Arkansas Money and Politics December 2020

DECEMBER 2020/armoneyandpolitics.com

XPRESS SKIPPER

RORY HERNDON HOT SPRINGS BOATMAKER PROVIDING SUPPLY FOR PANDEMIC DEMAND

By Mark Carter/10

OUTLOOK FOR ARKANSAS STEEL 14

ANDREW MEADORS’ WILD RIDE 68 $5 USD

DECEMBER CONTENTS

4 | Plugged In 5 | Editor’s & publisher’s letters 6 | Viewpoint 7 | Newsmakers 8 | Discovery Economics 20 | The state of manufacturing

Manufacturing remains a strong component to the Arkansas economy. Officials look ahead to 2021 and beyond.

23 | Executive Q&A

Grady Harvell of W&W/AFCO Steel in Little Rock talks COVID-19, the state of steel in Arkansas and more.

14 | STEEL AT IT Arkansas steel mills have adapted to the curve ball of 2020 and continue to push forward the Arkansas economy.

34 | Power Women

AMP reveals its annual list of Arkansas Power Women, as voted by readers. These women are blazing trails in their fields.

76 | Nursing homes holding up

Arkansas nursing homes continue to adapt to the challenges faced by the pandemic and provide much-needed services.

112 | The Last Word

AMP Editor Mark Carter’s not usually one for New Year’s, or black-eyed peas, but he might make an exception this year.

DECEMBER 2020/armoneyandpolitics.com

XPRESS SKIPPER

RORY HERNDON HOT SPRINGS BOATMAKER PROVIDING SUPPLY FOR PANDEMIC DEMAND

By Mark Carter/10

OUTLOOK FOR ARKANSAS STEEL 14

ANDREW MEADORS’ WILD RIDE 68 $5 USD

ON THE COV E R 96 | BLUE SKIES The solar industry in Arkansas continues to grow, and industry insiders foresee blue skies ahead in 2021.

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Business has been good for Rory Herndon and Xpress Boats in Hot Springs. As more people seek the outdoors to counter the impact of the pandemic, Herndon, who posed for photographer Jamison Mosley at his office, intends to keep meeting demand.

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DECEMBER CONTENTS

PUBLISHER

Heather Baker | hbaker@armoneyandpolitics.com EDITOR Mark Carter | mcarter@armoneyandpolitics.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Dustin Jayroe | djayroe@armoneyandpolitics.com ONLINE EDITOR Tyler Hale | thale@armoneyandpolitics.com COPY EDITOR Lisa Fischer | lfischer@armoneyandpolitics.com STAFF WRITERS Katie Zakrzewski | katie@armoneyandpolitics.com Caroline O’Connor | coconnor@armoneyandpolitics.com ART DIRECTOR Jamison Mosley | jmosley@armoneyandpolitics.com

28 | HOME AWAY FROM HOME India-based Welspun has a major presence in Little Rock, led by a large group of Indians who’ve made a home in Arkansas.

PRODUCTION MANAGER Rebecca Robertson | rrobertson@armoneyandpolitics.com DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Kellie McAnulty | kmcanulty@armoneyandpolitics.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lora Puls | lpuls@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 ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jacob Carpenter | ads@armoneyandpolitics.com ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS Ginger Roell | groell@armoneyandpolitics.com ADMINISTRATION Casandra Moore | admin@armoneyandpolitics.com

CEO | Vicki Vowell TO ADVERTISE CALL

501-244-9700 or contact hbaker@armoneyandpolitics.com TO SUBSCRIBE | 501-244-9700 ADVISORY COMMITTEE

68 | RACONTEUR Whether writing new insurance business or spotting for presidents at Daytona, Little Rock’s Andrew Meadors has plenty of stories to tell.

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; Deke Whitbeck, President, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission Foundation; Randy Zook, CEO, Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas

CONTRIBUTORS

Jay Gadberry, Ken Heard, Dwain Hebda, Carl Zylowski

102 | CHANGING TIMES As the retail economy transitions even more to an online experience, how is it impacting small businesses in Arkansas?

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AMP Magazine is published monthly, Volume III, Issue 5 AMP Magazine (ISSN 2162-7754) is published monthly by AY Media Group, 910 W. 2nd St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, AR and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to AMP Magazine, 910 W. 2nd 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.

D EC E M B E R 2020

PLUGGED IN

Victoria Ramirez donned the AMP cover in November, hard hat in hand. The Arkansas Arts Center is undergoing a massive renovation and expansion, and officials expect the finished product to become a major tourist draw for Central Arkansas.

Arkansas state Rep. Fred Love has filed a bill, proposing to create a new Law Enforcement Integrity Unit within the Arkansas State Police.

INSTAGRAM

FEEDBACK WINDS OF CHANGE: WINDSTREAM ENTERS NEW CHAPTER LEANER, WISER “Always appreciate the opportunity to share the transformation taking place at Windstream. Committed to technology leadership and service excellence. #winningteam making it happen for customers every day!”

Tony Thomas BURT HICKS TALKS ENCORE BANK, GROWTH AND COMPANY’S FUTURE “Great interview in Arkansas Money & Politics of Burt Hicks discussing Encore Bank’s growth and their future in the banking industry. We are grateful to be their partner!”

Encore Bank A longtime THV11 anchor, Dawn Scott, is stepping down from her desk.

BUILDING A FIRE IS LIKE BUILDING A BUSINESS “Thank you, AMP!” David Moody ARKANSAS DISTRICT EXPORT COUNCIL OFFERS WEBINAR ON USMCA AND SUPPLY CHAIN “Thanks for posting and your support!”

Jonathan Bricker

TOP ONLINE ARTICLES 1. My Letter to Fayetteville QB Bladen Fike 2. Bearing Witness: Little Rock Native Jessica Dean Ascends to Presidential Stage 3. Winds of Change: Windstream Enters New Chapter Leaner, Wiser 4. UAMS Receives $500K Grant Earmarked for New El Dorado Campus 5. Piecemeal to Panoptic: Reimagined Arkansas Arts Center Expected to Be Worth the Wait 6. Kevin Costner Reportedly Planning Memorabilia Museum in Hot Springs 7. Dawn Scott Departing THV11 in December 2020 8. Three Arkansas Entrepreneurs Score Big Paydays in 2020 GEW Pitch Event 9. Burt Hicks Talks Encore Bank, Growth and Company Future 10. New UA Endowed Scholarship to Benefit Jefferson, Pulaski County Students

The Delta Population Health Institute (DPHI), an arm of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at A-State, has named a new director of operations.

MHP/Team SI president and CEO Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl has been named as one of the top figures in the communications field for 2020.

ARKANSAS’ LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2020 | AYMAG.COM

View our sister publication, AY About You magazine, at aymag.com. Email hbaker@aymag.com for more information.

Beth Hunt | Holiday Food Bucket List | Mental Health $5.00 U.S.

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

By Mark Carter

ONE FINAL ACT BEFORE THE CURTAIN FALLS

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s it was for everyone, 2020 was a unique year for AY Media Group. We worked remotely for three months and otherwise traversed the ups and downs as best we could. And we grew.

Here at AMP, we’re grateful to the readers who helped enable us to keep growing, even in a year like this. We think there’s a place for shining a positive spotlight on the best Arkansas has to offer in business and politics in a monthly print format. And our plan is to keep doing so in 2021 while extending our reach further across the state. We hope you like this continued focus, the new look introduced in March and of course, our plans to grow even more.

AMP evolved in 2020, thanks to you, and our covers over the past year reflect our mission: Oaklawn’s Louis Cella; Arkansas Business Hall of Famer Olivia Farrell; Graham Cobb of the Bentonville Chamber, Andrea Albright of Walmart and their bikes; Dr. Joe Thompson of ACHI; Producers Rice Chairman Jay Coker; Little Rock native Jessica Dean of CNN; Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.; ABCBS chief Curtis Barnett; Junior Achievement

honoree and AG Leslie Rutledge; financier-extraordinaire Bill Sowell; Victoria Ramirez, mid-construction, at the Arkansas Arts Center; and Rory Herndon of Xpress Boats.

This heady list represents a pretty good variety of industry in the state — finance, media, politics, health care, insurance, nonprofits, agriculture, retail, tourism and manufacturing. Not to mention the arts and outdoor recreation.

