great growth strategy for us because we have the infrastructure in place. And that is something that I’m continuing to focus development efforts on — our fulfillment for e-comm companies.

AMP: What does the next year look like?

Dannelley: I really think we will continue to see recovery. I don’t think 2021 is going to be out of the woods, and things are going to just be great and wonderful. Again, I think that there will be some business that won’t come back.

I think that a lot of companies, their strategy in terms of employing digital in their everyday business practices, was sped up probably by three to five years.

For example, in restaurants, you have these QR codes on the table now. And so, we won’t ever see menu printing returned to the level it was. I think that focusing on growing out these ancillary services and finding ways to truly add value to the client, that’s going to make or break our industry going forward. Because those days of existing on transactional printing — and by transactional printing, I mean, somebody calls and says, ‘Hey, would you print 20,000 menus?’ — those days are over.

You don’t get those calls anymore. You’re either in it to be a good solutions provider or it’s going to be very, very difficult to make it.

AMP: Did you find yourself more involved in providing services that had a health care focus than before?

Dannelley: Yes, absolutely. We became a distributorship for sanitation and more eco-friendly, bio-friendly sani-

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Arkansas Graphics Kevin Wilcox is the president of Arkansas Graphics in Little Rock, which was started in 1974 by his father, Dale. Dale Wilcox started the business mostly brokering, but as the workload increased, he decided to do more things in-house. Instead of hiring a receptionist to answer the phone, Wilcox’s father bought a small press and hired a pressman to answer the phone.

The business spent the next several decades growing from there. Wilcox has been in the printing industry for 31 years, and took over from his dad eight years ago.

AMP: What are some major issues that commercial printers have faced in the last year?

was going to last. We started partnering with our vendors and our bankers and our customers, and especially the employees who we were able to keep, and communicating as much as we could, even if it was communicated that we didn’t know what was happening.

I also communicated a lot with my competitors. We’re competitive, but we try to look out for each other, and we all like each other. So, we were talking and making sure that we’re all figuring things out, because the government was… there were rumors of help that either would or wouldn’t come through. So, we’re trying to look out for each other. I can’t say enough about customers still paying us, and our employees just being extremely flexible and working with us.

Wilcox: Right after the whole state shut down, it was just a whirlwind. We went through the ABC’s of business as far as this emergency mode of cutting our expenses and focusing on cash retention, and making sure that we could survive as long as possible, assuming another check never hit our mailbox.

But we were very grateful. Our customers were great, and they kept mailing us the checks. We did believe the pandemic would last longer than what the government was telling us at the time. We lost a lot of good people during the pandemic.

We probably went from 48 employees the second week of March to probably 15 or 16 that third week of March. Then most of those, after a while, ended up being part-time for a couple of months until we picked back up in July. We buckled down, not knowing where it was going to go or how long it

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AMP: What changes have you had to make within the last year to stay afloat?

Wilcox: Some of the things we had done beforehand

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we felt like we weren’t about to go lock the door, so to speak.

Additionally, everything in the industry became sped up. Just like every other industry in America, everything just kind of got accelerated — what might have happened over the next five years happened over five months. Thankfully, we already had the building blocks as far as those online platforms, digital access, as far as diversification of our services.

With online platforms, jobs can be ordered online, and they show up right at the press ready to go. And so, that was a huge boom for us, that we had that in place. If we hadn’t had that, I can’t imagine that you and I would be talking today, truthfully.

We made a point to diversify our customer base too, which really helps. We had some customers that were restaurants, and those immediately went away. We had some customers that were hospitals or insurance agencies, and those actually picked up. It was still a huge hit, especially for a couple of months, but it helped us. We do a lot of events and marketing, especially in display graphics. That was a blow to us because obviously, there were no events going on or they’re just now kind of picking up. We all were kind of wondering if we would make it this far. Especially when the pandemic hit, nobody knew if we would be here just a few weeks or a few months.

without knowing it really helped us, which was a diversification of our services, diversification of our customer base and digital access for our customers to those services. That was probably the biggest thing.

We were able to survive until July or August when political season and direct mail came up, which we do a lot of. It being a political year was really, really helpful to us. If it had been 2019, it would have been a longer struggle. But all those postcards and stuff that we do really helped us out too. We actually got really busy at the end of the year. And so now we’re kind of getting back into the regular groove. Every other year’s a little bit of a bump. For us, presidential election years are a little bit less of a bump than non-presidential election years. But this one was the biggest we’d ever had.

We do multiple states. We aren’t just doing Arkansas; we’re doing stuff from North Carolina, all the way to Oklahoma and Texas. People think of printing now as business cards or maybe a brochure or something, but the printers around here and most printers that are still here are either very narrowly focused on one thing or they have a diversification of services, and that’s kind of the path we’ve done. We do marketing material and forms that people need to operate. We do a lot of wall graphics and display graphics. We also do a lot of digital printing.

Now there’s a lot of digital, so the jobs have gotten smaller.

But there’s more of them. We’ve had to adapt our production line to be able to handle that. We’ve done that with digital presses and digital finishing equipment.

AMP: What does the next year look like?

Wilcox: I wish I could say — I feel blind sometimes. I feel as blind about this coming year as I did last year. I do think that if the economy grows, like people say it’s going to grow, that overall it’ll be a good year. I think we need to continue to focus on the basic ABCs of business, but also finding those long-term partners who we want to do a digital platform with and work with, and not just kind of the once-in-a-blue-moon stuff. We need to try to figure out how we can do more with less, and I think that’s what our whole industry is going to struggle with.

The industry used to be able to ramp up, and I could ramp up and have enough people that no matter how busy I was, I would be able to handle it internally. I think right now the industry needs to scale back and say, “Hey, if things get really, really busy, I need to partner with other printers to help get it out,” because that overhead can eat you up when there’s not enough business there.

And so, I think we’ve got to be smarter with the assets that we have. I think that and the diversification of our services and partnering with people and companies while allowing digital access for our services, those are going to be the three main things that we have to figure out.

AMP: All things considered, were there some silver linings?

Wilcox: Yes. First, we had more opportunities to really help the community. When schools shut down, one of the things we did was start offering yard signs to seniors that were graduating, but weren’t going to have a graduation. I had a senior myself, and they were missing out on all their sports and all the normal stuff they got to do. And so just a simple yard sign became a big deal for them so that people would know where they were in life.

In the first few weeks, that really kept us kind of busy. One of the things we did was a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House by making signs that thanked frontline workers.

Any profits on those yard signs went to the Ronald McDonald House. We weren’t really looking to make money, and it was something to keep our people busy, and then we could donate whatever profits were above our costs to Ronald McDonald House.

That was a huge morale boost for our company, because

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CustomXM Paul Strack is president of CustomXM in North Little Rock. CustomXM was founded by Strack’s parents, Mary Lee and Ira, in 1966. Ira Strack had worked at another printing company in North Little Rock for years and decided to use his knowledge to start his own. The original CustomXM print shop was located at 18th and Pike in North Little Rock until September of 2020, when Strack relocated to the Argenta Arts District. CustomXM is a commercial printing shop doing business forms, letterheads and envelopes. Strack joined the company in 1990 and has been there ever since.

AMP: What are some major issues that commercial printers have faced in the last year?

Strack: We, like everybody else, saw business coming to a screeching halt. We went from having a pretty good beginning of the year with a good outlook on January and February to some of our clients completely printing zero. And so we did have to think about what we wanted to do and how we were going to do it and what direction to go.

One of our first changes was to put more of a focus on

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online sales. And since we knew people were going to be at home, we had to look for ways to reach people at their homes and create products that had online, easy access and were convenient to order. We decided to start selling what we call “Bore Buster Kits.” They were puzzle books, sudoku books, crayons for the kids, a pen, blue-light blocking glasses you wear to relieve eye strain from staring at the computer, since we knew people would be staring at their technology at home.

It included postcards and a deck of cards to encourage

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made the decision prior to it to relocate our offices. We had to move from a 10,000-square-foot facility on Pike Avenue to the heart of the Argenta Arts District, about 2,400 square feet. And that happened in August and September last year. It has forced us to change our way of thinking in several ways. What this has done is given us a very visible storefront location, right in the heart of the arts district in downtown Argenta. It’s forced us, because of sheer size, to become more efficient. We used to be spread out over 10,000 square feet, but now we’ve got newer equipment, more automated equipment. Having to learn how to operate more efficiently in that space — that has been a benefit. And again, the online presence has forced us to think about what we’re going to do going forward. This change, and creating an online presence with the customers, made us realize there’s an opportunity in business-to-consumer marketing. While we haven’t got that perfected, we have made strides in doing better and looking at different products and different ways to market to that segment as well.

So, yes, I would say that this has forced us to be better focused on the future, because it can change so quickly.

people to do something, to help break their boredom during quarantine. We started pushing that product and selling it online and for each purchase made a contribution to the Arkansas Foodbank. We were trying to fill a need and help people out and then help our Arkansas Foodbank at the same time.

Then a couple of weeks into the pandemic, we partnered with a local company, Arkansas Cloth Masks, here in town and started reselling masks and decorating face masks and reaching out to clients.

AMP: What changes have you had to make within the last year to stay afloat?

Strack: Increasing our online presence was a huge help to continue on throughout all of 2020. We also started seeing more of an increase in requests for signage, whether it goes on the floor or on windows or in organizations to maintain social distance. We started selling a lot of COVID-related signage and social distancing signage. And that again helped fill the void that was created when the typical print related products really declined and almost came to a screeching halt.

So, we were fortunate in that regard to have those two type products keep us afloat.

AMP: What does the next year look like?

Strack: I think, from our core operations of print on paper, it has not come back yet. And I don’t expect that to come back to the level we were prior to the pandemic until maybe later this year, if that. So, I think from an overall revenue standpoint, we will maybe be equal if not less than 2020, simply because we don’t have all the COVID-related products, mask sales are dwindling, social-distancing signs sales are dwindling, hand-sanitizer sales are dwindling. I don’t think we will surpass what we did last year on the revenue side. Hopefully I’ll be wrong.

But I think with the changes we’ve made with a smaller location, a more efficient location, more efficient operations, we may stand to be better financially than we were last year. We have increased visibility with our storefront, which is generating very good leads and very good contacts. So, I’m excited about that. And we’re going to continue to look for the products to help take advantage of either our online presence or help take advantage of those individuals who are still temporarily or currently working from home.

I think we’ll see a continued steady growth in promotional products and our other marketing services.

AMP: All things considered, were there some silver linings?

Strack: We were waiting on our PPP money to come in, and we did have a little bit of a staff reduction for about two weeks, so we had to do something. We started printing these banners for restaurants. You know, that’s when the restaurants closed and started offering curbside service — we just put a couple posted on social media saying there are free banners for restaurants, because everybody’s in this together. And we were just inundated. So, for around two weeks there, we printed 50, 60 banners for local restaurants, free of charge to help them out. And, you know, they were so appreciative. And once we started coming back, we did see that we benefited doing more restaurant business than we had in the past. Whether it was more banners or socialdistancing signings, we did see an uptick in that particular industry, and they’re still coming back today. So, that was a side benefit for me.

Additionally, in the middle of this pandemic, we had

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HCJ CPAs & Advisors HCJ CPAs & Advisors is the combination of two premier Arkansas firms who have operated in the state for more than 30 years. Hudson Cisne and Jones & Company have long been known for their high-quality, client-focused service.

The merger makes the firm well suited to provide accounting, tax and audit services throughout the state. The firm has four offices — Little Rock (headquarters), Jonesboro, White Hall and Rogers. These locations make the firm uniquely suited to serve clients in every geographic area of Arkansas and beyond. In addition to these locations, HCJ CPAs & Advisors is a member of BDO USA, an international alliance of accounting firms that gives the firm access to an expanded depth of resources.

While the pandemic was certainly no cake walk, it allowed the professionals at HCJ CPAs & Advisors to learn valuable lessons and expand in key areas. They were able to introduce new technologies and adapted seamlessly to a remote environment, all while keeping their clients up-to-date with the latest legislative developments throughout the year.

Many firms struggled to keep employees and clients. HCJ CPAs & Advisors is proud to say that in the midst of the struggles of 2020, the firm saw significant growth.

HCJ CPAs & Advisors strives to positively impact the lives of their people and clients. When employees and clients are happy, HCI CPAs & Advisors know that they’ve succeeded.

hcjcpa.com 501.221-1000 • 11025 Anderson Drive • Little Rock

FACES OF ARKANSAS Arkansas business is as wide-ranging and diverse as the Natural State’s beautiful landscape. In this special sales section, Arkansas Money & Politics recognizes some of the state’s most prominent business people, representing the full spectrum of Arkansas industry. Come get to know these leaders of industry in Arkansas.

FACE OF AUTOMOTIVE DEALERSHIPS RED RIVER AUTO GROUP MITCH WARD, CEO CEO Mitch Ward and his father, Dennis Ward, purchased the Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram (DCJR) dealership in Heber Springs in 2005. Dennis Ward started in the car business in the ‘70s, and the two had already worked together in the used car business in Jacksonville for years before starting Red River.

Red River grew from selling six vehicles a month to now selling 250-300 vehicles a month out of the small town of Heber Springs. Red River Auto Group is a Christian and family-owned business. The family-friendly, laid-back atmosphere at Red River is sure to make every customer feel at home while shopping for a vehicle.

Mitch Ward considers his first big break to be the purchase of a new store in Heber Springs. He describes the automotive sales and service industry as “active, fun and risky with rewards.” Ward considers one of his greatest achievements being named the No. 1 new DCJR dealership, as customers always tell him that Red River represents their best buying experience.

When asked about the pandemic, Ward credits decades of experience and top-notch customer service as pivotal to surviving it. “We changed very little.

We already picked up and delivered vehicles for sales and service for over 15 years,” Ward said.

Ward’s favorite part about his job, though, is getting the chance to serve the hardworking people in his community across several Red River locations. Red River has a strong and committed sales staff with many years of experience satisfying our customers' needs, serving Arkansans from Searcy to Conway, Cabot, Jacksonville, Lonoke, Little Rock and North Little Rock. Additionally, Red River delivers all over the Natural State and beyond. Red River Ford has additional partners in ownership, such as Lee Owens of Owens Murphy Jaguar/Land Rover/Volkswagen in Little Rock, and John Dobbs Jr. from Memphis, who owns multiple businesses across the country.

Red River Doge Heber Springs / Red River Dodge of Malvern / Red River Ford of Cabot Red River Preowned / Red River Ford Toyota of Wynne redriverdodge.com / malverndodge.com / redriverfordcabot.com redriverpreowned.com / redrivertoyota.com

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR DJ’S AUTO REPAIR DON JACKSON, OWNER

DJ’s Auto Repair is one of the most decorated and reviewed auto repair facilities in the state, in addition to being one of the largest in Arkansas. The caring staff at DJ’s Auto Repair treats everyone as if they are family. When you walk in, DJ’s Auto Repair does everything to remember who you are — you are not a number or just vehicle. The folks at DJ’s Auto Repair look at your long-term goals and help you make the best decisions for you.