We’re grateful to all the businesses and civic leaders who’ve worked with us this year, but there’s one final act to play out before the curtain falls on 2020. Inside this month’s issue, we focus on manufacturing and nursing homes and talk to Rory down in Hot Springs, the roguish Andrew

Meadors of Sunstar Insurance, Grady Harvell of W&W/AFCO Steel and Josh Davenport of Seal Solar, among others.

Plus, we’ll visit Welspun at the Port of Little Rock, the steel mills of Mississippi County and more. Enjoy the ride. (And The Steel Mills of Mississippi County — Arkansas’ gritty, Southern answer to The Bridges of Madison County, amiright?)

——— For many, Christmas couldn’t come early enough this year. Not great news for Thanksgiving, we suppose, now poised to become further lost in the holiday shuffle.

But Christmastime proper is upon us, and therefore our Word of the Month is devoted to it: Magi.

Let’s take a look at the origins of this term so closely associated with Christmas.

For many of us, the magi = the wise men. It’s an automatic association. Anyone growing up in the Christian church — or remotely cognizant of Western culture — is familiar with the story of Christ’s birth as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, and of the role of the wise men. Magi is plural for the Latin “magus” and entered the English lexicon around the 13th See LETTER, page 110

By Heather Baker

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RECOGNIZING POWER WOMEN IN DECEMBER

he December issue always is one of my favorites. First of all, December means Christmas finally is here, and anyone who knows me knows that I love Christmas.

Plus, December means we recognize our Power Women, as nominated by Arkansas Money & Politics readers. While we’ve made a lot of progress, there remains work to be done in ensuring a level playing field for women who are trying to advance in fields traditionally dominated by men. And the Power Women recognized inside represent some of the best our state has to offer.

They represent business acumen and display the grit and determination to succeed that have made our country great.

This year’s honorees are CEOs, entrepreneurs,

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state representatives, health care providers and more, and they represent a wide variety of industry in Arkansas.

Also each December, we look in on the nursing home industry in Arkansas. It’s one that always sits close to my heart because of the important, often thankless, job it provides. Nursing homes provide services that many don’t feel comfortable talking about, and I get it. But the job done by these providers is essential. Inside, we list all of the state’s nursing homes and look in on how the industry fared in an unusual 2020.

Thank you for reading. From all of us here at AMP, have a great Christmas and holiday season.

Shoot me any comments or story ideas at HBaker@ ARMoneyandPolitics.com.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

VIEWPOINT

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WHAT A RIDE!

couple of weeks ago, my team and I hosted a webinar on the subject “Investment Opportunities Born From Disruption.” It was a fascinating presentation provided by an investment management company that has identified 11 big ideas ranging from deep learning and drones to 3D printing and the next generation of DNA sequencing.

The presentation was compelling as we listened to the methodology, prognosis, ideas of disruptors and the resulting opportunities that lie ahead. Compelling indeed, as 2020 will go down as undoubtedly the most disruptive year of my lifetime.

I wonder, is disruption ahead? I try to take away several critical thoughts from such a presentation and look for ways to apply them, or perhaps even more important, I look for validation of how we currently manage wealth. Perfect timing as we are closing the chapter on 2020 and looking ahead to 2021. Here are my takeaways.

DO WHAT YOU DO BEST. The investment management firm above has been successful by being consistent, investing in opportunities only if they see considerable disruption born from innovation. Having a disciplined, consistent approach to investment decisions allows you to concentrate on what you know, not what you feel. Having strong feelings about investment decisions we make is not necessarily bad, but it can become harmful if we allow our emotions to override what we know.

IT IS ESSENTIAL TO PLAY DEFENSE IN TIMES OF DISRUPTION. Along with being amazed at these “disruptors” emerging, I can’t help but think of all those disrupted businesses left in

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BY JAY GADBERRY

the wake. Every time we read about an innovative company “disrupting” a market, there are an awful lot of people, employees, business owners and investors that are also “disrupted,” even if only for a while. Over the years, Gadberry Financial Group has managed the “disruption” of volatile investment markets by consistently practicing discipline in our investment decisions and practicing discipline in our performance expectations and those of our clients. We will indeed be approaching the new year, fraught with change, anticipation and even concern, with this same discipline as we too look for opportunities.

disruptions that very few of us escaped.

COVID-19 had us sheltering in place for months while our friends and loved ones had businesses disrupted to the point of failure. This disruption is almost impossible to predict and plan for, but this pandemic has certainly taught us that we must be prepared and ever vigilant. I am proud of the way the Gadberry Financial Group served the needs of our clients and community. We are looking forward to serving many more friends in 2021, helping them invest in opportunities while also making plans to protect their businesses and families in anticipation of disruption.

THERE ARE A LOT OF BRIGHT PEOPLE OUT THERE. Disruption is born from innovation, and innovation is born by someone with an idea or concept, undaunted in his/her pursuit of making it a reality. Our approach is to find these smart people and invest alongside them. I am privileged to be an independent branch owner of National Securities Corp., a subsidiary of National Holdings Corp., a publicly traded investment banking firm.

Our wealth management services are provided through National Asset Management Inc., and combined, National Securities and affiliates have more than 900 affiliated persons and almost $12 billion in client assets under management (AUM) as of Sept.

30, 2020. What an asset it is to come to work every day with access to some of our businesses’ brightest minds.

IF YOU HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED DISRUPTION, JUST HOLD ON (PART 2).

I mentioned the privilege of being affiliated with a national investment firm. As such, we have access to some of the very best analysts, market strategists and investment bankers on Wall Street. All bright minds. We are looking forward to sharing their thoughts with our clients and friends in 2021.

IF YOU HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED DISRUPTION, JUST HOLD ON. The truth is, I don’t know anyone who did not find themselves “disrupted” in 2020. Most of the “disruption” discussed thus far came in the form of innovation brought to a marketplace, imparting “disruption” along the way. There are other

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Jay Gadberry, CIMA, is president and CEO of Gadberry Financial Group in Little Rock. Securities offered through National Securities Corporation (NSC), Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services provided through National Asset Management, Inc. (NAM), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor.

Fixed Insurance products offered through National Insurance Corporation (NIC).

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DIGEST

NEWSMAKERS

By AMP Staff

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BIG RIVER STEEL LAUNCHES SECOND PHASE OF EXPANSION

ig River Steel (BRS) has launched the second phase of its scrap metal recycling and flat-rolled steel production facility.

This expansion, which is estimated to cost $716 million, is expected to double Big River Steel’s annual production capacity to 3.3 million tons.

Big River Steel’s current capacity is roughly 1.65 million tons annually.

As part of the second phase, the Mississippi County steel mill has brought a second electric arc furnace, ladle metallurgical station, thinslab continuous caster, tunnel furnace and hot mill down-coiler online.

Originally slated to be brought online on Jan. 27, 2021, the company is well ahead of schedule.

With the equipment online, Big River Steel executives are planning an “aggressive ramp-up” in production over the course of the next five months. Currently, the mill averages 3,000 tons of steel per employee, and the goal is to reach approximately 5,000 tons of steel per employee — an increase of 66 percent.

In a statement, Big River Steel CEO Dave Stickler said, “When describing the success of our Phase Two construction efforts, I am extremely proud to be able to use my five favorite words: ‘ahead of schedule’ and ‘under budget.’ This achievement is a testament to the hard work and can-do attitude of our employees.”

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ACQUISITION EXPANDS J.B. HUNT’S FINAL MILE SERVICES DIVISION

.B. Hunt Transport Inc. has acquired a Massachusetts-based commercial fitness logistics company to bolster its Final Mile Services division.

The Lowell firm on Nov. 30 acquired the assets of Mass Movement Inc., using cash on hand. However, the financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed.

In a statement, J.B. Hunt President and CEO John Roberts said Mass Movement represented an opportunity for the company to expand its expertise in the final mile delivery of big and bulky products.

“The acquisition complements our current service and will enhance our ability to meet the growing demand of customers in the commercial health and fitness industry,” he said.

Founded in 1996 by Dom Simonetti and Jim Sullivan, Mass Movement specializes in “freight, warehousing, assembly, testing and installation” for the commercial fitness industry, according to its website. Some of Mass Movement’s clients reportedly include the White House, the Pentagon, Nike and Apple.

Both Simonetti and Sullivan will join J.B. Hunt, according the statement, and serve in leadership roles to expand its fitness equipment delivery capabilities.

Mass Movement reported revenue of $29 million for 2019. In 2019, J.B. Hunt earned $9.165 billion in revenue while netting $516.32 in income for the year.

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LEXICON ACQUIRES LOUISIANA FABRICATOR

exicon Fabricators and Constructors of Little Rock has acquired Steel Fabricators of Monroe, La. The purchase, for an undisclosed amount, adds approximately 130 employees to the Lexicon payroll.

These employees will join Lexicon’s Prospect Steel and Custom Metals division, both American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)-certified.

Lexicon President and CEO Patrick Schueck said in a press release that the move represented an investment in people.

“For more than 50 years, we’ve defined excellence by investing in our most valuable assets — our people,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming Steel Fabricators of Monroe to the Lexicon family, where we will lead the industry with the highest-quality services and the latest technologies.”

Steel Fabricators, established in 1973, is an AISCcertified fabricator that operates on a 20-acre site in Monroe. Its facility has approximately 160,000-square feet of fabrication space, along with warehouse, training and maintenance facilities.

John Hunter, co-founder and president of Steel Fabricators, said the deal offers his employees opportunities for continued growth.

“With its similar corporate culture and unwavering commitment to investing in people, quality and safety, we are confident Lexicon is the best fit for our company and team,” he said.

In addition to Steel Fabricators of Monroe, Lexicon also operates Lexicon Industrial Constructors, Prospect Steel and Custom Metals, Heritage Links and Lexicon Energy Services.

D EC E M B E R 2020

DISCOVERY ECONOMICS

SOCIAL MEDIA WARRIOR:

Q&A WITH DR. NITIN AGARWAL, UA LITTLE ROCK

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he rise of social media has transformed our society. We’re more connected than ever, but we’re also far more vulnerable to privacy breaches, cybercrime and misinformation. Arkansas Research Alliance Academy member Dr. Nitin Agarwal researches cyber information campaigns, social computing, deviant behavior modeling, group dynamics, social-cyber forensics, data mining and privacy.

AMP: Briefly describe your research.

Dr. Agarwal: My research aims to push the boundaries of our understanding of digital and cyber social behaviors that emerge and constantly evolve in the modern information and communication platforms. In this pursuit, we attempt to study a wide array of behaviors that can be broadly categorized into the good, the bad and the ugly.

AMP: What are the challenges presented by social media?

Dr. Agarwal: Social media is largely considered a positive vehicle of change.

It has the power to lead sociopolitical transformation of authoritarian regimes to democratic systems or raise awareness and solidarity, whether it is the #metoo movement or gender-biased laws and practices in Saudi Arabia. Social media has been leveraged for public good, such as urban planning, developing and evaluating public policies, health policies, all of which feed economic development and keep the economy free to move.

However, in recent years, we also have seen a rise of the so-called deviant mobs, weaponization of information, radical and extremist groups, propaganda dissemination, misinformation, fake news DEC E M BER 2 02 0

and the like. Our research sheds light on these variegated behaviors that manifest in digital and cyber spaces. This is a highly interdisciplinary research endeavor that lies at the intersection of social computing, behavior-cultural modeling, collective action, social cyber forensics, artificial intelligence, data mining, machine learning, smart health and privacy.

AMP: Tell us about COSMOS, the lab you founded at UA Little Rock in 2014.

Dr. Agarwal: Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies — or COSMOS — is developing big data analytical tools to understand digital behaviors and forecast trends to achieve social good. Our mission is to conduct and communicate competitive research, inspire and train the next generation of researchers/innovators/entrepreneurs and thought leaders that contribute toward social good. Many research studies are currently ongoing at COSMOS that examine and advance our understanding of our social behaviors as they manifest in cyber and digital spaces. In 2020, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education recognized COSMOS as a research center that empowers us to further our mission and contribute to the technolog8

ical advancement of Arkansas.

AMP: How is COSMOS elevating the state’s intellectual profile?

We have more than 30 students (undergraduate and graduate — MS and Ph.D.) and post-docs in COSMOS, who are working on these cutting-edge research projects and gaining invaluable experience in working on real-world problems and acquiring next-generation workforce skills. The students are highly sought after as they receive multiple internship offers during their study that provide them opportunities to prepare for a real-world professional work environment. Upon graduation, they receive multiple job offers from academia and industry such as Walmart, Acxiom, Windstream, HP, LinkedIn, Amazon, to name a few. Readers of AMP should know that we’d love to keep them here in Arkansas!

AMP: You’ve received grants from a number of government agencies, including the Department of Defense.

Why are agencies like the DoD interested in your research?

Dr. Agarwal: We have several projects with a combined funding of more than $15 million from an array of U.S. fedARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

eral agencies including Army, Navy, Air Force, DARPA, Department of State, National Science Foundation and a longterm partnership between UA Little Rock and the Department of Homeland Security. These projects aim to develop capabilities that military operations need in order to manage and adapt to the information ecology and better understand the emerging sociotechnical behaviors when confronted with civil conflicts, crisis situations or executing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

Capabilities developed in these projects (Blogtracker, YouTubeTracker, COVID-19 misinformation tracker) assist the needs of the U.S. military, NATO Strategic Communications, European defense agencies, the Australian Defense Science and Technology agency, the Singapore government and the Arkansas Attorney General’s office, among others. These tools are also part of the National Tech Innovation Hub launched by the U.S. Department of State’s Global Engagement Center. We conduct training programs for DoD and allies to ensure mission readiness of our defense forces.

We aim to fill a critical research gap to understand the social dynamics underlying the deviant sociotechnical behaviors (e.g., stoking civil unrest, affecting civil conflict, disseminating propaganda, coordinating cyberattacks, coordinating cyber campaigns) to better support situation awareness, risk assessment, mission assessment, policy design (kinetic or nonkinetic) and for an overall mission effectiveness.

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

Dr. Agarwal: Digital communication is an integral part of our daily lives. For the first time, digital ad spending rose to 50 percent of all advertising in 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is indicative of the tremendous potential of digital communication platforms. Therefore, understanding digital behaviors is even more important, which is exactly what our ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

Dr. Nitin Agarwal with ARA President/CEO Jerry Adams.

research aims to accomplish. The business community and public officials both benefit from our research in trend forecasting and proactive policymaking. This includes knowing which digital communication platforms are popular among a certain demographic or what is trending on these platforms on a real-time basis, or to identify fake or disparaging reviews about products or scams and misinformation.

Furthermore, by exposing our students to these cutting-edge research problems, we are training the next generation workforce that is capable of developing innovative solutions fueled by big data. Our research services are available and can be tailored for Arkansas-based companies and projects. This type of industry engagement helps convert research into jobs for Arkansas.

AMP: How did COSMOS respond to challenges presented by the pandemic?

Dr. Agarwal: As the COVID-19 pandemic hit Arkansas, there was a surge in COVID-related misinformation and scams.

We are conducting internationally recognized research on combating misinformation, so it was only natural to apply that work to the Natural State. Working with the Arkansas Office of the Attorney General, we developed a website (cosmos.ualr.edu/covid-19) that allowed us to track such conspiracy theories, scams and false or misleading information. We worked with the AG’s office to investigate and examine scams using our in-house 9

developed, cyber-forensics technologies.

We shared the findings from our analysis with the AG’s office on a daily basis and also made these reports available for the public through our website.

AMP: What could COSMOS do with, say, astronomical levels of funding, and how could that benefit Arkansas?

Dr. Agarwal: Cyberspace is the new battleground where the war of ideologies is fought with tweets, bots and trolls as opposed to bullets, bombs and missiles. Combating misinformation and malicious behaviors requires an all-inclusive approach where technological innovations grounded in interdisciplinary ideas are coupled with educational programs in critical thinking and media literacy. Educators, researchers, policymakers, business community, practitioners, journalists, lawmakers and regulatory bodies across the state and the nation need to be involved in this pursuit. Not just astronomical but generational funding is needed to support this effort that would result in establishing a center of excellence with the mission of strengthening our social cybersecurity apparatus in Arkansas as the nation’s first.

Dr. Nitin Agarwal is a member of the Arkansas Research Alliance Academy of Scholars and Fellows, a community of strategic research leaders who strive to maximize the value of discovery and progress in the state.