Properly maintaining your vehicle is important for ensuring it performs consistently. As well, it allows you to prevent future repairs. This is a wise choice to make, since preventative maintenance costs less than later repairs will. At DJ’s Auto Repair, a trained, friendly staff will service your vehicle based on the number of miles it has been driven. Aside from normal procedures like changing your engine oil and replacing spark plugs, the team at DJ’s Auto Repair will also let you know about potential future issues.

Don Jackson is the owner of DJ’s Auto Repair. He purchased the business from his parents in July of 2015. The business was founded by Jackson’s father in February of 1992. Jackson was in the finance business before buying DJ’s from his father and says that he has learned a lot since acquiring the business.

“I am a better person and business owner because of the people I have met and the lessons I have learned,” Jackson says. Jackson loves that his position at DJ’s Auto Repair allows him to meet people and guide them through the decisions that are best for them.

DJ’s Auto Repair has a true community focus and is determined to meet clients where they are financially and help them get the automotive support that they need. The staff at DJ’s Auto Repair understands that people rely on their cars to get around these days. For this reason, DJ’s Auto Repair does not take their responsibility to ensure that everyone is able to get to their jobs, their schools and their homes lightly.

“We simply have to do the work we love doing,” Jackson says. “At every step of the way, we'll keep you informed on your car. Our ultimate mission is for you to be happy with our automotive services.”

Jackson looks forward to the opportunities that the future brings and looks forward to helping Arkansans make the best automotive decisions possible at DJ’s Auto Repair for years to come.

DJ’s Auto Repair • 501.834.3000 • djsautorepair.com djsautorepair djsautorepair djsautorepair

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF ARCHITECTURE

FACES OF ARKANSAS

WDD ARCHITECTS CHAD YOUNG, PRESIDENT AND CEO WDD Architects is an Arkansas-based architectural firm founded in 1919 and committed to providing clients with creative design solutions for a variety of project types.

WDD is beginning its 102nd year of continuous business and its sixth generation of leadership. The organization continues to serve Arkansas through their founding principles of creating signature design solutions for all of their clients. Their firm has designed signature projects such as Little Rock Central High School, the Statehouse Convention Center, the ATA World Headquarters, the Mid-America Science Museum Hot Springs, Springdale High School, Maumelle High School, the Stephen’s Building in Little Rock, Donald Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas Heart Hospital Encore in Bryant,

and First National Bank in Jonesboro. WDD Architects is made up of a diverse and creative group of individuals that specialize in different fields of architecture, interiors, sustainability, construction, and design. The Firm’s founders, George Wittenberg and Lawson Delony, started out with the mindset of producing exceptional design work.

Today, WDD Architects carry that belief forward by attracting talented designers that create great architecture and interior design. Chad Young, the president and CEO of WDD Architects, joined the Firm in 1995 as an intern architect straight out of college from the UA Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. He was made partner by 2002 and president in 2019 at the Firm’s 100th year anniversary. He is excited about helping the Firm continue to grow and create signature design work for the future.

WDD Architects • 501.376.6681 • wddarchitects.com WDDarchitect

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF ATTRACTIONS LITTLE ROCK ZOO

SUSAN ALTRUI, ZOO DIRECTOR The Little Rock Zoo inspires people to value and conserve our natural world. It is a leading cultural attraction in Central Arkansas and one of the largest attractions in the state. The Zoo provides recreational opportunities for families and educates the public about the importance of saving wildlife and wild places for future generations.

There are more than 500 animals who make their home at the Little Rock Zoo on its 33 acres. More than 200 species are represented, many of which are endangered.

The Zoo participates in important conservation breeding programs and also coordinates with partner organizations to help save species in the wild. The Zoo’s education efforts inspire the next generation of scientists, researchers and conservationists.

The Little Rock Zoo was founded in 1926 with an abandoned timber wolf and a circus-trained bear. Many of the buildings that still stand today were built in the 1930’s un-

der the Workers Progress Administration (WPA) program of the Roosevelt Administration. The Zoo has historical significance and is treasured by generations of Arkansans.

There have been a lot of big breaks for the Little Rock Zoo, but one of the most important was in 2001 when the Zoo regained its accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The Zoo’s community and the city of Little Rock made a decision to invest in the Zoo and ensure that it was upholding the best standards for animal care and conservation. The Zoo has maintained that accreditation and flourished. The Zoo has grown its footprint through educational outreach across the state, consistently improving their physical facilities, and by developing dynamic special events that consistently get voted best throughout Arkansas. The Zoo continues to be one of the most visited attractions in the state.

Little Rock Zoo • 501.351.0273 • LittleRockZoo.com zoolr littlerockzoo littlerockzoo

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF AUCTIONS WILSON REAL ESTATE AUCTIONEERS, INC. DAVID A. BREWER, PRESIDENT Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers Inc. is a real estate auction firm started in 1961 by James E. Wilson in Hot Springs. “James E.,” as he was known, retired in the late 1980s and current company owner, Joe R. Wilson, took over the business.

During his tenure, Joe Wilson became National Auctioneers Association president and a Hall of Fame auctioneer. He guided Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers until just a few years ago when he promoted David A. Brewer to the position of company president. Wilson still assists the company as principal broker and owner.

Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers specializes in the marketing and advertising of all types of real estate including, luxury homes, lake homes, row-crop farms, recreational farms and

commercial property. The company has sold in every county of Arkansas and conducts more than 100 auctions live and online every year. Wilson has averaged more than $30 million in real estate sales the past five years in a row.

A third-generation family business, Wilson has brokers and agents with more than 100 years of combined real-estate experience with backgrounds in banking, title companies and engineering. Wilson agents are located in Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Conway and Hot Springs.

When he’s not helping lead Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers, Brewer and his wife, Meredith, love spending time with their two boys, Owen, 10, and Ethan, 8 — all avid sportsmen, hunters, anglers and lovers of the outdoors.

Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers, Inc. • 501.624.1825 • WilsonAuctioneers.com WilsonAuctioneers WilsonREAuction wilsonauctioneers

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF BANKING FIRST COMMUNITY BANK DALE COLE, CHAIRMAN & CEO The vision of 153 local investors came together on Aug. 4, 1997, when First Community Bank opened for business at 710 St. Louis St. in Batesville with 14 employees and $3.5 million in capital. Today, First Community Bank has grown to 470 employees and is proud to be the seventh largest bank chartered in Arkansas.

At First Community Bank, the motto has been, “Where community comes first,” since its inception, and the dedicated staff truly believe that a community-oriented mindset is what sets the bank apart from its financial-industry peers.

First Community Bank’s biggest strength has always been its employees, and hiring the right staff remains a top priority as the company expands into new markets.

Dale Cole, Chairman & CEO, notes a key moment in the company’s success.

“If I had to name a pivotal moment in our history, it was hiring the original team in Batesville followed by the addition of David Wood, market president, in our Searcy and Cabot region,” Cole says. “We use the same model of relationship banking today that we did in the beginning, not much has changed with the exception of technology to make the process easier.”

Cole knows that wherever you find a strong bank, you will find a strong community. And wherever you find strong communities, you will find strong banks.

“The thing I love most about my job is being able to help others succeed, whether it’s our customers or our employees. It can be anything from a startup business loan to a first-time home buyer, it’s rewarding to help people achieve their dreams,” he says. “By working together, we can make good things happen for everyone in our community.”

First Community Bank • 870.612.3400 • firstcommunity.net FirstCommunityBank firstcommunitybank1

FACES OF ARKANSAS FACE OF CANCER CARE UAMS WINTHROP P. ROCKEFELLER CANCER INSTITUTE KRISTIN K. ZORN M.D.; RONDA S. HENRY-TILLMAN M.D., FACS; MICHAEL BIRRER, M.D., Ph.D. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is the only health sciences university in Arkansas. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees in 73 of Arkansas’ 75 counties. UAMS and its clinical affiliates, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center, are an economic engine for the state with an annual economic impact of $3.92 billion.

The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS is the only academic cancer center in Arkansas. A host of talented doctors and staff at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute is passionately dedicated to caring for cancer patients regardless of who they are, where they come from and what their finances are.

Three of these notable doctors are Ronda S. HenryTillman, M.D., FACS, Breast Cancer Surgeon; Kristin K.

Zorn, Gynecologic Oncologist, M.D.; and Institute Director Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D. Henry-Tillman faced great challenges as an African American woman pursuing a medical degree in the South.

Today, she is internationally recognized and has received public plaudits for her leadership skills and work on curing breast cancer. Once Zorn realized the importance of hereditary risk in causing ovarian and endometrial cancer, her fascination with the field deepened to include cancer genetics. Birrer reminds his patients that “cancer is a word, not a sentence,” and is committed to helping people who are facing one of their greatest challenges.

These are just three of the determined, qualified doctors devoted to helping Arkansans at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at UAMS.

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute • 501.296.1200 • UAMS.Health/CancerCare

FACES OF ARKANSAS FACE OF CHAMBERS ARKANSAS STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES OF ARKANSAS The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas were founded in 1928.

After World War II, business leaders saw the need for a coordinated effort to develop the state’s economy. Each region had unique attributes and needed local development groups. The State Chamber was to be the body coordinating the efforts of the various local chambers organized along city or county lines. Associated Industries of Arkansas, whose purpose was to provide political support to business and industrial interests, was organized at the same time as the State Chamber to serve as a parallel organization.

Today, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/ Associated Industries of Arkansas together is the leading voice for business at the State Capitol, and serves as the primary business advocate on all issues affecting Arkansas employers.

Their mission is to promote a pro-business, freeenterprise agenda and prevent anti-business legislation,

regulations and rules. The State Chamber and AIA are private, nonprofit corporations that are totally funded by dues from their members. Each organization has its own officers and its own directors, but share headquarters and professional staff in Little Rock.

The State Chamber/AIA accomplishes its mission through a governmental affairs program, which actively works with government officials to protect, preserve and enhance legislation that protects the business community.

The State Chamber/AIA also networks and cooperates with state and local leaders and government officials, local chambers of commerce, trade associations, local industrial and economic development organizations, and, of course, their members.

Pictured above (from left) Director of Governmental Affairs Andrew Parker, Executive Vice President Kenny Hall, Vice President of Programs and Partnerships Shelley Short and Vice President of Membership Development Marcus Turley.

501.372.2222 • arkansasstatechamber.com Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas

ARStateChamber

FACES OF ARKANSAS FACE OF COMMERCIAL HVAC POWERS OF ARKANSAS RON MCCARTY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT; SCOTT SMITH, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT; ALAN HOPE, CEO; DAVID SQUIRES, VICE PRESIDENT OF SERVICE; AND ADAM HOPE, VICE PRESIDENT OF PROCESS IMPROVEMENT; NOT PICTURED CHASE RANSOM, VICE PRESIDENT OF POWERS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.

Powers of Arkansas is a customer-focused company of professionals who solve heating and cooling issues in buildings.

Powers is unique, with the people, skills, resources, and technology to manage all aspects of customers’ HVAC needs.

A privately held, commercial Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) company, Powers gets its name from the Powers Regulator Company (1891). As a SIEMENS independent field office, Powers is the recognized leader in the control systems sector and has also become a dominant player in the HVAC manufacturer rep business, which includes controls, equipment, air distribution, TAB, hydronics, and steam product lines.

It also excels in service — mechanical, controls, chiller and boiler service, as well as retrofit service projects. Powers has offices in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana.

“From the ground up, Powers is built on serving our customers,” said Alan Hope, CEO. “We have a very dedicated and capable team that delivers for our customers every day, demonstrating our goal of creating customers for life!”

The Powers team has grown to 250-plus, including more than 175 installation and service technicians. The company’s customer base spans a wide range, including health care, hospitals, K–12 schools, higher education, universities and colleges, federal and state government buildings, commercial office towers and buildings, critical environments, laboratories, manufacturing, and industry.

For more than 35 years, Powers has been listening to customers and taking care of their HVAC systems to keep their toes warm, the lights on, and energy low. At Powers, they are creating customers for life.

Powers of Arkansas • 501.374.5420 • powers-hvac.com PowersofArkansas powershvac

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF CONSTRUCTION SERVICES GARRETT EXCAVATING GRANT GARRETT, CEO Garrett Excavating of Benton specializes in civil construction focused on commercial, industrial and highway projects throughout the state of Arkansas. Grant Garrett, CEO, says his third-generation company is determined to move the minds and hearts of people, and moving dirt is just a part of that.

Founded by Grant’s grandfather, Irvin Garrett, in 1950, Garrett Excavating performs some of the most important jobs on any construction site including earthwork, storm drainage, utilities and paving. Grant Garrett says these components represent the single biggest variable to any construction job.

Grant didn’t enter the family business right away. An all-SEC performer on the offensive line for the Razorbacks from 1994-98, he enjoyed a brief tour in the NFL before returning home to Central Arkansas. He worked at a car dealership for two weeks before realizing, “It wasn’t for me.”

His first big break with the family business was a $4

million Walmart contract for which he had to borrow $1 million. “Thank goodness, it was a great job,” he says. He was attracted to the business by the great sense of accomplishment it affords.

“We literally move mountains,” he says. “My purpose in this life is to help people who want to help themselves.

It makes going to work much more fulfilling, compared to just working for money. I love having the opportunity to interact with employees, customers, vendors and suppliers.

Endless opportunities to help some really great people.”

Grant says COVID-19 has been especially challenging from a human resources perspective — finding qualified help and navigating through multiple quarantines within the organization. But Garrett Excavating plugged on through remote working and Zoom meetings.

Visit GarrettX.com for more information on Garrett Excavating.

Garrett Excavating • 501.520.5200 • garrettx.com GarrettExcavating

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF DINING SARACEN DEVELOPMENT LLC & SARACEN CASINO RESORT TODD R. GOLD, DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE At Saracen Casino Resort, you’re likely to feast like royalty throughout the day, thanks to Chef Todd R. Gold, Director of Food and Beverage. What makes Saracen’s culinary department special is its commitment to food and beverage excellence. It is Saracen’s belief that it will become the culinary and hospitality destination in the region and in the state.

Gold lives by the motto that “the customer is always right.” When Gold was 15 years old, he was a dishwasher at Bruno’s Little Italy.

“I remember thinking, it would be incredibly cool if I could be the pizza maker and learn to toss the dough up into the air,” Gold says. “Here we are 33 years later, and I still think that’s cool — that’s where it all began.”

As a child, Gold struggled in academics, but it was his grandfather’s advice that hard work and doing his best would get him further than academics alone. Gold took that ad-

vice to heart, and his hard work paid off professionally and academically, as well. Today, Gold has been successful in the opening of Saracen Casino and Resort, and is the President of the American Culinary Federation, Central Arkansas Chapter and Advisory Board Chairman for the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute.

Additionally, Gold served as the Associate Dean and South Site Director at UA-PTC from 2006 through 2020 and as President of the Arkansas Culinary School since 1995— 25 years total with the culinary school. Throughout his 33-year career, Gold has received numerous awards and recognition for his culinary talents and dedication to the advancement of the profession.

Gold is committed to educating and cultivating the skills of Arkansas’ next generation of culinary professionals.

Saracen Development LLC & Saracen Casino Resort • 870.329.7412 • saracenresort.com Saracen Casino Resort saracencasinoar

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF ELECTRIC POWER MIDCONTINENT INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR (MISO) SOUTH DARYL BROWN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – SOUTH REGION Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that delivers safe, cost-effective electric power across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

MISO exists to provide an independent platform for efficient regional energy markets. Since 2001, MISO has fostered wholesale electric competition in the region, created greater system reliability and established coordinated, value-based regional planning. MISO is committed to the reliable, non-discriminatory operation of the bulk power transmission system and collaborating with all stakeholders to create cost-effective and innovative solutions for our changing industry. MISO operates one of the world’s largest energy markets with approximately $22 billion in annual gross market energy transactions.

Daryl Brown, Executive Director of the South Region, joined MISO in February 2020 and relocated from Atlanta

to Little Rock. “I was immediately tasked with learning about a new sector of the electric power industry while simultaneously focused on the employee population based at the South Region office assimilating to working from home,” Brown said.

MISO’s Control Center operators continued to work on-site to maintain the reliability of the bulk electric system. The energy industry has become very dynamic due to several factors, including energy policy, regulation, fuel economics and customer preferences. The changing landscape requires that the region must evolve to ensure continued reliability and value creation going forward.

A diversity of voices is critical to identify and develop the needed changes and enhancements for the continued success of the region. The MISO community enjoys such a diversity of viewpoints and MISO always welcomes additional voices.

Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) South • 501.519.7631 • misoenergy.org MISO_energy

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS USAble Life

TSANKO STOEV, SR. DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USAble Life is committed to providing financial security and peace of mind for customers by offering a wide range of benefits, including dental, life, accident, disability and more. The organization works closely with leading health insurers across the United States to deliver a suite of products and services that meet the health and financial wellness needs of customers.

USAble Life strives to deliver top-notch service and technology to benefit management and make administrative tasks easier for customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, USAble Life has taken an employee-first approach to decision-making, from allowing employees to work remotely, providing stipends for a home office, flexible working hours and more.

USAble Life is not just a place to work — it’s a com-

munity of diverse talents and backgrounds dedicated to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our customers when they need it most. USAble Life believes in a workplace that not only ignites a passion within their employees, but one that supports their professional and personal growth while allowing them the balance they need to live happy and healthy lives.

Tsanko Stoev, the Senior Director of Information Technology at USAble Life, is a first-generation immigrant from Bulgaria. As a member of the MBA Alumni Advisory Board at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Stoev gets the opportunity to provide feedback and ideas that help shape future business leaders.

His proudest accomplishment is being the father of his 6-year-old daughter.

USAble Life • 800.370.5856 • USAbleLife.com USAbleLife usable-life

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF FAMILY LAW

KATHERINE BLACKMON CARROLL Katherine Blackmon Carroll is the owner and managing attorney of the Law Offices of Katherine E. Blackmon, which is a trauma-informed family law firm with an emphasis on helping clients navigate difficult times with empathy and expertise. Carroll earned her bachelor of arts from Southern Methodist University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and founded the firm in 1997.

After Carroll passed the bar exam and received her license to practice, she began renting a one-room office in the Centre Place building in downtown Little Rock. “I asked God to send me clients in the area of law where I was most needed, and my first custody case walked through the door,” Carroll says. “More than two decades later, I own the 11th floor in that same building, and I am still practicing family law.”

Under Carroll’s leadership, the team at the Law Offices of Katherine E. Blackmon fights aggressively for their clients and just as frequently talks their clients through the emotions that go hand-in-hand with experiencing a divorce or custody matter. “I think people would be

surprised to know that while we are a tough group of attorneys, we are also a very sensitive group of people,” Carroll says. “We genuinely care not just about the case but how our clients feel while going through it and, ultimately, how they feel when their case is over.”

Family law allows Carroll to use her intelligence and creativity to develop the legal side of cases while also working with the emotional aspect of trauma that so often results when a family is disrupted through divorce and the surrounding issues. Carroll describes herself as a ‘fixer’ and says, “I cannot let go of a problem until it is resolved.”

Carroll is extremely fortunate that everyone at her firm is resilient and dedicated. During this pandemic, the Law Offices of Katherine E. Blackmon has been able to maintain every aspect of its practice through technology, resourcefulness and a continued love for its clients. The team is excited to work with whatever the “new normal” brings.

From the start, Carroll’s law firm has been built on hard work and integrity and is still going strong because of sweat, tears and a serious investment in the people she and her team faithfully serve.

Law Offices of Katherine E. Blackmon • 501.372.7636 KEBlackmon

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF FUTURE HEALTH CARE ARKANSAS COLLEGES OF HEALTH EDUCATION Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) is a private, not-for-profit institution located on 673 acres in Fort Smith. ACHE’s first college, the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM), is set to graduate its inaugural class of 150 osteopathic medical students in May 2021. ACHE has opened its second building, a 66,000-square-foot facility that will be the home to developing programs: The School of Physical Therapy and the School of Occupational Therapy. ACHE School of Physical Therapy will welcome its first class in June 2021.

ACHE is the first and only private institution in Arkansas that is dedicated solely to healthcare and wellness.

The most visible impact of the ACHE involves the dramatic progress of campus development. When the groundbreaking was held in March 2015 for the initial building to house the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, few would have imagined that less than six years later a formidable complex of educational buildings, student

housing, retail enterprises and residential housing would have emerged.

Following a bustling, productive 2020, ACHE currently is working toward several goals for 2021, including the graduation of their inaugural class of medical students, the opening of the School of Physical Therapy, enrollment of the first Occupational Therapy students and the completion and opening of Celebration Park and Wellness Garden. Additionally, renovations are ongoing at the ACHE Research Institute Health & Wellness Center.

ACHE purchased the 317,850-square-foot facility in September of 2020, which will be the home to ACHE’s biomedical research laboratory, a 60,000-square-foot lab that will qualify the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine with the largest research lab of all the DO medical schools in the nation. ACHE will continue to grow and expand in order to better serve and educate Arkansans for years to come.

Arkansas Colleges of Health Education • 479.308.2243 • acheedu.org acheedu acheedu acheedu_fs

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF GAMING SARACEN DEVELOPMENT LLC & SARACEN CASINO RESORT CARLTON SAFFA, CHIEF MARKET OFFICER Owned by the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma, Saracen is something unique: It is the first purpose-built licensed casino in Arkansas history and the state’s first Las Vegas-style experience. Quapaw leadership along with lobbyist Don Tilton worked to make the case locally for a gaming license. In the end, others seeking the Jefferson County license chose not to swim upriver, and instead focused on Russellville.

Carlton Saffa, the Chief Market Officer at Saracen Casino Resort, was the first employee of the organization, hired in June 2019. Saffa is a graduate of the University of Arkansas. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Little Rock with

their young children, Stella and Charlie. Less than two years later, Saracen Casino Resort is open and employs nearly 900.

“I am most proud of the jobs we’ve created in Jefferson County,” Saffa says. “These jobs were created without government subsidy, and our gaming taxes have allowed for long-needed local first responder pay raises.”

Saffa has often been called an “action-junkie.”

He says, “The draw of a $300 million project with such a high profile, coupled with the complexities of the gaming business, was irresistible.”

Saracen Development LLC & Saracen Casino Resort • 870.686.9001 • saracenresort.com Saracen Casino Resort saracencasinoar

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF HOSPITALS CONWAY REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM MATT TROUP, PRESIDENT AND CEO For the past 100 years, Conway Regional has provided high-quality, compassionate health care to the communities it serves. As these communities continue to grow, Conway Regional is growing with them to provide innovative services, new clinics, more specialists and expanded access to care.

In 2019, Conway Regional began to implement a multiphase capital investment plan that is expanding and enhancing services throughout the health system — including a new medical office building, a new critical care unit, renovation of its 8,000-square-foot health and fitness center and expansion of the hospital’s clinic in Greenbrier.

Additionally, the health system added a second state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization laboratory, two 3-D mammography devices to improve detection of breast cancer and recruited numerous highly talented physicians to the medical team in the areas of neurospine surgery, rheumatology, infectious disease, neurology, hematology-oncology, pain management, gastroenterology,

pulmonology, vascular surgery and general surgery.

With more than 225 physicians providing services at Conway Regional, the organization partners with the medical staff in an Accountable Clinical Management Model (ACM). This one-of-a-kind partnership creates a model of shared governance to promote meaningful engagement of physician leaders with hospital administrative leadership — all in an effort to improve patient experience and enhance care. Frontline employees are also involved in decision making through the Patient Care Governing Congress.

Matt Troup is the President and CEO of Conway Regional with more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in the health care industry, serving in various administrative roles in hospitals in Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. Troup moved to Arkansas in 2014 as Vice President of Ancillary and Support Services at CHI St. Vincent and was named president and CEO of Conway Regional Health System within one year.

Conway Regional Health System • 501.329.3831 • conwayregional.org ConwayRegional

FACE OF INVESTMENTS & FINANCIAL PLANNING

FACES OF ARKANSAS

CARDINAL INVESTMENT GROUP GAIL MURDOCH, CEO, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ What makes our choice for the face of investments and financial planning unique? Gail Murdoch, Certified Financial Planner™ and founder of Cardinal Investment Group says it is their teamwork. With so many financial planners and investment managers working alone or in a competitive environment, Murdoch said she sought out to create a collaborative culture when she started Cardinal 11 years ago. In addition to Gail Murdoch, Certified Financial Planner™, the team includes Financial Advisors Mitch Tapson, Gary Seibel, Robert Mikkelsen, and David DeRosa; along with their Administrative Assistant, Crystal Rust. “I believe that it’s the best atmosphere for our clients when they can call and speak to anyone in our team and pull from all the various experience that we have in the industry.”

The advisors at Cardinal help clients with their financial goals through their different stages of life. This involves the assessment of their current financial situation, careful planning and a look at the probable outcomes. With all of that taken into consideration, they help implement their clients’ financial plans through investments, retirement plans, insurance and estate planning.

Murdoch realized that there was a lack of information and education available to the public regarding money and finance. She sought out that information for herself, and loves sharing it with others. She said, “I am a caregiver by nature, and I enjoy taking care of my clients and my team.”

Cardinal Investment Group is headquartered in Conway, and was formed in 2009.

Cardinal Investment Group • 501.730.0303 • cardinalinvestmentgroup.com CardinalInvestmentGroup InvestCardinal Securities and investment advisory services offered through Veritas Independent Partners, Member FINRA/SIPC. Cardinal Investment Group is affiliated with Veritas Independent Partners by common ownership.

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF IT SERVICE THE COMPUTER HUT, LLC CHRIS BATES, CEO The Computer Hut was founded in 1992 in Arkansas, and after nearly 30 years of serving Arkansans and solving technological issues, the company has proven that its core value is service excellence.

Led by CEO Chris Bates, The Computer Hut has deep capabilities in handling the cyber and data security challenges all companies face, with a special emphasis on the needs of health care organizations in maintaining HIPAA compliance.

Headquartered in Little Rock, The Computer Hut has more than 35 IT professionals with offices across the Natural State.

In 2002, The Computer Hut got its first big break when Metropolitan National Bank outsourced its IT to the

small tech company. Metropolitan National Bank was The Computer Hut’s largest client until the bank was acquired

by Simmons. The Computer Hut has been working at full steam ever since, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of technology services and working from home.

Bates is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas with a BBA in Computer Information Systems. Bates also is a loving husband and proud father of two boys and a dog.

With constantly evolving technology and emerging security threats, it is essential for technologists to continually learn or get left behind.

The Computer Hut, LLC • 501.907.7700 • comphut.com thecomputerhutAR ComputerHutAR the-computer-hut-llc

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF JANITORIAL CLEANING JAN-PRO

NOLEN HUGHES, VICE PRESIDENT Jan-Pro of Arkansas is one of the largest commercial janitorial-service companies specializing in multi-site locations.

Jan-Pro offers a uniform and consistent service with multiple locations across the state of Arkansas, allowing for an efficient, streamlined, no-hassle system of one-point-only contact.

The Jan-Pro franchise partners with smaller janitorial companies across the state, and every franchisee that is affiliated with Jan-Pro goes through a five-part training course. Jan-Pro works with their franchise partners to increase their customer base and streamline the customer service experience.

“We act as a larger vendor that is able to invoice several locations for smaller cleaning services based on their location, so each facility in need of cleaning is being serviced by somebody local in that community — somebody who

wouldn’t be able to get that job otherwise,” says Vice President Nolen Hughes. “That’s the benefit that we provide as a parent company. Our company exists to help smaller janitorial companies that are franchises to work with us and grow their business accordingly.”

Jan-Pro was founded in 2005 by Dave Hughes, and Nolen was one of the company’s first employees after graduating high school. Jan-Pro’s first big break came after earning the contract for the 100,000-square-foot-plus Caterpillar manufacturing plant located on Faulkner Lake outside North Little Rock in 2009.

For the folks at Jan-Pro, janitorial work is more than cleaning — it’s promoting and educating local small businesses while ensuring utmost cleanliness and customer service.

Jan-Pro Cleaning • 501.907.9315 • jan-pro.com/arkansas JanProArkansas janprointernational

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF MENTAL HEALTH THE BRIDGEWAY GERRI SPILLANE, R.N., STAFF DEVELOPMENT & INFECTION PREVENTION COORDINATOR The BridgeWay Hospital, located at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in Central Arkansas, offers an innovative recovery experience. Their dedicated specialists and staff provide a continuum of services designed to help children, adolescents, and adults of all ages experiencing behavioral, emotional, or addictive problems that can lead to fractured lives. The BridgeWay offers a continuum of care for mental health and substance use disorders in adults, adolescents, and children, such as inpatient care for chronic and acute mental illness, acute inpatient care for children ages 4-12, residential treatment for adolescents ages 13-17, and a host of other mental health services. The BridgeWay was founded in 1983. Gerri Spillane, R.N., Staff Development & Infection Prevention Coordinator worked as a nurse in a large psychiatric hospital in Dublin before moving here in the early 1980s. “A friend recognized my love of caring for

people with mental illness, and recommended I apply for work at The BridgeWay Hospital, which had opened six months earlier,” Spillane says. “I was so impressed with their multidisciplinary approach to treatment and its difference in patients’ lives. The team approach was practical and the psychiatrists leading treatment trained us to speak up and focus on what was best for the patient.”