Learn more at ARAlliance.org. Dr. Agarwal can be reached via email at nxagarwal@ualr. edu or on Twitter@agarwalnitin.

D EC E M B E R 2020

Despite a global pandemic, business has been good for boat manufacturers such as Xpress Boats and Veranda.

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LINING DURING COVID, RORY HERNDON AND XPRESS BOATS RIDE WAVE OF OUTDOOR RECREATION

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he pandemic drove us outdoors, where social distance is easily accommodated and the crazy twists and turns of 2020 more easily forgotten.

And while restaurants and shops that typically entail indoor interactions at close quarters have been significantly impacted, the great outdoors is welcoming back stir-crazy visitors looking to escape the confines of the house.

Sales of fishing licenses are up about 40 percent in Arkansas this year, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and an estimated half a million hunters took to the deer woods for the opening weekend of modern gun season in November. That represents roughly one of every six Arkansans. (Sales of hunting licenses and duck stamps are up as well.)

Arkansas remains one of the country’s more outdoorsy states, but it ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

By Mark Carter wasn’t immune to nationwide preCOVID-19 trends that saw a smaller percentage of the population connecting to the outdoors in traditional ways.

For many — those reconnecting and those who never disconnected — getting back out on the water was never so inviting than it was in 2020. ****** Boat manufacturers are among those businesses uniquely positioned to benefit from the past year’s outdoor recreation spike, and Arkansas is home to several major industry players. Rory Herndon, president of Hot Springs’ Xpress Boats and its sister company, Veranda Luxury Pontoons, is one of them.

Herndon is shepherding the family business, founded in 1966 by his grandfather, Kermit Bryant, to new levels of success. Last year, Xpress opened an almost 400,000-square-foot plant for the Veranda line in the revamped, old General Cable building nearby in Hot 11

Herndon says people getting back outside has represented a silver lining to 2020 for his industry.

D EC E M B E R 2020

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Our employees don’t just work on building our boats, they also enjoy our boats on the weekends.

Spring County.

Business is good, and Herndon hasn’t had to implement any layoffs. Between Xpress and Veranda, his company employs roughly 350 local workers. But when the pandemic broke nationwide last spring, Herndon, like every other business owner, was preparing for the worst. He told Arkansas Money & Politics the company began to roll back hours the week after the pandemic hit. But then, orders kept pouring in. Despite a few COVID-related scares on the factory floor, it plowed ahead.

“We just kept working and working.

The orders came in faster than we could build them,” Herndon said. “It was a silver lining from the perspective of sales, DEC E M BER 2 02 0

but it’s still been tough for us internally.

We’re one big family here, and there are employees who’ve worked for us for 20plus years. Our hearts went out to them as everyone tried to be safe at home, at work and in their private lives.

“There’s so many unknowns of what’s coming from one day to the next. But it’s very exciting to see how people are getting back to their roots and outdoors.

That’s the silver lining.” ****** That Herndon knew in his early childhood he’d one day take over the family business and that his two young sons with wife Marcy — Ashton and Weston, ages 11 and 9 — are waiting to do the same…

Well, some folks might call that living the dream.

H e r n d o n ’s father, Rodney, put him to work at the plant at an early age.

And there was nowhere else the tall, skinny kid would rather have been.

Whether it was chasing snakes out of buildings or leading clean-up efforts around the grounds with fellow Lakeside students, Herndon always was at home when he was working at the family business. He and his young crew spent three years helping renovate and clean the current 270,000-square-foot facility in which the company currently manufactures its lines of all-aluminum Xpress boats.

“We did it with our own team,” Herndon said. “We didn’t hire contractors; we did it with our own team of employees.

There’s sweat equity in this facility.”

It might seem unrealistic to suggest that a little love goes into every bolt, every weld, every piece of metal at a larger-scale manufacturing plant. How warm and 12

fuzzy can a factory floor be, really?

But for Herndon, a big component to what makes his team’s products so successful is the pride infused into every boat. These aren’t cold, sterile widgets being mass produced, he says; Xpress and Veranda products represent a collective labor of love.

“That is our goal, to translate what we love and do back into the products where our customers can enjoy them as well,” he said. “Our employees don’t just work on building our boats, they also enjoy our boats on the weekends. And so that craftsmanship — they’re not just craftsmen and welders and people who assemble our boats and paint them — they understand what the boats can be used for. And they put that level of work back into the boat, which translates to better quality for our end.”

And employees are encouraged to share their ideas and embed themselves into the planning process. “Part of our company culture is listening to that entrepreneurial spirit that’s on the floor throughout the entire range of production,” Herndon said.

When considering options for longterm growth, Herndon admits that he’s looked at other parts of the state and country. Ultimately, though, he decided there were more “snakes” to chase right here at home.

“We wanted to stay right here in Hot Springs, Arkansas,” he said. “We’re very, very blessed as a company. We wouldn’t be where we are without all of our great Arkansas employees. We rarely hire from outside the state. There’s just so many good people and resources around us.

Very blessed to be where we’re at for the future.” ****** Herndon is determined to ensure that sweat equity remains part of the Xpress DNA. After all, the company was founded by his grandfather on not much more than that.

Bryant grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in Natchez. An avid fisherman, he spent much of his time on the water. After returning home from ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Veranda Luxury Pontoons was spun off from Xpress Boats in 2006.

service in World War II to raise a family, Bryant opened his own sporting goods store. Eventually, he determined there was a better way to build a boat, one more durable that would better serve not only his needs but those of his neighbors and customers.

And so, he built an all-welded aluminum boat. After moving to Arkansas, he founded what is now Xpress in the old Friendship community schoolhouse not far from Hot Springs. Xpress has remained an industry pioneer ever since.

In the late 1980s, it created a first-of-itskind padded hull — the Hyper-Lift Hull — that increased durability and perhaps most importantly, style. Aluminum boats now could offer the performance and style of fiberglass with the same durability and added strength of aluminum.

Xpress also introduced industry-first longitudinal ribs and expandable foam, which actually exceeded U.S. Coast Guard standards. These days, Xpress is home to the top selling 20-foot bay boat on the market, glass or aluminum, according to company spokesman Clay Connor. And the company broke a (fiber) glass ceiling — four current Bassmasters Elite Anglers, competing at the highest tournament level, are in aluminum boats from Xpress.

Xpress now manufactures a full catalog of aluminum boats — bass, bay, skiff, catfish, crappie, hunting, utility and jon.

Its longest boat, the X23 bay boat series, ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

comes in at 23 feet, and its product line ranges from the affordable to high end.

Further family innovation led to the spin-off of Veranda in 2006. Surrounded by lakes, the Herndons next turned their attention to an Arkansas staple — the pontoon boat. Veranda manufactures allwelded, aluminum pontoons with patented interlocking deck systems designed to last longer and increase performance.

The newly launched V One series offers higher horsepower (425hp rating) and more extras. Think 12-inch subwoofers, four 8-inch interior speakers, two 10-inch tower speakers, premium Bluetooth audio — all standard — and the introduction of a fiberglass exterior to the Herndon product line.

And they look good, too. Herndon calls the marriage of performance and style the industry’s secret ingredient. “If we can give them something that’s durable and has the looks and the speed, I think that’s how you’re most competitive in the marketplace.”

Innovation is the lens through which the company views the industry, he notes. When dealers in the 2000s kept reporting the need for a better familystyle pontoon boat that could perform, Herndon said, “We decided to get into the pontoon boat industry. We started evaluating and getting creative with our team on how to make it better. And then we designed the first patented, all-aluminum pontoon boat.”

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Though fiberglass was introduced through the V One, the Herndons hung their hat on aluminum from the start.

Aluminum doesn’t deteriorate in water over time like wood, plus it’s lightweight, durable and stronger, Herndon says.

The interlocking aluminum floor planks are icing on the cake. The marketing pitch? “Not your daddy’s party barge.” ****** 2020 hasn’t been your daddy’s typical year, either. But Arkansas boat makers have persevered, meeting market demand while tiptoeing through the minefield of COVID-19. Production never really slowed at Xpress.

Boat sales nationally are up across the board, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Herndon will keep meeting demand as long as it’s there, and he’s ready to pivot when and if necessary. Any plans to expand beyond boats?