The number one priority at The BridgeWay is providing a safe and secure environment for patients, employees, and visitors. With that in mind, there are numerous areas that the staff at The BridgeWay monitor. With the onset of COVID-19, the Hospital has developed and made multiple revisions to their protocols as guided by the CDC and the State Department of Health to provide care and maintain safety for all. Given the nature of the virus, the Hospital is continually adapting their approach in order to best serve Arkansans.

The BridgeWay • 800.245.0011 • TheBridgeWay.com The BridgeWay thebridgewayarkansas

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS THE DESIGN GROUP MYRON JACKSON, CEO The Design Group is more than a mere creative boutique. It is a full-service, multicultural communications firm, with expertise in segmented and experiential marketing. The Design Group is home to the designers and architects behind communication platforms that bridge the gap between brands and the nation’s ever growing ethnic-consumer segments.

Led by Myron Jackson, The Design Group is committed to marketing communications that are authentic and culturally relevant, as well as intellectually and emotionally engaging. The Design Group has raised the bar with its lifestyle

and life-stage consumer segmentation approach. Every day, it validates the idea that being African American is more than skin color. It’s about a mindset, one that evolves as you penetrate deeper and deeper within the subsets that exist within the African American consumer segment.

The Design Group was founded in September 2007 with the sole purpose of filling a marketplace void: to tell the stories of people of color in an authentic way. At the heart of The Design Group, you’ll find a team of talented individuals dedicated to giving a voice to Arkansans of color.

The Design Group • 501.492.4900 • designgroupmarketing.com DesignGroupLR DesignGroupLR designgrouplr

FACES OF ARKANSAS FACE OF NEURO-ONCOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES ANALIZ RODRIGUEZ, M.D.; J. D. DAY, M.D.; EBONYE GREEN, APRN The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is the only health sciences university in Arkansas. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees in 73 of Arkansas’ 75 counties. UAMS and its clinical affiliates, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center, are an economic engine for the state with an annual economic impact of $3.92 billion.

The Brain Tumor Program at UAMS is composed of subspecialists in the areas of neuro-oncology, neurosurgical oncology, radiation oncology, neuropathology, neuroradiology and interventional neuroradiology. This multidisciplinary group treats patients with central nervous system tumors of the brain and spinal cord.

Some of the doctors on the Neuro-oncology team

include Analiz Rodriguez, M.D., Neurosurgeon; J. D. Day, M.D., Neurosurgeon; Erika Santos Horta , M.D., Neurooncologist and Fen Xia M.D., Radiation Oncologist.

Rodriguez had always been fascinated by cancer biology, but it wasn’t until her residency that she knew brain tumors would be her subspecialty. Day stresses the importance of the number and breadth of treatments for brain and spinal tumors that are only available in Arkansas at UAMS. Santos Horta’s mission is to improve the care of patients with brain tumors and neurofibromatosis through clinical trials and disseminating knowledge by listening to her patients’ experiences. Xia finds joy in being able to provide help and support to her patients when they need it most.

These are just some of the doctors and staff eager to help Arkansans with brain or spine tumors.

UAMS Health Neurosurgery Clinic • 501.686.5270 • UAMS.Health/Neuro

FACES OF ARKANSAS FACE OF ORTHOPAEDICS UAMS HEALTH ORTHOPAEDICS & SPORTS MEDICINE COREY MONTGOMERY, M.D.; CHELSEA MATHEWS, M.D.; DAISIE JACKSON, RN The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is the only health sciences university in Arkansas. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees in 73 of Arkansas’ 75 counties. UAMS and its clinical affiliates, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center, are an economic engine for the state with an annual economic impact of $3.92 billion.

UAMS Health Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine is composed of more than 30 physicians who provide highly specialized care for conditions and disorders affecting bones, joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons. The team is made up of fellowship-trained surgeons and physicians who are dedicated to improving the quality of life in their patients. They are a diverse group with a common goal: to provide the highest level of orthopaedic and sports medicine care to our state and surrounding area. This

talented group truly works as a team to deliver care that encompasses the broad field of orthopaedics.

Three of the notable doctors include Chelsea Mathews, M.D.; Wesley K. Cox, M.D. and Corey Montgomery, M.D. Mathews says that orthopaedic surgery, foot and ankle surgery specifically, allows her to “think critically, work with my hands and treat a variety of conditions, from arthritis to athletic injuries.” Cox is attracted to orthopaedics because it gives him the ability “to solve the specific problem a patient is having and return them to the things they enjoy and the things they want to do.”

Montgomery loves being an orthopaedic surgeon because it allows him “to have a ‘hands-on’ role in improving someone’s quality of life.”

These are just three of the talented professionals dedicated to serving Arkansans with orthopaedic or sports medicine needs.

UAMS Health Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine • 501.526.1046 • UAMS.Health/Ortho

FACES OF ARKANSAS FACE OF PEST CONTROL DELTA PEST CONTROL Delta Pest Control is Arkansas’ largest family-owned pest removal agency. But it stands out in another way as well.

Doris Lawrence is majority owner. “We’re the largest woman-owned pest control company in Arkansas,” Doris says.

Doris bought Delta, founded in 1976, with husband Bill in 1984. The couple embarked on a series of major expansions that made Delta the preeminent provider of extermination services all across Arkansas. Bill handles sales while Doris focuses on managerial aspects, insurance and finances.

While Delta specializes in residential pest control, it also provides state-of-the art extermination services for industrial and commercial clients. And that’s not all. After Delta eliminates the pests in your home or business, it

has an entire remodeling and renovation division to repair any damage the infestation may have inflicted. Its highlyexperienced contractors are also available for non-pest related projects.

Delta Pest Control’s dedication to providing the most technologically advanced and humane extermination services to its customers is why it has become one of the most qualified and well-known companies in the pest removal industry. The Lawrences are especially proud of their newest termite elimination system, Sentricon.

“It’s an in-ground bait system that doesn’t require drilling holes every foot in a house’s base. It’s way more effective and attractive for customers,” says Bill.

Doris adds, “It just shows how we’re constantly working to improve our services for our customers.”

Delta Pest Control • 888.894.8177 • DeltaPestControl.net delta555@centurytel.net

FACE OF PHILANTHROPY

FACES OF ARKANSAS

ARKANSAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Arkansas Community Foundation helps Arkansans protect, grow and direct their charitable dollars while learning more about community needs. The Community Foundation supports nonprofits and organizations that work for Arkansas. Since 1976, the Community Foundation has provided more than $310 million in grants, has reached over half a billion in assets and partnered with thousands of Arkansans to help them improve our neighborhoods, our towns and our entire state. The Foundation was founded in 1976 by a group of dedicated people from all over the state who saw the need for a community foundation in Arkansas. The Community Foundation is truly statewide with 29 local affiliate offices, and nearly 500 board members in every corner of the state work year

round to engage people, connect resources and inspire solutions to build community. The Foundation has donors who give $25 and donors who give in the millions. These donors allow the Foundation to be the largest grantmaker in Arkansas in the number of grants made. President and CEO Heather Larkin greatly enjoys the opportunity to witness the generosity in people every day, noting that she finds value in “working with people to do extraordinary work in the state we love.” Featured leadership team members at Arkansas Community Foundation include Corey Moline, Chief Financial Officer, Jessica Ford, Chief Communications Officer, Heather Larkin, President & CEO, Ashley Coldiron, Chief Development Officer and Sarah Kinser, Chief Program Officer.

Arkansas Community Foundation • 501.372.1116 • arcf.org ArkansasCommunityFoundation SmartGivingAR SmartGivingAR

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF PRINTING ARKANSAS GRAPHICS, INC. KEVIN WILCOX, PRESIDENT Arkansas Graphics provides a vast range of products and services from graphic design to printed forms, marketing materials and annual reports. Founded in 1974, the success of Arkansas Graphics is the result of hard work, perseverance and commitment to excellence. These core values drive the company today and will continue to drive it in the future.

As one of the top offset and digital commercial printers in the region, Arkansas Graphics continues to expand its offerings to include digital storefronts, variable data printing, UV coating, promotional products and large format graphics and signage.

Arkansas Graphics is more than just a printing company, offering many solutions to enable customers to communicate effectively. Whether it is traditional litho printing, new digital variable printing, web-based communication, large display

graphics, branded promotional items or even laser die cutting, Arkansas Graphics is here to serve the Natural State.

Arkansas Graphics was founded in 1974 by Dale Wilcox, father of current president and CEO Kevin Wilcox. Wilcox started off as a janitor at the company in high school and worked in different departments throughout college before starting full time in 1990. Wilcox took full ownership of Arkansas Graphics in 2013. He graduated from Catholic High and Baylor University and received his MBA from UA-Little Rock.

He has a wife of 20 years, Jennifer, and two sons, Wade, 18, and Whit, 16. Wilcox considers his family his heartbeat. Wilcox and his team have been able to overcome the challenges that commercial printing faced during the coronavirus pandemic, and Arkansas Graphics plans to continue to serve Arkansans for decades to come.

Arkansas Graphics, Inc. • 501.376.8436 • arkansasgraphics.com ArkansasGraphics AGIPrinting arkansasgraphics

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE SCHOOL JAMES “JAMIE” H. GRIFFIN, HEAD OF SCHOOL Founded in 1998, Episcopal Collegiate School is a PK312 independent, college preparatory, co-ed day school of 775 students from over 37 ZIP codes in Central Arkansas.

Rooted in the Episcopal tradition and affirming of all faiths and beliefs, the school strives to develop in its students respect for all persons, reverence of God and a sense of moral responsibility through deep ties to its community and an unwavering commitment to the well-being of its students. The School offers a challenging college preparatory program including 19 AP courses plus course offerings beyond the AP level and has ensured continued learning even throughout the course of the pandemic, with a consistent five-day learning schedule, and an average classroom size of 16. 100 percent of the class of 2020 was admitted to four-year colleges and 86 percent of those students received scholarships averaging more than $46,000 per student. With commitment to students being the pinnacle of Episcopal’s operations, the School provided over $1.3 million in need-based financial aid to qualifying families during the 2020-2021 school year. Additionally, there are

a limited number of academic scholarships available each year for deserving students through the Stephens Scholars program.

Jamie Griffin is the Head of Episcopal Collegiate School, effective July 1, 2021, where his wife and two children will join him in relocating from Nashville, Tenn., to Little Rock.

“Education is the ultimate people business, and human beings are challenging and complicated,” Griffin says. “Unlocking the potential of students and working to create the conditions in which they can flourish requires thoughtful and coordinated interventions by everyone connected to the learning process.” Griffin believes wholeheartedly that he is fulfilling his life’s purpose in education. He considers himself a lifelong learner and will be earning a Doctorate of Education in K-12 Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University Peabody College in May, 2021.

For more information on Episcopal Collegiate or Jamie, please head to https://www.episcopalcollegiate.org/aboutepiscopal/meet-our-new-head-of-school

Episcopal Collegiate School • 501.372.1194 • episcopalcollegiate.org episcopalcollegiateschool episcopalcollegiateschool

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL

MAC VALUATION GROUP ALEX MCINTOSH & GEOF CARMACK

MAC Valuation Group was founded in 2016 by Coprincipals Geof Carmack and Alex McIntosh, MAI, ASA, CCIM. Based in Little Rock, with offices in Fayetteville, the firm is a full-service real property appraisal services and valuation company specializing in eminent domain/ condemnation, commercial real property appraisal, litigation support, agricultural properties and divorce cases.

Their express intent of forming the company was to serve the timely needs of attorneys, bankers/underwriters, trust officers, eminent domain/condemnation authorities, utility/quasi-utility companies, brokers, engineers as well as individuals requiring local and market focused valuation of projects across Arkansas.

MAC Valuation experience includes real property appraisal services in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Their diverse experiences throughout the region allows unique market perspective and expertise from a wide array of complex and non-complex valuation issues.

Possessing 45+ years of experience from both a local boutique firm perspective, coupled with their employment with a global valuation company allows the firm to utilize diverse methodologies, local market resources and state of the art database/analytics software to develop a variety of services and timely problem solving for their clientele.

MAC Valuation Group • appraisals@macvaluation.com • macvaluation.com

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TIM CLARK Tim Clark was in his 11th year at ALLTEL when he decided to invest in rental properties. Thus began Clark’s dive into real estate, both commercial and residential. After purchasing 13 homes and an apartment complex, Clark realized real estate was not only fun but also lucrative.

With each transaction came experience, and Clark found himself improving in the real estate industry. During this time, rumors about ALLTEL selling to an investor grew throughout the company, and Clark began to move towards a “fall-back” plan. He continued to acquire properties, and many of his friends and co-workers started to take notice.

Some of these friends decided to follow suit and would

go to Clark for advice. After time, Clark watched people grow their investments from the advice and help he provided them. Today, he can’t think of a better job than being paid to do what he loves. After only his first full year as a realtor, Clark achieved status as one of Century 21’s “Top 5 Producers in the State of Arkansas” and he has continued to do so every year since. The fluctuations in the housing market over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic have allowed Clark to hone his skills and stay up to date in every facet of real estate. He looks forward to continuing to help Arkansans find the houses that will become their homes.

Tim Clark • 501.843.4473 • timallenclark@gmail.com

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF SOLAR ENERGY ENTEGRITY ENERGY PARTNERS LLC MATT BELL, CO-OWNER Entegrity is an energy efficiency-and-sustainability consulting and construction company providing services to building owners and operators that reduces operating cost and reduces emissions.

Every project that the organization works on impacts the triple bottom line — people, planet and profits. Entegrity’s clients are able to save money and reduce harmful emissions while improving the indoor work environment.

Matt Bell joined Chris Ladner as his business partner in 2008.

“I was working in the construction industry, and I had hired Entegrity for consulting services on a project I was building,” Bell says. “I was impressed with the service Chris was offering, and Chris and I shared a vision for what we could do with growing the business together.”

The folks at Entegrity pride themselves on their problem-solving ability, which allows them to improve

buildings and the livelihood of clients, while helping the environment.

“This industry is constantly changing and innovating.

The constant advancements in technology and finance force you to adapt and be creative,” Bell emphasizes. “We have a team of incredibly smart people that collaborate to solve very complex problems for our clients.”

Unlike many companies, Entegrity was able to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for growth, as many clients are more focused than ever on ways to reduce operating cost and find that Entegrity’s projects are financially sound investments.

The pandemic allowed Entegrity to focus heavily on the company’s short- and long-term plans and company infrastructure. As a result, Entegrity is now more prepared than ever to serve its clients.

Entegrity • 800.700.1414 • entegritypartners.com entegrityenergy entegrityenergy entegrity.energy

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF STEEL FABRICATION LEXICON INC. PATRICK SCHUECK, PRESIDENT & CEO The late Tom Schueck founded what was to become Lexicon, Inc., in his Little Rock garage in 1968 with $200 in the bank and a pregnant wife at home. Thanks to his family’s dedication to “Building America,” Lexicon has grown into one of the nation’s leading fabrication and construction companies with more than 2,000 employees.

Today, under the guidance of president and CEO Patrick Schueck, the Lexicon family of companies combines a commitment to excellence with cutting-edge robotic technology, safety and superior craftsmanship to complete iconic steel fabrication, construction, energy, industrial, commercial and public projects. Those companies include Custom Metals, Heritage Links, Lexicon Energy Services, Lexicon Fabricators and Constructors, Lexicon Industrial Contractors, Prospect Steel and Steel Fabricators of Monroe.

Like his father, Schueck is dedicated to upholding Lexicon’s founding principles, which begin and end with people, quality and safety. “It’s these strong values that have allowed us to successfully construct countless heavy

industrial, commercial and roadway projects along with some of our nation’s most iconic golf courses,” Schueck says. A few of Lexicon’s milestone achievements include Nucor-Yamato Steel in Blytheville; McCormick Place 3 in downtown Chicago; Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium; Liberty National Golf Course; and Chambers Bay Golf Course. Lexicon continues to build America, even after a crazy, pandemic year.

“Like many businesses, we have overcome a ton of adversity with COVID-19—on top of the loss of our founder and leader,” Schueck says. “But Lexicon has, and continues to, flourish. Despite unprecedented challenges, we reached record revenues and had one of our safest years on record.”

The things Schueck admires most in people are perseverance, courage and determination, attributes that served him well as a three-time cancer survivor. And he credits his parents, Marge and Tom, and his wife, Jessica, as the people he admires most.

Lexicon, Inc • 501.490.4200 • lexicon-inc.com lexiconinc

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF THE ARKANSAS BAR ASSOCIATION ARKANSAS BAR ASSOCIATION PAUL W. KEITH, PRESIDENT The Arkansas Bar Association is a voluntary association of almost 5,000 lawyers in the state of Arkansas and surrounding states. The Arkansas Bar Association is entirely voluntary. Many bar associations around the country are “unified” bars where it is required to join in order to practice law in those jurisdictions. But as a voluntary bar, the Arkansas Bar Association is free to advocate for public policy, and knows that its members are involved because of the added value that their lives and practices seek to make.

Paul W. Keith is the Arkansas Bar Association’s current president and chief-elected leader. Karen K. Hutchins serves as the association’s Executive Director.

“I am the 123rd President of the Association. It was founded by lawyers such as U.M. Rose over 123 years ago,” Keith says. “I became involved at the suggestion of my first

law partner in 1994. As Bar President, I most enjoy working with volunteers who share in and advance the Association’s vision without regard to who gets the credit.”

The Bar Association is committed to public service and excellence. Young lawyers expunge criminal records, seal public records and host statewide competitions for high school students. During a tumultuous year of health concerns and precautions, the Arkansas Bar Association has learned how to do things differently, and thanks to a dedicated staff and dedicated volunteers, has advanced its mission of preserving and advancing the rule of law for everyone, all while doing so safely.

Keith’s leadership continues to make it clear that the Arkansas Bar Association will continue to dedicate itself to serving and seeking justice for Arkansans.

Arkansas Bar Association • 501.375.4606 • arkbar.com

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF UROLOGY ARKANSAS UROLOGY NORTHWEST ARKANSAS – DR. ADAM CHILDS AND DR. MATTHEW KINCADE EL DORADO, ARKANSAS – ALLEN CHILDERS, PA AND DR. CALEB BOZEMAN CENTRAL ARKANSAS - SHERRY DENTON, APRN, DR. KEITH MOONEY, DR. RONALD KUHN AND DR. JAY HEULITT PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS – DR. TAYLOR MOORE, DR. GAIL REEDE JONES AND DR. TIM GOODSON

Arkansas Urology is the state’s premier urology practice, providing comprehensive treatment services to men and women of all ages. Arkansas Urology provides its patients with the most effective, state-of-the-art procedures in a caring and compassionate atmosphere.

The organization treats more than 100,000 patients each year across the state. Its mission is the belief that working together as one, it will improve someone’s life each day.

Arkansas Urology has nationally recognized clinical pathways. These pathways ensure that patients get the best individualized treatment plan. Arkansas Urology has a dedicated radiation oncologist, Dr. Jack Wang, who over the past 11 years has treated more than 3,000 prostate cancer patients and 125,000 radiation therapy treatments — more than any radiation oncologist in the region.

Arkansas Urology also has a dedicated Advanced

Practice Nurse/Advanced Prostate Cancer Coordinator focused solely on advanced prostate cancer patients.

In addition, Arkansas Urology has formed the Arkansas Urology Research Center which has a clinical research team focused on cutting-edge treatments for advanced prostate cancer.

Arkansas Urology was founded in 1996 and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. To celebrate, it is planning an event in August that will also help further launch the Arkansas Urology Foundation that was started last year. This foundation will help to provide men all over Arkansas with free health screenings.

For those interested in getting involved with the foundation or the event, go to www.arkansasurology.com/ foundation.

Arkansas Urology • 877.321.8452 • arkansasurology.com arkansasurology ARUrology ar_urology

FACES OF ARKANSAS

FACE OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT BARRY M. CORKERN AND COMPANY, INC. BARRY CORKERN, OWNER For nearly 40 years, Barry M. Corkern and Company, Inc., founded by Barry M. Corkern has provided fee-only, comprehensive, multigenerational wealth management.

Barry M. Corkern and Co., Inc. believes that people prefer to make financial decisions unclouded by commission-driven sales rhetoric, as expressed in its motto: “It’s a different relationship.”

Barry M. Corkern and Co., Inc. enjoys empowering clients to make informed financial decisions for both their present circumstances and for future generations.

Corkern puts great emphasis on honesty and serving the community. He has testified or provided litigation support in more than 75 cases in federal and state courts and arbitration, and has lost only one case.

“It is a great feeling to know that I could contribute to righting the wrong and to helping recover money for those people,” Corkern says.

The analytical processes at Barry M. Corkern and Co., Inc. are based on well-established procedures and fiduciary standards, which require the organization to be objective and thorough. The diligent employees at Barry M. Corkern and Co., Inc. do not have a hidden agenda or an incentive for a client to buy any financial product or service. The firm’s CEFEX certification is the first in Arkansas and evidence of their pursuit of integrity and excellence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has allowed Corkern and his staff more opportunities to serve the community.

“This year, we have had the largest growth in new clients since I started my practice. I think events such as the pandemic caused some people to reevaluate their financial situation and make a move to get professional help,” Corkern says. “Our processes deliver confidence and peace of mind, and people have needed that more than ever.”

Barry M. Corkern and Company, Inc • 501.664.7866 • bcorkern.com

FACE OF WEB DEVELOPMENT

FACES OF ARKANSAS

CRAFT SEO JOSH THRONE & CALE SCHOOLCRAFT, CO-FOUNDERS Craft SEO is a full-service, digital-marketing firm in Little Rock offering web development and hosting, local SEO, Google Ads Management, content and video production, reputation management and SEO consulting.

The web development company consists of innovative digital marketing experts who passionately take the time to get to know their clients, their clients’ businesses and their ideal customers. Craft SEO understands that clients are real people, with real families, and simply want their slice of the American dream.

Craft SEO drives targeted traffic to the client’s website, resulting in pre-qualified customers ready to purchase. Craft SEO’s goal is client success. After all, clients are so much more than a customer — they are Craft SEO’s partners.

Cale Schoolcraft and Josh Throne co-founded Craft SEO in January 2018. Lifelong friends, they decided to go into business for themselves. The company’s first major client was the Fayetteville Athletic Club. Despite being a brand new company without a portfolio, Kevin Stegen took a chance on the start up.

“We are an Arkansas-based company, but most of our clients are located on the East Coast. We have worked with large organizations and companies like the House of Blues Music Forward Foundation, Live Nation, as well as Washington D.C.’s top white-collar, criminal defense attorney, Steven McCool,” Throne says. “We take care of digital marketing so our clients can do what they do best — take care of their customers.”

Craft SEO • 443.470.9115 • CraftSEO.com JoshThrone CraftSEO

Home + Work + Grad School?

We know you’re busy.

That’s why Walton College offers flexible, part-time master’s degree programs for working professionals.

Visit us at gsb.uark.edu to learn more about our Executive MBA, Master of Supply Chain Management, Professional Master of Applied Business Analytics and Professional Master of Information Systems programs.

We are proud of the 2021 Arkansas Governor’s Cup and the Heartland Challenge business competition teams, especially those from the University of Arkansas/Sam M. Walton College of Business!

Arkansas Governor’s Cup:

BullyProof - ReGen Technologies - Nivera Solutions - ClipBeat - Green Greens April 8, 2021

Heartland Challenge:

Backup - BullyProof - ReGen Technologies April 15 -16, 2021 Tune in to watch the LIVE final round April 16, from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. CST heartlandchallenge.uark.edu The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Arkansas creates and curates innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for students across all disciplines.

entrepreneurship.uark.edu

STARTUPS

PLANTING THE SEED OF

ENTREPRENEURSHIP Students say Y.E.S. to business-plan competition

By Mark Carter

Berryville’s My Masks team, with members Cara Summers, Ayanna Sincero and Carley Ward, took home fourth place overall in the business plan and retail booth categories in the 2021 competition.

he Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase (Y.E.S.) from the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation has awarded more than $102,000 in cash prizes to student entrepreneurs in grades 5-8 since it was launched by the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation in 2006.

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The annual business-plan competition brings together 25 teams of finalists from school districts across the state to showcase, pitch and even sell their products and ideas before parents, school officials and a panel of judges at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Prizes are awarded in a variety of categories, from best business plan to best retail booth.

Since its launch, Y.E.S. has impacted more than 9,000 participating Arkansas students representing roughly 3,000 business plans entered.

Despite some initial hesitation, Delene McCoy is glad she introduced the Y.E.S. program to her Berryville students nine years ago. McCoy is the gifted-and-talented instructor and AP coordinator for grades 6-12 for Berryville schools, as well as the high school journalism and yearbook advisor. And it’s her students who’ve advanced each year since 2012 to the state level of the showcase, which is administered by the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF), a member of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group.

“Initially, the thought of Y.E.S. intimidated me,” she said. “I wasn’t comfortable with the definition of entrepreneur myself and wanted to be more informed and raise my ability of awareness to a level of feeling confident enough to guide young people in the endeavor.”

McCoy’s concerns were put to rest after meeting with AEAF Executive Director Marie Bruno at a state gifted education conference in 2012. Bruno even came to her classroom at Berryville Middle School to speak with and encourage her students as they began the process of participating in the showcase, which is not limited to GT or AP students.

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“Writing an extensive business plan is not for the weak or faint of heart. It is a multistep process and extremely detailed,” McCoy said. “The business plan is what is judged initially and reflects every aspect of a new idea, from the first thought of an answer to a problem to the projected sales and profit for one month. Students use and practice many concepts they have studied in their core-learning classes.”

Bruno said the benefits provided by the program extend beyond entrepreneurship.

“Teachers can use the Y.E.S. model as a great opportunity to engage students in both core-education skills and personal skills — communication, collaboration, teamwork, being responsible to others, being on time, etc.,” she said.

Almost 10 years into the program, McCoy sees those benefits manifest themselves through her students.

“I believe this type of educational experience supports all students as they all will operate a home, possibly their own business or at least work for someone,” she said. “Small businesses make up nearly one-half of the workforce in America and create new jobs consistently. It is important to pay it forward and help inspire and mentor young people and empower them to think like early entrepreneurs.”

The Y.E.S. experience has become a popular one for McCoy and her students.

McCoy even took it a step further and introduced a Shark Tank-like competition for Berryville students in partnership with three local banks.

“The bankers are the sharks, and the students have the opportunity to make a three- to four-minute presentation/pitch for the chance to get some seed money to invest into their business idea. We also hold a Berryville Middle School Entrepreneur Showcase each year in December coinciding with the state announcement of the Y.E.S. Top 25. This way, each team gets at least a local opportunity to set up a storefront and showcase its new product.”

Sam Walls III, COO and president of

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Arkansas Capital, believes it’s important to introduce the principles of entrepreneurship to students at a young age.

“Getting students to look at things in a spirit of entrepreneurship is huge,” he said. “All the great things in the world were started through an entrepreneurial approach. Entrepreneurs see the world a little differently. They see things and ask, ‘Could I do this better?’

“From that perspective, introducing students to entrepreneurship is so valuable. Even if students never start their own businesses, entrepreneurship principles help them understand the underlying principles of business and become better and more valuable employees.”

McCoy cited one of her students who participated in Y.E.S. as a middle schooler and now runs a local food truck called Morning Grind — all while he completes coursework for his junior year. He has his own employees, and many of his teachers and former teachers are customers.

McCoy said the experience that student gained through Y.E.S. inspired the student to launch his own business.

“Students have walked away from the Youth Entrepreneur Showcase with a new level of confidence in themselves, not only as entrepreneurs, but as confident, young people whose ideas can compete with the best,” McCoy said. “The showcase gives them the realization that they can be successful in the marketplace with their solutions to everyday problems.”

She added that the cash prizes ($500 for winning teams) don’t hurt, either.

Walls has bigger cash prizes in mind for students who learn how entrepreneurial principles can help them succeed in the workplace, whatever occupation they choose. He wants Arkansas to build on its impressive entrepreneurial resume.

“Where is our next generation of Fortune 500 leaders coming from? If you can grow them organically, it’s better,” he said.

“If you plant the seed, it’s a lot easier.”

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Delene McCoy

Marie Bruno

Sam Walls III

Another Berryville team, Savin’ Shavins from Sadie Sharp and Jaden Hood, won first place in the marketing and retail booth categories at the 2020 competition.

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STARTUPS

2021 ARKANSAS GOVERNOR’S CUP

F

WINNERS

or the second year in a row, the Arkansas Governor’s Cup collegiate business plan competition was a virtual affair. But teams representing schools across Arkansas brought their “A” games, anyway. The format for the 2021 event was changed to include two new divisions — small business and high growth/innovation. Previous events had been divided into graduate and undergraduate divisions.

Teams from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, took home top prizes in both divisions. Nivera Solutions won first place in the high growth/innovation category and the $25,000 cash prize that went it. The UA’s Simple + Sweet Creamery won the small business category and its own $15,000 cash prize.

Other winners in in high growth/innovation were the UA’s ReGen Technologies, second place ($15,000), and Harding University’s Balance Mark, third place ($10,000).