“Not off the board,” he said.

For now, the team plans to motor on, open water ahead. Herndon can’t imagine doing anything else.

“Literally, from as early as I have memories, I’ve been sitting on the bow of the boat with my dad and grandfather…

“I am a steward of these brands; they are not mine. I‘ve been afforded the opportunity to make my mark and contribute, yet pass this along to my children as my grandfather and father did for me.” A D EC E M B E R 2020

MANUFACTURING

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FORGING

AHEAD

Led by Mississippi County growth, Arkansas steel remains strong

A

ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

By Carl Kozlowski

merica’s steel industry has long been associated with the mills that dominate Pennsylvania and the Rust Belt. Yet Mississippi County also has a surprisingly robust presence in its manufacturing, employing nearly 5,500 Arkansans — a 39 percent increase since 2009.

It might be easy to assume that 2020’s pandemic-related economic downturn has dealt a devastating blow to Arkansas steel, but industry officials and corporate representatives paint a picture of impressive resilience.

According to Clif Chitwood, president of the Great River Economic Development Foundation in Blytheville, steel producers already were adjusting to tough times before the pandemic hit.

“The pandemic really hasn’t had that strong an effect, because our largest setback started before COVID when Russia and Saudi Arabia got into a price war over oil,” Chitwood said. “It drove the price down to such levels that most American drilling stopped, and when the drilling stopped, they don’t need oil and gas pipes. That put as many as 1,500 people out of work, but it had nothing to do with COVID. “We’ve been fortunate that other expansions have employed thousands of construction workers and provided opportunities to many people laid off because of the oil and 15 D ECgas E M B E R 2020 surplus. Otherwise, we’ve been really fortunate, as the mills haven’t stopped production.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

They’re not running at 100 percent, but they’re using the time to reinvest in and expand their mills, and that’s very fortunate for our county.”

There are several key reasons that Mississippi County has become a mecca for the steel industry, with the most essential being its location along the Mississippi River. That massive body of water provides the cheapest possible per-ton transportation of mass materials, enabling the basic raw material of scrap steel to be shipped with maximum efficiency.

The boom began in 1985, when NucorYamato Steel Co. constructed the first mill in Blytheville because of its proximity to the river. Company officials were pleased to find that the area provided a highly adaptable workforce. After all, the county had been highly successful with logging, cotton farming, textile mills and assembly plants throughout the century.

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“Farming was going through one of its periodic downturns when Nucor came along, and many people were perfectly adaptable to working in steel mills because they had used large machinery with loud noises that didn’t scare them,” Chitwood said. “The steel industry paid very well, and Nucor came back within two or three years to build again.”

Chitwood noted that other factors playing into Mississippi County’s favorability with the steel industry include the fact that Interstate 55 enables finished goods to be transported by trucks, and that rail transportation is available through the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, its main line running through the area. Ample energy also is key, and is supplied by a 500 KV electricity line that runs through the county and connects several of the major power companies.

“At the end of the day, the ability to buy 16

electricity at the correct price is what allows induction steel mills to function,” Chitwood noted.

Despite Chitwood’s positive recounting of the industry’s resilience amid the downturn, Katherine Miller — Nucor’s director of public affairs and corporate communications — recalled that the entire steel industry nationwide saw a “significant” drop in demand during the second quarter as many states instituted stay-at-home orders. However, she also noted that the U.S. economy roared back stronger than expected since then and that there has been a solid rebound in demand for Nucor’s specialty products of bars, beams and sheet metal.

Production was also ramped up throughout the pandemic at the new stateof-the-art cold mill at Nucor Steel Arkansas in Hickman. That facility has added 24 new customers since its commissioning, ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Osceola’s Big River Steel, which opened in 2014, is the only steel producer in the world that is LEED-certified and boasts clients such as BMW and General Motors.

growing production and shipments to the point that third-quarter, cold-rolled shipments surpassed the pre-COVID-19 volumes of the first quarter.

Another upside for Nucor has been its first trial runs of its third-generation advanced high strength steels, which are vital to the auto industry because they help reduce the weight of cars. As a result, the company continues to advance construction of its Gen 3 flexible galvanizing line, with production scheduled to start in the second half of 2021.

“We have been operating throughout the pandemic, as our facilities in the states where we operate were designated as essential businesses,” Miller said. “We made several operational changes to promote physical distancing and have utilized appropriate PPE. Even with the challenges posed by the pandemic, our team continues to successfully focus on safety. We are on pace to have a better year for safety ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

than we had in 2019, which was the safest year in Nucor’s history.

“We expect the economic recovery to continue, but the pace will depend on getting the pandemic behind us with effective vaccines. We are very encouraged by the recent news about the effectiveness of a couple of vaccines, and we are confident that we will emerge a much stronger company in 2021.”

Nucor’s primary Mississippi County competitor is Big River Steel, which opened its own massive mill in 2014.

Thanks to its focus on environmental sustainability, the company has become the only steel producer in the world that is Leadership Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) certified, and that has helped attract greater business from major automakers including BMW and General Motors.

Big River CEO David Stickler speaks highly of Mississippi County’s location be 17

Clif Chitwood

Katherine Miller D EC E M B E R 2020

An aerial view of Big River Steel’s operations in Mississippi County.

Mike Preston

“My hope for the Arkansas steel industry in 2021 is the same as it is every year — continued resilience and growth.”

David Stickler

Chris Caldwell DEC E M BER 2 02 0

tween Memphis, St. Louis and Little Rock, noting that all three cities provide plenty of scrap metal, which is its primary raw material. He notes that Big River doesn’t use iron ore and coal in its steelmaking process, instead converting the scrap metal of old refrigerators, cars and bridges into new cars, appliances and refrigerators. Thus, the old image of steel mills as being pollution-belching problem spots has been replaced by one of a vital recycling industry.

“In the months of March, April and May, when the COVID pandemic first reared its ugly head, most steel companies in the world including most in the United States either shut down or reduced their capacity to less than 50 percent,” Stickler said. “But at Big River, we didn’t shut down, we kept running fully 100 percent and paid weekly production bonuses of 148 percent, which was even more than the 134 percent of base wages that we paid in 2019.

“Although the pandemic made us clearly more aggressive and nimble in decision-making and pursuing customers, we had customers more than willing to stick with us and continue buying their steel throughout the entire year,” he added. “The good news is, we were down only slightly because the automotive companies worked overtime to get their inventories back up.”

As secretary of the Arkansas Depart18

ment of Commerce and executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), Mike Preston has seen the year’s ups and downs from a particularly strong vantage point. He noted that the jobs in the Arkansas steel industry have increased by 0.3 percent this year, as the industry followed health safety protocols of the Arkansas Economic Recovery Task Force rather than surrendering to a shelter-in-place mentality.

“In 2019, we saw steel manufacturers invest in communities statewide. Nucor Steel held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its $230 million specialty cold-mill complex at its Hickman facility, and SFI Arkansas announced an expansion of its Conway facility,” he said. “Zekelman Industries announced plans to build the world’s largest continuous ERW tube mill in Blytheville.

“Additionally, in November 2020, Big River Steel announced the completion of its $716 million Arkansas Flex Mill expansion — completed ahead of schedule, despite the public health crisis. My hope for 2021 is that we would continue to see these companies and our other steel manufacturers thrive and that we would continue to attract business to the state.”

Those positive sentiments are echoed

by Chris Caldwell, the federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA). This federal-state partnership was created by Congress in 2000 to proARMON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

mote and encourage the economic development of the lower Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt by investing in projects supporting transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, workforce training and business development.

“Both in manufacturing and commodities, I expect first quarter reports to be excellent,” Caldwell said. “The surge in manufacturing efforts and the tremendous growth particularly in the automotive sector has resulted in a huge demand for steel. In fact, the demand is so great that more workers are needed to meet these requests. This is imperative to the work the Delta Regional Authority is doing to support and invest in industry-driven workforce training programs and initiatives throughout the Delta region.”

One example of DRA investments in Mississippi County is Arkansas Northeastern College’s Arkansas Delta Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities (ADWORC) initiative. U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas) and Caldwell visited the college in July to discuss the state of

industry-driven workforce development in the Arkansas Delta with ANC administration, faculty, students and industry partners.