Other winners in the small business division were Christ Light Apparel from Central Baptist College, second place ($10,000), and Apollo from the Arkansas School for Math and Sciences in Hot Springs ($5,000).

Elevator-pitch winners from the virtual ceremony held April 8 were the UA’s Green Greens in the high growth/innovation division and Small Talks from the School of Math and Sciences in the small business division. Cash prizes for the pitch winners included $2,000 for team members and $2,500 for faculty advisors.

This year’s winners were selected from

a group 12 finalists in each category. Six finalists teams represented the UA, two represented the School for Math and Sciences, two represented Arkansas Tech, and one team each represented Harding and Central Baptist.

The Governor’s Cup competition has been administered by Arkansas Capital Corporation since its launch in 2001. More than 2,900 Arkansas college and university students have competed, submitting more than 900 business plans. This year, 31 teams of 88 students from seven Arkansas institutions competed.

The $100,000 in cash prizes awarded to this year’s winners was provided by title sponsor Dhu Thompson and Revolution Bag of Little Rock.

SMALL BUSINESS DIVISION First Place ($15,000) Simple + Sweet Creamery — University of Arkansas Second Place ($10,000) Christ Light Apparel — Central Baptist College, Conway Third Place ($5,000) Apollo — Arkansas School for Math, Sciences and the Arts, Hot Springs HIGH GROWTH / TECHNOLOGY DIVISION First Place ($25,000) Nivera Solutions — University of Arkansas Second Place ($15,000) ReGen Technologies — University of Arkansas Third Place ($10,000) Balance Mark — Harding University, Searcy

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Young entrepreneurs are full of ideas ready for launch.

Thank you to our sponsors who support them in their vision.

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Friday, Eldridge & Clark Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Gill Ragon Owen Arkansas Research Alliance Arvest Bank HCJ CPAs & Advisors AT & T Arkansas IFWORLD CFO Network T-Mobile Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull

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BalanceMark™ Team Governor’s Cup Finalist

Harding University congratulates BalanceMark™ team members Erin Weiss, Nathan Vielmette and Emily Nixon for being selected as one of six finalists in the Arkansas Governor’s Cup, Innovate Arkansas High Growth/Technology Division. The team is supported by the Waldron Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Business in the Paul R. Carter College of Business at the University, which partners with business owners to help them succeed. We salute your hard work and success.

HARDING.EDU/BUSINESS ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

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MEDIA/AGRICULTURE

ARKANSAS PBS SERIES to reveal state’s

GOOD ROOTS

By Tyler Hale Photography by Meredith Mashburn

Arkansas PBS debuts its Good Roots series on April 16.

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Host Logan Duvall is filmed on a farm near Atkins for the first segment of Good Roots.

O

ver the coming months, cameras will be rolling in Arkansas rural communities, capturing the rhythms of life and business in the Natural State’s heartland. Through a new partnership with Arkansas Farm Bureau, Arkansas PBS is introducing a new monthly community program called Good Roots that will focus on rural community life and agriculture throughout the state.

Premiering on Friday, April 16, Good Roots will be broadcast on Arkansas PBS and livestreamed on the company’s website. In May, the program will begin airing on the second Friday of each month.

According to Arkansas PBS Chief Content Officer Greg Gerik, the program is a way of spotlighting those unseen stories in the state that help define what makes Arkansas great. For Gerik, Good Roots is a celebration of the Natural State and its people.

“Arkansas was built on a founda-

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Greg Gerik

tion of farming, and it has incredible communities across the state that drive on agriculture and are prospering,” he said. “Arkansas PBS wants to highlight these communities and celebrate the great things that are happening all across Arkansas.”

Arkansas PBS is participating in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s “Coming Home: Connecting to Community” project, which aims to tell local stories about the people and culture of rural America. As a result, the statewide media network had been on the lookout for ways to highlight agriculture and rural communities when Arkansas Farm Bureau approached them with the idea of rebooting a previous program, Agri Arkansas, which ran from 2014 to 2017. The timing, Gerik said, was “really fortuitous” for Arkansas PBS, and the two organizations hit the ground running with the project.

Arkansas Farm Bureau board

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“We will highlight why agriculture matters, why rural communities are the backbone of our country and are how we sustain ourselves.”

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Gerik hopes the Good Roots program creates a new experience for Arkansas PBS viewers, exposing them to new ideas and stories.

Ralston and Duvall in between takes.

president Rich Hillman said in a statement,“Arkansas Farm Bureau is dedicated to sharing the critical role agriculture plays in our lives and economy. Arkansas is built on the foundation of farming, and that story is much more complicated than what is often portrayed. We hope this partnership with Arkansas PBS will help us fulfill our mission of telling the deeper stories of what it’s like to live, grow and succeed in our great state.”

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Duvall interviews farmer Tim Ralston of Ralston Family Farms.

When deciding on the name of the project, the teams settled on Good Roots, which evokes the strength of the rural communities and the agricultural products that the program focuses on.

Gerik said, “You’ve heard the phrase, ‘Those are good roots,’ or ‘They have some good roots.’ Well, Arkansas has good roots. Arkansas has amazing stories, amazing people. We have a key contributor to agriculture in this country and this will allow us to tell those stories.”

Gerik hopes the Good Roots program creates a new experience for Arkansas PBS viewers, exposing them to new ideas and stories. Programming is still being developed, and Gerik called the process an experiment to find what will resonate and be helpful to Arkansas PBS’ audience.

“For right now, it’ll be a combination of interviews, stories and features.

There may be more panel-type discussion about particular hot topics,” he said. “But we’re really excited about the way it’s flowing. I don’t know that we’ve ever done this before, not knowing more about what we want to show.”

For now, the broadcaster is starting small with one segment per month, covering one topic, but there could be more on the horizon for Good Roots.

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As Arkansas PBS gains more content partners and underwriters, Gerik hopes to see the program expand to cover more ground and more stories in Arkansas. “We’re still discovering. One of the great things about where we are today, we’re kind of inventing and creating it as we go,” he said.

Once Good Roots kicks off, Gerik hopes to see the program spark conversations about rural communities and what Arkansas PBS CEO Courtney Pledger called the “agricultural backbone of the state.”

“We will highlight why agriculture matters, why rural communities are the backbone of our country and are how we sustain ourselves.

It’s exciting that we are now able to tell some of these stories and highlight some of these amazing people,” Gerik said. “That’s really at the heart of it, and Good Roots is about good people, good harvest, good communities and people that are helping build our society.”

Good Roots segments, as well as bonus footage, will be featured on all Arkansas PBS digital platforms, and the media network is planning a blog series to accompany the segments on the Arkansas PBS website, MyArkansasPBS.org.

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Hook, LINE and sinker Return to Normal, Return to Nature

By Dustin Jayroe

M

ost of us found ourselves in a similar predicament almost exactly one year ago: The world was shut down and with it many of our day-to-day experiences. Our homes became our impromptu office spaces; dinner at a restaurant turned to little more than a curbside carhop; the kids were home from school with no timetable to return; and a night at the movies seemed a privilege that might never be a possibility again.

Fortunately, we live in a great state to be holed up in. So, we left the confines of home for the sights unseen of the Natural State. It was adventurous, exciting and, most importantly, safe.

As we approach the dilating light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, there are many lessons to have learned and take with us down this meandering road to normal. One of which is not

forgetting the memories made in the outdoors over the past year, for many more await. All we have to do is step outside and experience them.

One of the most popular activities that people across Arkansas enjoyed this year, no matter the age or experience, just happened to be one of the oldest and tried-and-true of all: fishing. In fact, the sport encountered such a splash that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) participated in a research study conducted by Louisiana State University to attach some real data to the anecdotes. What they found was so exciting the Commission presented the findings at this year’s Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

The study identified that 32 percent of its respondents fished more than they would have otherwise, with 39 percent of female partici-

pants fishing more often. Ninety-eight percent of respondents felt that fishing was a “safe” activity to some degree. Of the survey sample, the most popular factors leading to these increases were: “nature or being outdoors,” “stress relief” and “social/family bonding.”

What’s exciting to both the commission and families across Arkansas is that this reasoning, although identified during the pandemic, does not have to be specific to it. The peace, the calm, the fun and the serenity of Arkansas’ many outdoor options can beget plenty of stress relief and familial bonds any time — whether you’re male or female, adolescent or retired.

Of course, in a place as “Natural” as ours, the remedies don’t begin and end with a rod and reel. There’s the just-as-popular art of hunting, but as we approach the warmer months, you might more likely find the seat of a kayak or the deck of a pontoon more approachable; for that, we have thousands of miles worth of lakes and streams to accommodate. On dry land, we can hike or bike our way through just as many miles of trail systems, from the flats of the Delta to the altitudes of the Ozarks.

Whatever your outdoor prescription, this state can deliver in a variety of ways.

For a stress-free and safe summer this year, double up on your dose of Arkansas.

AGFC's NWA Nature Center.

Outdoor Activity List ➥ ➥ ➥

Catch a good time at your local AGFC Family and Community

Fishing Pond. There are nearly 50 across the state of Arkansas that are regularly stocked. Find a location at AGFC.com Visit your local nature center, and sign up to learn a new outdoor skill.

Give bird watching a try. You can request a Wings Over Arkansas

birding ID and checklist kit by emailing publications@agfc.ar.gov.

➥

Looking for a new float and have your own boat? Find a list of AGFC

➥

Take a hike at your local Arkansas State Park and see how many types

water trails at AGFC.com, or find a paddling outfitter at Arkansas. com.

of different wildlife you can ID. 117

A P R IL 2021

Small Business

RECLAMATION

SMALL BUSINESS

By Ken Heard Photography by Jamison Mosley

Mathew Faulkner spearheaded the drive to get Searcy on the Small Business Revolution program.

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EXPERIENCE GAINED ON TV SHOW HELPS SEARCY BUSINESS OWNERS STAND UP TO CHALLENGES

Half a year after six Searcy shops were featured on a television program that conducts $500,000 in major makeovers, the COVID-19 virus struck the country, changing consumer habits and putting businesses into stressful survival situations.

But five of the six Searcy business owners persevered through a year of struggles, using the tactics they learned while filming the program. They also realized the galvanizing support of the diverse White County town of 24,000. The sixth business, a coffee shop, had to close after COVID protocols prevented or limited customers from dining and drinking inside restaurants.

Searcy almost didn’t win the makeover by Deluxe Corporation’s Small Business Revolution — Main Street program.

The company held an online contest in the fall of 2018, and on the last day of voting, Searcy was in second place. A lastminute, organized push by local leaders gave the town the edge, beating out the five other finalists of Camas, Wash.; Canon City, Colo.; Corsicana, Texas; Durant, Okla.; and Washington, N.C. Mathew Faulkner, president of Think Idea Studio in Searcy, spearheaded the drive to get Searcy on the television program.

“When we applied for the show, we emphasized the positive things Searcy has been doing for years,” he said. “We had an ongoing downtown beautification project and a lot of arts projects. We realized the challenges and thought the show could help.”

The Small Business Revolution program has been shown on Hulu television for

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Ongoing downtown beautification projects were a part of the application process for Searcy.

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Buck Layne of the Searcy Chamber said when Searcy was selected, the announcement elicited a nineminute cheer.

four years. The premise is simple, but lasting: Show hosts Ty Pennington and Amanda Brinkman visit a chosen town and give businesses $500,000 to help them grow. The businesses may receive structural makeovers, but they also are given information about developing aggressive business plans, creating more of a digital image online and building lasting strategies to continue economic growth. Previous cities that won the makeovers include Wabash, Ind.; Bristol Borough, Pa.; and Alton, Ill. The show announced Searcy had won during an early 2019 watch party in Benson Auditorium on the Harding University campus that was shown live on Facebook. When Searcy was selected, the Benson Auditorium audience cheered for nine minutes, said Searcy Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Buck Layne.

“It was like a basketball game,” he said of the ovation. “It was a very exciting time.”

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Pennington, a former host of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition series, and Brinkman immediately began shooting for the program.

“Ty was a ball of energy,” Faulkner said. “It was a lot of fun. I felt fortunate being part of it. It’ll be a memory.”

There were eight episodes in the season. The first was an introduction to Searcy. Six episodes, each about 30 minutes in length, featured the six chosen businesses, and the final show wrapped up what business owners had learned.

“It was great publicity for Searcy and for Arkansas,” Layne said. “People who wouldn’t have known about Searcy reached out to find us.”

The Searcy businesses selected were Zion Rock Climbing, Savor and Sip Coffeehouse, Whilma’s Filipino Restaurant, ARganic Woodwork, El Mercado and Nooma Yoga Studio.

“There was huge awareness for our town,” Faulkner said. “It put Searcy on

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the map for recognition.

“Then, all of a sudden, here comes COVID. It took the wind out of our sails.”

For three months into 2020, Searcy was banking on the television exposure, creating public relations campaigns centered on the chosen businesses and showing newly created downtown parks and venues.

“When COVID came, all the attention shifted, as it should,” Faulkner said.

“There was nothing a television show could do to impact that. Food services took the brunt of that.”

Savor and Sip Coffeehouse was forced to close. Coty Skinner, owner of ARganic Woodwork, also closed his furnituremaking business and then opened a real estate company in his home.

“We had clientele from heavily populated areas like St. Louis and Memphis,” Skinner said of his woodworking business. “We had to go on furlough.”

He intended to hire workers who had lived in foster homes in White County and the surrounding area, and then “aged out” and moved, to help train them with job skills. Instead, when the virus hit, he put that idea on hold.

“We didn’t want to say, ‘Sorry, we don’t need you,’” Skinner said. “They’d been told that before. We didn’t want to

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Coty Skinner was forced to close ARganic Woodwork, but has since opened his own real estate business. (Photo provided by Coty Skinner)

do that again.”

Instead, Skinner tried to keep his business going by working 60 hours a week himself. It wasn’t a good plan, he realized.

“In June [2020], I came to the conclusion there were easier ways to be broke,” he said. “Our business is people. COVID affected people.”

He began selling real estate. “I used a lot of what I learned from the show in my real estate business,” he said.

Carlos Frogoso, who operates Whilma’s Filipino Restaurant with his mother, said the television program gave the restaurant amazing exposure. He took calls from people across the country, including some in Seattle and Hawaii, who said they’d like to visit Searcy to try out their food.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle,” he said of

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closing the dine-in portion of the restaurant. “But the community has been very supportive.”

The restaurant remains open, either cooking for take-out orders or delivering food to customers. Frogoso said he hopes to reopen for indoor dining within a few months. The restaurant has been open for 12 years.

Frogoso said he learned from the show about giving Whilma’s Filipino Restaurant more of an online, digital presence.

He also was instructed in pricing food items; Whilma always “wanted to make people happy” with food costs, he said, but he realized they also have to make a living.

Frogoso added that members of the show still call him to see how the restaurant is doing and to offer helpful

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suggestions.