The initiative increases labor capacity to advance economic development and favorably impact poverty reduction by reskilling workers dislocated by labor market turbulence. As a result, more than 1,300 residents in the Arkansas Delta region will be trained as skilled laborers for careers in high-demand markets such as welding.

“As the economy improves and jobs move into the Arkansas Delta, the demand for highly skilled labor continues to grow,” Caldwell said. “The ADWORC initiative helps meet this demand by reskilling workers to fit these new industry-driven jobs, and I am proud to support this excellent program designed to get over 1,300 Delta residents back to work.”

Ultimately, the future looks promising for the steel industry to continue weathering storms in 2021, a forecast shared by both Preston and Chitwood.

“My hope for the Arkansas steel industry in 2021 is the same as it is every year

— continued resilience and growth,” Preston said. “Within the past decade, the steel industry has demonstrated consistent growth throughout the state. In Mississippi County alone, the industry has grown by more than 35 percent since 2015, making it the second-largest steel producing county in the nation.”

Chitwood stresses the importance of U.S. manufacturing, especially during a pandemic.

“Personally, I think the U.S. should be doing more industrial production, and I don’t think we took into account all of the costs closing all the factories just to buy from China.

“Yes, we can buy more T-shirts for $10 than when they were produced in America, but I don’t think we addressed the social costs of taking millions of people out of productive work and throwing them either into early retirement, Social Security disability or the welfare system, which has happened millions of times in the United States. I hope our leaders take that into account as we go forward with trade deals.” A

The old image of steel mills as being pollution-belching problem spots has been replaced by one of a vital recycling industry.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

ARKANSAS EXPORTERS BENEFITING FROM DIVERSITY

By Ken Heard

hanges in trade tariffs, COVID-19 regulations and the country’s top leadership have Arkansas international export officials keeping a close eye on 2021.

The state has always had a diverse export base, ranging from aerospace and defense technology, agriculture, mechanics, steel and wind energy products. Arkansas now exports $6.2 billion annually with Canada, Mexico and France as the top three customers this year, said Dan Hendrix, CEO of the World Trade Center of Arkansas, an organization based in Rogers that oversees moving products to 167 countries.

As of December 2019, Hendrix said, international trade in the state supports DEC E M BER 2 02 0

We’re very fortunate to have the diverse economy in the manufacturing side and agriculture.

When one sector is down, others step up.”

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nearly 350,000 jobs.

Because of the coronavirus and changes in transporting goods, the state’s exporters invariably will see somewhat less export revenue in 2020 than last year, said Melvin Torres, the World Trade Center of Arkansas’ director of Western Hemisphere trade. But they are prepared.

“We’re very fortunate to have the diverse economy in the manufacturing side and agriculture,” he said. “When one sector is down, others step up.”

Aircraft, including engines and parts, is the largest Arkansas export.

Lockheed Martin, which located to Camden in 2007, is home to the high mobility artillery-rocket system and the ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Arkansas exports were impacted when the pandemic first hit but have rebounded in 2020.

Patriot Advanced Capability-3 hit-tokill air defense missile. It employs 650 people in its 1.9-million-square-foot facility at the Highland Industrial Park.

In 2018, Saudi Arabia leapfrogged traditional trading partners with Arkansas when it bought $397 million worth of the state’s military commodities.

“Lockheed really moved the needle,” Torres said. “Agriculture used to be the largest export, but now defense and aerospace is our largest industry to export.”

Along with military aircraft, the state’s top exports include civilian aircraft parts, railcars, chemicals, soyARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

beans, wind turbine fans and rice.

Last year, the top 10 export markets were, in order, Canada, Mexico, France, Japan, China, Belgium, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Brazil and South Korea.

This year, the virus changed things, Hendrix said. “People spent the first two to three months hunkered down in their basements when the virus hit.

Exports were affected as a result. We expected that would have a considerable effect due to COVID. We’re not expecting a lot of sudden movement.

People are just trying to survive to stay open.”

The World Trade Center of Arkansas doesn’t only focus on exporting 21

products. It also provides support for local small businesses and works toward opening new markets for a variety of businesses. One export is “tourism,’ Hendrix said. His agency promotes the state; more than 40,000 people visit Arkansas from Canada yearly, he noted.

Hendrix said trade tariffs imposed

by President Donald Trump in 2018 also hurt Arkansas’ farmers and steel producers, but stimulus packages for farmers did offset losses. Many of those tariffs are loosened now.

“We’re seeing resurgence,” he added. “We anticipate a new trade policy change with the incoming new administration. It will take time to see how that plays out. Stay tuned.” A D EC E M B E R 2020

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MANUFACTURING

Q&A A

rkansas is known as an agricultural state, a well-deserved reputation. But because of its willing, able and adaptable workforce and proximity to major transportation arteries, manufacturing is big in the Natural State as well.

This month, AMP speaks with Grady Harvell, president and CEO of W&W/AFCO Steel in Little Rock, about how manufacturing in Arkansas weathered 2020 and the outlook for 2021.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

MANUFACTURING Q&A

GRADY HARVELL OF W&W/AFCO STEEL: Industry fared well despite COVID

BY MA R K CA RTE R

The steel industry, like all others in 2020, had plenty of issues to deal with related to the pandemic. And it was an election year, to boot.

Fuel tax revenue was down; decisions on large projects were delayed.

Plus, federal funding and permanent tariffs on foreign competitors were hot topics.

But Grady Harvell, president and chief operating officer of W&W/AFCO Steel in Little Rock, believes steel held up well this past year despite the challenges.

AMP: How did the steel industry in Arkansas hold up in 2020?

HARVELL: I think our industry fared extremely well in 2020 considering the challenges of COVID-19 combined with a presidential election year. Owners/investors tend to delay large financial commitments needed for new projects due to the uncertainty of policy during the upcoming four years. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March increased this level of uncertainty significantly.

COVID-19 also had a negative impact on our bridge market, which is usually the one sector in our industry not disrupted during an election year.

Revenue from fuel tax largely funds roadway improvements in most states.

Across most of the U.S., fuel tax revenues were down 40 percent to 60 percent in the spring and early summer months. This, along with the lack of a long-term federal transportation budget, caused many states to significantly reduce, if not stop, awards of new work for much of this year.

Our facilities in Little Rock, Van Buren and San Angelo, Texas, were fortunate that the Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas DEC E M BER 2 02 0

departments of transportation managed their budgets wisely and have been able to navigate these reduced budget challenges better than the eastern areas of the U.S. where we also fabricate steel bridges.

Due to the increase in online ordering, W&W/AFCO Steel, as well as the steel industry in general, was fortunate to see a large increase in the construction of warehouse distribution centers.

We are currently in various phases of construction on four large distribution centers with locations ranging from Ontario, Canada, to Las Vegas. Our industrial market sector has been depressed for several years, due in large part to low oil prices and unfair competition from steel being produced in areas of the world that engage in unfair trade practices.

In spite of the challenges we faced in 2020, we have been able to achieve our primary goal of providing our employees good jobs with above-average benefits in a safe working environment. We are fortunate to have been included in the “essential business� group during the COVID-19 shutdowns that affected many other businesses.

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Grady Harvell

We are happy to say we have endured this tumultuous year with no layoffs or hour reductions in any of our 17 manufacturing facilities in seven states and 11 cities across the U.S. Our biggest challenge this year has been and continues to be keeping our employees as safe as possible from the virus so we can continue to deliver fabricated steel buildings and bridges to our customers.

AMP: What do the prospects for 2021 look like?

Harvell: I have never been much at making predictions, but I can point to a few things I think are key to improving our industry in 2021.

First, a long-term transportation budget must be approved by the federal government. The importance of states knowing the level of federal funding they can count on in the upcoming years is more important than ever as they try to recover from the lost fuel tax revenue from 2020.

Many larger projects span several years, and stability in federal funding is key to these projects going forward. I commend the voters of Arkansas for the passage of ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Issue 1 in the recent election. This is a very positive step in ensuring Arkansans have safe roads and bridges for decades to come. We hope the majority of Congress can display the same level of common sense that Arkansas’ delegation has shown when it comes to agreeing to long-term infrastructure and transportation funding.

It was unfortunate the COVID-19 stimulus efforts implemented earlier this year did not include significant funds for transportation and infrastructure. There has been talk of an infrastructure bill in the magnitude of $1 trillion since the 2016 election, and still no concrete action has been taken.