“I don’t think we would have survived without the renovation program,” he said.

The eight-part show remains on the Small Business Revolution website, and people still watch it, Layne said. It continues to serve as a tool to attract visitors, new residents and prospective businesses. The programs can be viewed at www.smallbusinessrevolution.org/smallbusiness-revolution/main-street/seasonfour/.

“How do we keep this going?” Layne asked, referring to the unified town spirit and momentum Searcy saw at the onset of the show. “We’ve got to get in the same frame of mind again. Once we get COVID behind us, I think we will come back strong.”

A P R IL 2021

SPORTS COMMENTARY

GROWING, GROWING,

GONE RAZORBACK BASEBALL HAS EVOLVED INTO AN ‘ECONOMIC DRIVER’

INTO THE

LIGHT

By Mark Carter Photos courtesy of Arkansas Athletics

Razorback second baseman Robert Moore

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ollege baseball has come a long way since Norm DeBriyn led Arkansas to its first College World Series in 1979, and the Razorbacks program right along with it.

In 1970, DeBriyn took over a moribund Hogs baseball program that played at the old Washington County fairgrounds and slowly, steadily built it into a contender.

And not just in the Southwest and later the Southeastern conferences, but into a national contender.

Ultimately, his program construction — which included four trips to Omaha in an 11-year span — required the construction of a state-of-the-art facility to satiate a growing fan base after a move to the old George Cole Field on campus (its former site now occupied by the Fred Smith Football Center). Former Hogs second baseman Dave Van Horn, who coached Nebraska from afterthought to CWS contender, took over for his old coach in 2003 and with the stage set, grew Razorback baseball into a monster. And before the pandemic brought the 2020 season to a halt, a money-making monster.

Arkansas is one of just a few college baseball programs to have turned a profit. According to a June 2020 report from the Omaha World-Herald, just 15 of 299 NCAA Division 1 baseball programs, including Arkansas, did so in 2019.

Arkansas baseball generated $6,733,198 that year, the program’s 10th CWS season, against expenses of $5,878,143.

Baum Stadium annually is among the college game’s leaders in attendance.

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“

We’re at the point now where the line is blurred between these top college baseball stadiums and a double-A stadium, even triple-A.

”

Of course, a profit of roughly $855,000 is dwarfed by the revenue brought in by football and basketball at Power 5 schools like Arkansas — in 2019, Razorback football and men’s basketball generated revenues of $70.3 million and $18.7 million, respectively. But the 2019 season represented the second time Arkansas baseball had finished in the black.

(And no student fees are funneled to baseball or any other individual sport, men’s or women’s, to help balance the books. If a sport isn’t self-sufficient, football revenue picks up the tab.)

In terms of revenue generated solely by baseball, Arkansas was No. 3 in 2019 behind Florida State and Ole Miss. Joining the Hogs and Rebels in the top 10 were SEC compatriots Vanderbilt (4), LSU (5), Mississippi State (9) and South Carolina (10).

REVENUES, WHICH HAVE DOUBLED IN THE LAST EIGHT YEARS, INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING ITEMS OF NOTE: • $2.9 million from ticket sales (by way of comparison, men’s basketball generated $6.6 million in ticket sales and football $30.7 million); • $1.6 million from royalties, licensing, advertising and sponsorships; • $1.3 million from private contributions (basketball drew $3.2 million and football $14.9 million); • $488,661 in NCAA distributions (reimbursements for hosting NCAA championship events);

But for decades, college baseball languished in the shadows. Baseball allegiance traditionally was saved for Major League teams, and to a much smaller degree, the farm clubs that supplied them players, such as the old Little Rock-turned-Arkansas Travelers (and now the Northwest Arkansas Naturals). And allegiances were formed based on access.

For most of the early 20th century, the only access Arkansans had to Major League Baseball outside their local newspaper was through the powerful, old AM radio juggernaut in St. Louis, KMOX. Hence, Arkansas became Cardinals country.

As sports economist Brian Goff of Western Kentucky University once noted, pro baseball simply had a big head start on its college counterpart, while pro football and basketball did not. By the time the NFL and NBA really took root nationally and televised games became more routine, college football and basketball had already claimed primary allegiances, especially in parts of the country like the South from which pro franchises had yet to spring.

Several factors have contributed to college baseball’s delayed emergence and rise in popularity, among them the proliferation of college sports on cable TV and streaming services and the construction of veritable baseball palaces by schools awash

NOTABLE EXPENSES INCLUDED: • Van Horn’s $1.3 million salary from the university (he’s guaranteed $175,000 in compensation and benefits from the Razorback Foundation as well);

• $651,084 for scholarships distributed among 28 student-athletes (college baseball teams are allowed 11.7 full-ride scholarships to divide among as many as 30 players);

• $841,412 for team travel (the same figures for basketball came to $964,119 and for football, $1.5 million);

• $429,186 for uniforms, equipment and supplies (basketball, $260,927 and football, $1.9 million);

• $774,796 for game-day operations such as hiring event staff, game officials and security (basketball expenses totaled $828,000 and football expenses, $3.3 million);

• $104,076 in recruiting expenses ($424,068 for basketball and $1.9 million for football); • $91,150 for medical expenses and insurance (basketball, $45,456, and football, $402,275).

• $128,144 in parking and concession sales.

Source: University of Arkansas

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in conference TV revenue. Nowadays, more of the nation’s best high school baseball players, such as Arkansas’ young star Robert Moore, wait to sign pro contracts, opting to hone their skills for a couple of years in college, thus elevating the level of play.

The result? The same kind of arms race in college baseball that has long existed in football and basketball. Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville was opened in 1996 to rave reviews, and 25 years later, it’s still considered a crown jewel of college baseball.

SINCE IT OPENED AND HELPED SET THE STANDARD FOR COLLEGE STADIUMS NATIONWIDE, BAUM HAS: • Seen capacity more than doubled to almost 11,000 (a college baseball stadium seating 10,000 is the rough equivalent to a football stadium seating 100,000 or a basketball venue holding 20,000).

• The number of luxury suites increased from 12 to 32.

• The construction of the $10 million, 52,000-square-foot Fowler Family Baseball and Track Indoor Training Center, which includes a full-size infield, throwing area and batting cages.

The latest round of expansion and renovation, scheduled for completion later this spring, is expected to set the facilities bar even higher.

The $27 million, 49,000-square-foot Hunt Family Baseball Development Center, nearing completion and looming over Baum’s right-field corner, will house new coaches’ offices, an improved and expanded team clubhouse, a pitching and development lab, an in-venue batting tunnel, a tunnel connecting the facility to the first-base dugout (which will become the home dugout), as well as a new team meeting room, strength and conditioning center, training room and nutrition center.

The Hunt Center also will include the Norm DeBriyn Champions Lobby with historical displays and interactive content, new luxury loge boxes, and it’ll connect to the current west concourse of Baum, affording many more vantage points for viewing a game.

All these upgrades were funded entirely through private donations, athletic department revenues

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and bond proceeds.

Jason Ford, senior architect with Populous of Kansas City, told Sports Business Journal last summer that the arms race indeed is on in college baseball.

In 2019, Mississippi State debuted its new-and-improved Dudy Noble Field, which underwent a $55 million upgrade with increased capacity to 13,000 and a new elevated, wrap-around concourse providing fans a 360-degree view of the field. And renovations in 2018 to Swayze Field in Oxford pushed capacity to 11,000 while adding the latest bells and whistles for Ole Miss.

Eight of the SEC’s 14 teams have either completed new stadiums or significant stadium renovations since 2009. Bells and whistles are par for the course in SEC baseball.

“Now, with the additional TV revenue that’s been coming in, we’re seeing some real significant investment in baseball,” Ford said. “We’re at the point now where the line is blurred between these top college baseball stadiums and a double-A stadium, even triple-A.”

The new player development center at Baum is expected to be completed this spring.

********* College baseball has come a long way since Kendall Rogers began covering it more than a decade ago. Rogers, national writer and editor at D1Baseball.com, is one of the country’s most prominent college baseball writers. He’s witnessed firsthand the Razorback rise to college baseball’s elite. He’s sold on Arkansas as baseball royalty, even as the program chases its first national baseball title. And he appreciates how difficult it is for traditional “non-revenue” sports like baseball to break even.

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An artists’ rendering of the completed player development center.

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“There are not many programs that make money on college baseball,” Rogers told Arkansas Money & Politics. “Arkansas is definitely one of the outliers.

The key is having a lot of premium seating options, and, of course, people to actually fill those seats.”

The demand indeed is strong for the Diamond Hogs and shows no signs of abating. The Hogs annually rank among the top two or three leaders in both overall and per-game attendance, despite playing home games throughout the first month of the season in temperatures that often dip into the 30s. And there are long waiting lists for season tickets and luxury suites. As of 2018, the waiting list for luxury suites at Baum numbered 43 despite no turnover in suite holders since 2009.

Steve Clark, president of the Fayetteville Cham-

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ber of Commerce, said Razorback baseball has become its own distinct tourism draw, attracting visitors to Northwest Arkansas from across the state and even the region.

“It’s definitely a regional draw,” he said. “Folks are coming into town for Razorback baseball from Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. That’s new money coming in, and that’s a very positive thing. I get calls all the time about Razorback baseball — it’s an economic driver. Any time you can bring people to town, it’s a chance to showcase Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas.”

Clark estimates that Razorback baseball fans, on average, spend about $75 per fan on game day (not including the cost of tickets). That’s $225 per fan for a weekend series. Meanwhile, football fans, he said, spent about $120 a day and basketball fans “a little more” than baseball. Though most Razorback fans cross over and support multiple programs, the Diamond Hogs enjoy a passionate following from their core backers.

Clark noted that many of them will drive in for a game and head back home afterwards three days in a row with a weekend series, sometimes traveling long distances. “It’s a way of life for them.”

Football, of course, is king. But Razorback baseball has firmly established itself alongside football and basketball as a fan destination, and a growing number of Hog fans are gravitating to it. Razorback retailers in Fayetteville now cite baseball merchandise as a leading in-store traffic driver.

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Arkansas’ indoor practice facility sets it apart from most college programs.

The on-field success, the number of former UA players in the big leagues and the nostalgic, slow pace of baseball, even the popularity of Van Horn, are all part of the draw.

But longtime radio Voice of the Razorbacks Chuck Barrett told The Hog Pod with Bo Mattingly earlier this year that it ultimately boils down to the fan experience. And Baum delivers.

“You’ve got to have a nice place for people to go, particularly now with every game on television in some form or fashion,” he said. “But in this day and age, if you’re going to get people to the ballpark, the theater of the mind is, ‘Oh, back in the day, it was kind of like listening to the Cardinals.’ When you were a child, you imagine what it was like at Busch Stadium. Well, once you win a few times, it was still fun, but it wasn’t quite as magical. I mean, college baseball was the same way. I think Razorback baseball was the same way. And I think to keep those people coming year after year after year, you’ve got to have amenities. You’ve got to do new stuff every year, and Arkansas has done that. They’ve made it a great place to bring the family and come watch a baseball game, particularly if the weather’s great in the spring.”

Barrett said another program catalyst was The Buzz radio network in Little Rock picking up all Razorback games across its statewide network in the late 2000s.

“Their radio station reached a part of Arkansas that very frankly, the Razorback baseball program

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Razorback baseball fans, on average, spend about $75 per fan on game day (not including the cost of tickets).

That’s $225 per fan for a weekend series. from a broadcast standpoint had never reached before. And players, who fans in Northwest Arkansas knew about, started becoming more household names to the everyday Razorback fan around our state.”

A native Texan, Rogers is familiar with Arkansas and its path from the old Southwest Conference, where it was the only non-Texas school, to the SEC, where the Hogs traded one University of Texas for several equivalents. And he remembers when college baseball was but a shadow of its current self in terms of national prominence.

“It’s honestly been pretty incredible,” Rogers said. “When I started covering college baseball, I would say about 10 to 20 programs had what I’d consider premier facilities. Now, I feel like that number is around 50 to 60. That’s just having luxu-

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RIGHT: Dave Van Horn has gotten Razorback fans as fired up as ever for Arkansas baseball.

FAR RIGHT: An afternoon game at Baum against LSU showcased the best Northwest Arkansas has to offer with a packed house and blue skies.

rious stadiums — not necessarily predicated upon size.

“The SEC is so far ahead in this category, there’s no catching up for others. For instance, Oklahoma State has a brand new ballpark that is one of the top three in the country. However, the fan support in Stillwater is not what it is in places like Starkville, Baton Rouge and Fayetteville. There is really no comparison to the SEC in that regard, and certainly not a place like Arkansas.”

Rogers is impressed with the new player development center at Baum and the perks it affords, such as the pitching lab developed by Hogs pitching coach Matt Hobbs. He thinks the commitment will pay dividends down the road.

“Kids these days, whether you like or not, are all

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about the latest bells and whistles. And not only do the Hogs have a ton of bells and whistles, they also have actual development perks that really advanced the player to the next level.” ********* Van Horn told The Hog Pod that it’s almost unbelievable how far college baseball has come since he’s been coaching.

“If you would’ve told me 20 years ago that Division I college baseball would grow into what it is today, I wouldn’t believe you. No way. Not at all.

I’ve thought about it on my own and talked about it with other people and coaches many times. There’s no way we could’ve ever projected this. The crowds, the stadiums, the competition, just everything.”

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Razorback Retail in a Pandemic World

By Kayla McCall

Indeed, Razorback baseball is a thing for Arkansans. Rogers said he could think of only two instances when a team wielded a home-field advantage like the one enjoyed by the “OmaHogs” in the 2018 CWS Finals — Mississippi State in 2013 and Texas in 2005. He said it’s one of many reasons why Razorback baseball is so special. He advises Hog fans to soak it all in and be patient.

“I think Arkansas turning into an Omaha mainstay, and perennial power is extremely impressive.

Dave Van Horn did an unreal job at Nebraska, and the job he has done at Arkansas nears that,” he said.

“To turn Arkansas, a school that is somewhat isolated from major population centers — it’s really impressive to me. He’s created a monster there, and a national title will come at some point.”

College baseball was one of those sports cut off in midseason last year by COVID-19. With their team coming off consecutive appearances in the College World Series and looking to make a run at three in a row, Razorback baseball fans were as ready as any to return to the ballpark in 2021.

With attendance limitations still in place, Diamond Hogs fans have been filling Baum-Walker Stadium in smaller doses and calling the Hogs under their masks and gaiters. When the season started in late February, Arkansas Department of Health guidelines allowed for 4,218 fans inside Baum, which has an official capacity of 11,531.

By early March, the state had increased attendance at outdoor sporting events to 49.4 percent of capacity, which meant around 5,700 fans allowed inside Baum beginning with the Oklahoma game on March 16.

And Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek announced earlier this year that the UA is planning for full capacity at home football games this fall.