Second, we must get all of our U.S. steel industry on a level playing field with steel imported from countries that engage in unfair trade practices.

This has been a challenge the steel industry has been losing ground on for many, many years. In February of 2020, we had the opportunity to have permanent tariffs placed on much of the imported fabricated steel along with the tariffs on mill steel. Unfortunately, the tariffs on fabricated steel were narrowly voted down by the U.S. Trade Commission.

Many of our foreign fabricators are subsidized by their governments and do not provide their employees with a work environment or benefits and compensation comparable to U.S. standards. We support keeping our environmental and safety standards at the highest levels possible, but tariffs on most imported mill and fabricated steel must be utilized against those countries that engage in unfair trade.

Finally, and most importantly, we must see some type of control for the COVID-19 pandemic, whether this is a vaccine or just a universally accepted common practice for safe interaction in public. As long as the average person is not confident or comfortable that they can go out in public and live a somewhat normal life, there will be uncertainty in our economy. Uncertainty leads to reduced spending by ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

owners and investors, which negatively impacts our industry as well as many others.

AMP: In what ways has the pandemic forced the industry to become more nimble?

Harvell: During the initial months of the pandemic, our corporate management team met daily to discuss local and national guidelines and recommendations, develop plans to implement a safe work environment for our employees, and most importantly stay in touch with how our employees were reacting to the rapidly changing developments in the COVID-19 data being published.

During these discussions, we developed procedures for providing our employees with a work environment in which they felt safe. As an example, in all my career, this is the first time we have had to consider vending machines 25

and break rooms potential safety hazards!

We are gratified all of our employees embraced the measures we adopted in our efforts to keep COVID-19 under control within our facilities. This was a difficult task considering our 17 manufacturing facilities are in seven states from Colorado to North Carolina, and we had active job sites from New York to Oregon.

More importantly, our employees’ opinions of how COVID-19 impacts them and what should be done to minimize their exposure to these risks varied greatly. All of this resulted in our company having to be extremely flexible with our W&W/AFCO Steel family members to ensure we were able to continue to maintain full employment while keeping positive attitudes and a safe work environment.

I am proud of how our team has reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I am confident we will continue to be diligent in being safe until a vaccine is developed.

D EC E M B E R 2020

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D EC E M B E R 2020

at HOME , far from

HOME

For Welspun COO Rajesh Chokhani, teamwork knows no cultural boundaries.

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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Welspun brings different cultures together in Little Rock

BY DWA I N HE BDA | P HOTOGR A P HY BY JA MI SON MOSLEY

ajesh Chokhani, COO of Welspun Tubular, looked out over a sea of workers’ faces. From this spot in the company’s Port of Little Rock manufacturing facility, he was 30 hours by air from his native India, give or take, but right now anything resembling the comforts of home sat on the other side of the universe.

Chokhani was about to convene the first town hall meeting of the plant’s hourly workers, expanding a concept he’d introduced among his salaried employees by which he gained valuable input for making decisions. In doing so, he hoped to go a step beyond the suggestion box to real one-on-one dialogue with the people working the equipment, tending the yard and performing maintenance on the sprawling plant. It was an idea not without detractors.

Welspun’s Hindu temple at the Port of Little Rock doubles as a community center, and is open to all.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Welspun’s pipe plant sits on 800 acres at the Port of Little Rock.

(Photo courtesy of Welspun)

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“I was planning on taking this model of town hall to the people who are hourly, and people were calling me mad,” Chokhani recalled.

“They said, ‘You don’t know what will happen. You have 150 people standing in one place and you are, as a COO, doing all of what you want to do and then taking open questions, and you don’t know what will happen.’”

Even today, Chokhani shakes his head in disbelief. That was precisely the point, he thought: We don’t know enough. Enough about each other, about the industry, about the bottlenecks and pinch points keeping the massive plant from operating at peak efficiency.

In the retelling of that pivotal moment, he recalled words that have become his mantra.

“These are my people,” he said. “If I don’t have courage to stand in front of my people and look into their eyes and talk, then I have not done the right thing. I am not a good leader.”

There are plenty of reasons why the Welspun plant shouldn’t work in Little Rock, and really only one reason why it does: teamwork.

More than just a cozy tagline, Welspun’s teamwork is a marvel of leadership, mutual tolerance and understanding bringing together workers of very different cultures and backgrounds and training them to work and think as one, each bringing his or her own skills and abilities to their fullest fruition.

“Whether he or she’s an hourly employee doesn’t really matter; the person should know how they are adding value by playing their own role in the whole big picture of the business,” Chokhani said. “At the same time, most of the time is spent hearing back from them. What do you think should change over here where you work so that you can be more efficient? It really yielded very good results.

“People saw that they can speak, and there is no retaliation and no The casino resort’s multiple restaurant offerings ramification. They can talk to their leadership, and leadership is actwill utilize their own micro-brewery tanks. ing on it. Once we have made the decision, we communicate it back into the town hall like, ‘Last month, these two or three points came in, and we are solving this in this manner.’”

Town hall meetings may seem a trivial element in a billion-dollar business, but such is today’s manufacturing climate where the difference between big ideas and very big ideas generally turn on very small details. And that, in a nutshell, describes the success of Welspun Tubular, a subsidiary of Welspun Corp Ltd. of India, a global power in the fields of textiles, infrastructure and energy as well as pipes.

The Little Rock plant was one of the company’s first very big ideas in its oil-and-gas pipe business, stepping outside of its native country for a U.S. manufacturing site. And Chokhani, who’d spent a good chunk of his 27 years with the company shepherding the pipe manufacturing side, was tapped to find the perfect site.

“I have been part of the transformational journey of Welspun right from the textile business to the pipe business,” he said. “Those were the days when you were able to export products and you were OK to be a local manufacturer in one country and send the product out.

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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

“In 2006, we decided to advance our footprint beyond India and construct our first international manufacturing facility of the pipe business out of India. I was given that responsibility, solely, to come to the United States, look for the location, and go around the whole country from mid-2006 to late 2006.”

Little Rock ultimately carried the day based on a combination of tangible and intangible benefits. On the tangible side were central proximity, availability of land and multiple transportation options radiating from the Port of Little Rock to bring in raw materials and ship out finished product.

But equally compelling were the intangibles, a consideration that Little Rock won hands-down, Chokhani said.

“I went around the whole country and Little Rock, Arkansas, had the team which was so friendly and so welcoming to the business,” he said. “The way we structured the execution of this, the largest project ever at that time, we had one person — a single point of contact from the chamber of commerce and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission — who was working with me for everything that I need, from the county, city, state and federal agencies.

“My work permit came in five days. Five working days, which is unheard of. Everybody was a phone call away.

Ten minutes, and the person was there. They were lining up saying, ‘OK, what else can we do?’ It was a 30-month project, and we wanted to do it in 15 months. And guess what? We finished everything in 18 months. I mean, that was how efficient this team was.”

The plant opened in 2009, staffed overwhelmingly by hand-picked labor imported from India. As time went on and more local workers began to filter into the plant, executive leadership quickly recognized success would rely on more than technical skills.

“We saw that there was a big challenge in how to blend the people from India and how they will blend with the local American workforce,” he said. “In India, we speak the Queen’s English, and over here, we speak the King’s English. Obviously, for the people over here, English is the mother tongue language. In India, English is a first language, but not the mother tongue.

“So, an engineer coming from India trying to train a person here how to operate this equipment meant we went through the misunderstandings like, ‘He said this!’ Well, no, he said this, but he did not mean this, he meant this, you know? That was quite a learning curve for the people that were hired here and the people who came from India.”

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Welspun has invested $300 million in its Little Rock operation, where it employs roughly 1,000 workers.

(Photos courtesy of Welspun)

Time and experience have smoothed those potholes, and with everyone on the same page, Welspun quickly became an unqualified Arkansas success story. Bolstered by state-of-the-art technology, including manufacturing machines that cost $5 million to $10 million a pop, the plant became a major supplier to, among other clients, companies building the Keystone Pipeline.

“We have an 800-acre piece of property, and out of that, have a lot of room for us to expand,” Chokhani said. “If you look at the first project we finished, our commitment was $125 million, but we invested $160 million. My second expansion — we did it in one year — was another $35 million dollar expansion, creating more jobs.