For owners of retail shops that deal exclusively in Razorback gear, a suspended baseball season and football and basketball campaigns with limited attendance hammered home the economic impact of the Razorbacks on their hometown. But with vaccines taking hold and attendance at Arkansas sporting events on the rise, these purveyors of Porker products are optimistic the light they see ahead is the end of the pandemic tunnel.

Robert Mann, a former manager of the UA’s Hog Heaven store inside Bud Walton Arena, owns The Stadium Shoppe on Razorback Road, just a Heston Kjerstad dinger from Baum. He described baseball season as a big deal for his store.

“With baseball a perennial powerhouse and things looking up in football and basketball, we’re optimistic for the remainder of 2021,” he said.

Hogman’s Gameday Superstore sits just across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from the UA campus. The Fayetteville location is seeing traffic return to normal as well, according to Allie Brown, director of digital marketing, social media and retail operations.

“Obviously, having baseball as the No. 1 team, Coach [Eric] Musselman doing great for men’s basketball… I don’t see other sports being far behind,” she said. “The great coaching staffs that have been brought in are helping keep the University of Arkansas on the map.”

At Alumni Hall, the popular Fayetteville Razorback outlet, store Manager Stephanie Roets said the Diamond Hogs’ success is helping business pick up the slack from 2020.

“We actually see the most traffic coming from baseball,” she said.

“People are a lot more excited about other sports getting good at the same time. We’re thrilled for the UA giving fans little victories by opening up baseball to allow for more fans in the seats.”

Turns out, those little victories are extending beyond the playing field.

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EDITOR’S LETTER Continued from page 7

they showed up early and worked a full day or worked for just an hour late in the day. The gist — the early birds agreed to a day’s work for a certain wage, and if the vineyard owner decides to be generous and pay the same wage to those who showed up late, that’s his choice. Or her choice. (Definitely, or her choice.) Jesus is telling us that the rewards of salvation are there, just the same, for those who live a life of devotion and servitude to God and for those who accept Him even on their deathbed.

Just like March Madness can, it seems so unfair. But feels so very right.

Perhaps I should start applying the parable of the workers to the illogic of the tournament. Because it can indeed be a thing of beauty — the Hogs’ run, Sister Jean, Cinderella and all. But then here comes a bubble play-in team — not even a mid-major conference champ — advancing to the Final Four and adding one final round of absurdity.

Did it really deserve to be in the field in the first place? A legit argument three weeks ago but now… how could one argue otherwise?

Oh well. I suppose a little absurdity is a good thing. Definitely makes life interesting. *** The reference to Charles Barkley got me thinking about a certain sweet and savory delight reportedly favored by a specific demographic in San Antonio.

Yes, the Word of the Month for April… churro.

Essentially an exotic funnel cake, the churro descends from Spanish and Portuguese cuisine. It often comes sprinkled in cinnamon but in many places is dipped in hot chocolate or coffee. And outside the United

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States, anyway, churros usually are eaten for breakfast; Americans reaching the conclusion early on that there’s never a bad time for fried dough topped with sugar.

Theories about the origins of the churro include its introduction to Europe by Portuguese merchants who brought it back from China, and its creation as a substitute for fresh baked goods by Spanish shepherds isolated in the mountains and on the lookout for buried Confederate treasure.

(Wait, disregard that last part.) Of course, other theories suggest the churro simply evolved from recipes found in old Greek and Roman cookbooks and has probably existed around the Mediterranean pretty much forever.

Me? I’m a fan of all fried dough but am most partial to apple fritters. (To the good folks at Cinnamon Creme in WLR and Gibson’s in Memphis... my hat is tipped, and my round belly sends its regards.)

And while I don’t do coffee, doing beignets at Café Du Monde in New Orleans is something everyone should experience at

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Paragould: 117 W Court Street (870) 236-1415

least once. An insider’s tip — if you want your coffee and donuts in a more chill setting, there’s a much cozier Café Du Monde location, highly recommended, inside City Park. *** One last thing on March Madness. Not sure I’ve ever been as proud of a Razorback team. The FIGHTING Razorbacks. Seems as though we’re back to that across the board on the Hill. We’ve got several “must reads” in this issue including Katie Z’s latest Digs of the Deal, which visits the airport in Mena (yes, the airport in Mena), and her own Last Word. But Brent Holloway’s homage to Arkansas basketball is essential reading for all Arkansawyers. And you might want to keep a Kleenex handy, just sayin’. *** As always, thanks for reading. We aspire to provide a worthwhile product and sure appreciate those who take the time to give us a shot. Let me know how we can be better. I’m always open at MCarter@ ARMoneyandPolitics.com.

A P R IL 2021

SPORTS

HOMAGE TO AN

ARKANSAS BASKETBALL

TEAM THAT WOKE UP THE ECHOES

A

By Brent Holloway Photos courtesy of Arkansas Athletics

s best as I can determine with the help of the internet, my first memory of Arkansas basketball is from March 3, 1983, when the fifth-ranked Hogs fell to No. 1 Houston, led by future hall of famers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

Or maybe it was March 10, a year later, when Ricky Norton hit a gamewinning jumper to lift No. 8 Arkansas over Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Southwest Conference tournament.

I’m not sure which, and I don’t even know if we won or lost. I was 4 (or 5) years old.

What I do know is that the adults in the room were much more excited about what was happening on television than I’d ever seen them, and that Joe Kleine fouled out, which was memorable for the fits of despondency it prompted.

The picture of that day in my memory is all washed-out, hazy, tinged by nostalgia.

But the feelings of it are easy to conjure: I had almost no idea what was going on ... and it seemed like a whole lot of fun.

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Devo Davis, shown driving around an ORU defender in the Sweet 16, became a fan favorite.

OTHER THINGS, I REMEMBER MORE CLEARLY:

For those of us lucky enough to have seen this program at its heights, the season will find a prominent place in our memories.

• Riding on the vinyl seat of my dad’s baby blue Chevrolet pickup sometime in 1985 — not a car seat in sight — when he told me we were getting a new coach and that we probably wouldn’t be very good that season, but we’d be back soon enough.

• Suppertime tip-offs on KATV during the 198990 run to the Final Four, now old enough to follow the games, know the players, and daydream about Lenzie Howell, Ron Huery and Todd Day when I was supposed to be paying attention in church or school.

• Turning the antenna dial on my grandparents’ farmhouse set to get a clearer picture of freshman Scotty Thurman burying Missouri under a barrage of 3-pointers on a mid-December night in 1992.

• Crowding with roommates and neighbors in the too-small living room of a dingy college apartment as Joe Johnson hefted the weight of a couple of disappointing seasons and carried us all past Kentucky, around Stromile Swift, and all the way to the 2000 SEC Tournament title.

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During the last couple of weeks, watching as the best Arkansas team in 25 years rekindled the past, I realized that just as much as what happened in those golden-age games, I remember where I was and who I was with; that as trivial as it might seem to an outsider, the history of this team is irrevocably intertwined with my own.

I suspect it’s that way for most true believers. It’s why one well-known fight song implores the faithful to “wake up the echoes.” We name it tradition, but really it’s a kind of homing signal that can call us back to long-passed times, to places that life has

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Scenes from the 2020-21 season.

made distant and to people now departed.

And I think it’s why long-time fans are most susceptible to tears of joy when the success of the present whips up memories of the past. It’s not a phenomenon unique to Arkansas, but it’s as strong there as it is anywhere in the world, because such a number of the state’s residents so strongly identify with the flagship university.

So when Jalen Tate said after Monday night’s loss to Baylor in the Elite Eight that this team will be remembered, he couldn’t have known how right he was.

Much has already been said and written about the 2020-21 Hogs, and I doubt there’s anything I could add that those reading this don’t already know.

Because what made this team special was obvious.

The well was deep, diverse and widely distributed, but it wasn’t the most talent-soaked squad Arkansas has ever had. Nevertheless, my memory covers a wide berth of Arkansas’ glory years — the Triplets Era excluded — and I can’t recall one that played with more heart than this one.

I hate to slide into cliche, but there it is. I’ve been racking my brain for a few weeks now for the best way to describe it — grit, tenacity, mental toughness — well-trod platitudes, every one.

All, no less, completely accurate.

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The dogged strength of will in this unselfish group, hewn together in the midst of a pandemic, made it a joy to cheer for.

The dogged strength of will in this unselfish group, hewn together in the midst of a pandemic, made it a joy to cheer for.

Tate’s leadership and tough buckets; Justin Smith cutting to the basket and climbing for offensive rebounds; Moses Moody’s smooth polish; JD Notae’s microwave scoring; Desi Sills’ selflessness and hustle; Jaylin Williams snaring boards and taking charges; little-used Ethan Henderson turning a game with a few minutes of raw defensive energy; Vance Jackson getting hot from the corner; the singular sight of 7-foot-3 Connor Vanover hoisting triples and swatting shots, and, of course, Devo Davis’ continuing ascent to folkhero status.

All brought something unique to the table, all bought into their roles — however big or small — and Coach Eric Musselman found a way to make the pieces fit. It was an easy team to love, a hard one to grieve, and we’ll remember all of it, no doubt.

But time, just as certainly, will smooth the edges in our minds when it comes to wins and losses and who scored which bucket to spark what comeback. The feelings — elation, desperation, pride — will linger longer.

For those of us lucky enough to have seen this program at its heights, the season will find a prominent

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place in our memories. For another generation, it will form the foundation for new ones (I can easily envision a version of the year 2057 in which today’s 5-yearolds are scouring box scores on HogStats.com, trying to figure out which game it was that made their dad scream “DEVO!” loud enough to wake the ghost of Frank Broyles).

Back to the present: those college roommates who I watched the Joe Show with in 2000 are now middleaged dads on a group text, always active on game days; the farmhouse where I fell in love with Scotty Thurman is still in the family, with an aunt and uncle replacing a Mamaw and Pop; the hometown doesn’t get KATV anymore; and Dad saw his last Hogs game nearly six years ago.

Time marches on, no matter what.

But every once in a while something comes along and presses the mental rewind button, and we find ourselves awash in unexpected emotion, heart-deep in the past. It’s not something to be taken for granted, and I’m just one of many who couldn’t be more grateful to this Hogs team for helping us turn back the clock.

Brent Holloway is a sporadically active freelance writer and a native of Smackover, currently living in Georgia.

Reach him at jbrentholloway@gmail.com.

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THE LAST WORD

CONFESSIONS OF A SQUARE PEG

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sychology has proven that humans derive great pleasure from neatly fitting people and things inside boxes, where there is no overlap and all is mentally tidy.

And, sometimes, people fit neatly inside those cozy cardboard boxes — they don’t dare peek over the edge, nor do they wonder what fortunes or conundrums their flimsy cardboard neighbors hold.

But often, a puzzling individual comes along that leaps from one box to another, before abandoning the prospect of being boxed up at all. I’m one of these puzzling individuals, whose foundation seems to be built on a precarious stack of juxtapositions.

I am a square peg.

I’m a devout Catholic from a wellknown Polish Catholic family from Central Arkansas. As such, I am also traditionally conservative. This isn’t apparent at first glance, however, given my nontraditional short hair, a litany of tattoos and piercings and a host of other lifestyle choices, much to my parents’ chagrin.

Additionally, while my conservative values and religious upbringing allow me to march in favor of the traditional rights and moral stances that I hold, many folks are surprised to learn that I lobby in favor of LGBTQ+ rights and that I’m a huge environmentalist.

For many, these ideas all seem opposed to each other; they don’t fit neatly in the same box. For me, though, as a conservative and a Catholic, all of these issues help me not only to care for God’s creation but to ensure a greater quality of life for those around me and in my community.

Nat Eliason wrote about how, when we identify with a word or phrase or tribe, we tend to forget the important stances and beliefs that make a group unique, because we’re all determined to carry the label and become one with the fold. When the importance of our differences becomes murky, we tend to become hostile with one another out of fear or ignorance, if not both.

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BY KATIE ZAKRZEWSKI

Studies show that America is just as polarized today, if not moreso, than when Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier 50 years ago. Whether the tensions are racial, gendered or political, it has become impossible to separate a person’s identities — or their “box,” if you will — from who they are as a person. The boxes we have crammed people into begin to define them for us, and worse, to determine whether or not that person is worth our time.

I’ve seen it firsthand. I’m just conservative enough to be deemed a “bigot” by liberal audiences, but just liberal enough to be labeled a “RINO lunatic” by conservative audiences. All people in all positions have been tricked into thinking that they must be hostile to the unfamiliar, to other tribes. We seek to elevate ourselves above people who don’t think like us.

I’ve watched families explode into arguments and subsequent long periods of silence about whether or not the president’s stances (any president or stance, for that matter) are good, about whether or not a meme is offensive, about which words are good and which are bad. We label the whole of politics as the bad guy but don’t do much in the way of fixing it.

For many years, and to some extent still maybe even now, I’d always wanted to run for office. Since I was 10 years old, I wanted to be like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In my youthful naivete, I wanted to stand up against corruption and riches and defend those things that I held dear. But as our political system becomes increasingly extremist, and as I become increasingly moderate, I tend to think that I’m not cut out for politics.

This quandary reminds me of a conversation between Gene and Finny from the John Knowles coming-of-age novel A Separate Piece. Finny, a friendly, charismatic extrovert, wants to go to war and serve his country. However, his more realistic friend, Gene, explains that Finny would be bad at war, with or without a broken leg.

When talking about what Finny would 13 6

do on the frontlines when confronted by enemy troops, Gene says, “You’d get confused and borrow one of their uniforms, and you’d lend them one of yours... You’d get things so scrambled up, nobody would know who to fight any more. You’d make a mess, a terrible mess, Finny, out of the war.”

I often feel that I would cause even more confusion as an elected official living outside of my boxes than I do as a civilian right now.

Our current political tensions aren’t the problem — they’re a symptom of the whole. We are a nation of people who acknowledge that we are diverse in everything but thought — we refuse to be wrong.

As a result, our relationships tend to suffer.

As I get older, I come to terms with the fact that some things aren’t mine to save.

Sometimes, to figure out where I’m going, I have to remember the most important parts about who I am and where I’ve been. I’m Katie Zakrzewski. I have an affinity for animals and pierogies, and I own every book that my friends express interest in reading. I love dill pickles and pecans, because they remind me of home. I always say “please” and “thank you,” and I hold open the door for the next person in line. I love my family, my city and the folks around me. These things transcend boxes.

Maybe, if we all remember where we’ve been, we’ll get a better idea of where we’re going. Then, we can help other folks reach their destinations too. But most importantly, I hope that we learn to leave the dingy cardboard boxes behind. A Katie Zakrzewski is the associate editor for AY Media Group and its resident square peg. A proud native of North Little Rock’s Baring Cross neighborhood, Katie is a graduate of Mount St. Mary Academy and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

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