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temples at all of its facility sites, but Little Rock’s was the first the company had built outside of India. Its multipurpose usage has given employees another way to understand each other’s cultural traditions.

“There is no restriction. We have so many devotees who come to worship over there or come for the meditation. It is open for all,” Chokhani said. “We are very proud of the facility, and we do celebrations like Diwali, the Festival of Light. We did that pre-COVID. Our people can come and have lunch and celebrate that New Year festival. Similarly, we do Christmas; we have a Christmas party for our salaried people. We celebrate with our hourly people by giving them gift cards and those kinds of things.”

As with many manufacturers, COVID-19 has had a cooling effect on Welspun’s operations and headcount has been pared back to 600. But whatever the political or economic future holds, he knows the company is ready to pivot as needed, having cracked the code on the often-thornier elements of social and cultural differences and their effect on teamwork.

“One thing that I have built over here is a respect of talent,” he said. “It’s not the nationality, not the religion, not the color, not the race, not the gender, but respect for talent. I don’t care where you have come from on Earth. This is the job; this is the skillset I need to get this job done and you possess that, so I really don’t care who you are. That’s the culture.

“There should not be any barriers when it comes to operating your business. Respect the talent is what the thought is, not anything else.”

“On the second-year anniversary, we announced another project, which is a $100 million dollar investment. And so, we have invested over $300 million dollars into the economy as a capital investment. We have about 1,000 associates all together, salaried and hourly, in those positions, and we have been running all days of the week for 365 days, around the year, in three groups.”

The expansions have included unique elements that further stress inclusion and celebrate diversity. Foremost among these is the Shri Radha Madhav Welspun Hindu Temple, which doubles as a community center. Welspun constructs such

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SPECIAL SECTION

Power

WOMEN 2020 Arkansas Money & Politics once again closes out the year by focusing a spotlight on women in Arkansas who are setting themselves apart in the world of business and politics. These AMP Power Women were nominated by readers, and each has blazed a trail, exhibited outstanding leadership or enhanced her company’s performance. AMP is proud to recognize these Power Women.

Individual bios provided by honorees.

ALICIA BERKEMEYER

Senior Vice President of Network Programs, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Alicia Berkemeyer currently is responsible for all programs related to provider networks for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and its affiliates. She also serves as a consultant for the patient-centered, medical homeprogram transformation and development. Berkemeyer joined Arkansas Blue Cross in 1989 and has held several positions in the areas of customer service, sales and marketing, pharmacy and provider networks. She has 30 years of experience in the health care industry with a focus on primary care, pharmacy and payment innovation. She has led and managed the development of patient-centered medical homes, employer clinics and pharmacy programs.

Berkemeyer played an instrumental role in Arkansas being chosen as one of only seven regions in the United States to participate in the federal Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative and assisted the state in receiving significant funding from the Centers for Medicare Services Innovation Center in the form of a State Innovation Model grant. Arkansas will also participate as a CPC+ region over the next five years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from John Brown University in Siloam Springs. She is a graduate of the Advanced Executive Global Program at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. She is a certified health consultant, a managed health care professional and a Professional in the Academy of Healthcare Management. She is active in many industry specific organizations. Berkemeyer currently serves on the College of Pharmacy Dean’s Advisory Council, NCQA-PCMH Advisory Council, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Board and CVS Caremark Advisory Board. Additionally, she serves as the Honorary Command Chief at the Little Rock Air Force Base.

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JEAN BLOCK

Chief Legal Officer, Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority

MELLIE BRIDEWELL

CEO, Arkansas Rural Health Partnership Regional Director, UAMS Office of Strategy, Management and Administration

Mellie Boagni Bridewell currently serves as a regional director in the UAMS Office of Strategy, Management and Administration and as the CEO of the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership (ARHP). Bridewell created the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership organization in 2007, which began with five critical-access hospitals and has grown to 14 rural hospitals and two federally qualified health centers spanning the south Arkansas region. She has obtained more than $24.5 million dollars in grant funds and contributions to improve health care delivery and infrastructure in rural south Arkansas.

Bridewell currently serves on the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Congress and graduated last year as one of 15 NRHA National Rural Health Fellows and serves on numerous local and national boards. In 2016, Bridewell was acknowledged as a Federal Office of Rural Health’s Rural Health Champion.

Under her leadership, ARHP has been recognized nationally as a Rural Health Community Champion for Collaborative Partnerships by the federal Office of Rural Health and as Outstanding Network of the Year by the National Cooperative of Health Networks Association.

CLAIRE BROWN

CEO, PowerWomen

Realtor, Claire & Co./ Keller Williams

Claire Brown knows what it takes to be a power woman. She is a successful real estate agent, mother 35

of two children, founder of the PowerWomen Community and author of Ring or Fling: The Power Woman’s Guide to SelfDiscovery, Setting Standards and Dating with Self Confidence. Born and raised in Benton, Brown has been a go-getter from an early age. Brown fell in love with real estate while selling real estate to pay for college 19 years ago. After Brown moved to Little Rock, she found herself building her real estate business by learning the ropes from “seasoned agents who had been in business for 20 to 30 years.”

But her life changed in 2015 when she found herself divorced and single, forced to step outside of her comfort zone.

She found solace in her own identity — a strong woman — which led to her creating online communities where kindred spirits could connect. Since then, thousands of women have come together in these virtual groups, and she has launched a podcast and authored a book with the same motivations. “It’s a privilege to be able to help others on a daily basis during one of the most stressful times and with one of the largest investments of their lives through real estate,” Brown says. “The PowerWomen and PowerMom platforms, the reach of the podcast and the publishing of the book have now allowed the opportunity to help others through coaching, connecting and mentoring. Helping others is my purpose and brings pure joy.”

LORI L. BURROWS

Vice President and General Counsel, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives

Lori L. Burrows is vice president and general counsel for Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc., and has more than 15 years of experience working with public utilities. Burrows is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and holds a juris doctor with honor, from the UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law. She also

D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

Carolyn Cobb President, Arkansas REALTORS Association Executive broker, Coldwell Banker/RPM Group

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

There is no secret to success. In order to succeed you must devote time, energy and effort to your chosen profession.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

I was attracted to helping families achieve the American dream of home ownership.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

I started as a sales agent and continued my education. After two years, I became a broker and quickly discovered that helping agents realize their potential and become successful was my calling.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

Every day in real estate is a new adventure. Being president of the REALTORS® Association during a global pandemic has given me the opportunity to grow as a leader, finding ways to keep 10,000 members engaged in a whole different environment.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

I love it when young women come to me for advice about opportunities in real estate. The real estate industry allows women to be their own boss. It empowers young women to own their own schedules and create their own future. It is a job for those who are self-motivated. If they are willing to put forth the effort, there is no better industry than real estate, as there are no limits to how successful you can be.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

I could not be prouder than I am to be the 2020 president of Arkansas REALTORS® Association. With a 94-year history, only 10 women served before me in that capacity. I am also proud to have been president during the most challenging year in recent history.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

I accept that there is no perfect work/life balance. I do the best I can do and always make time for my grandsons and a little travel.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

“A leader sees greatness in other people. He nor she can be much of a leader if all she sees is herself.” — Maya Angelou

POWER WOMEN

Missy Thomas Irvin Arkansas State Senator

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

My secret to success is connecting the does, never forgetting who you are and remembering that family is the most important thing in life. You can always find a connection, or several connections, that makes the idea more comprehensive creating more buy-in. The more people can relate to what you are doing, what you are creating, etc., the more successful I think you become. And always stay grounded by checking in with yourself and your family.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

My career allows me to solve problems that truly matter in people’s lives. Creating solutions that address the issues our families, children veterans, farmers and business owners are facing is an exciting challenge. I believe there is no greater calling than to use your talents and skills to help people.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

When I was in high school, I volunteered for Sheffield Nelson when he ran for governor. This led to my passion for politics, which became one of my three majors in college. Later, after having my children, I decided to run for office because I cared deeply about rural Arkansas and protecting the rural way of life.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

I love solving big issues that truly help people in a very personal way. Also, the relationships I have developed with the people I represent and get to help have been an incredible blessing.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

Enjoy the opportunities the world offers you. And every job, no matter how big or small, contributes to your future and success.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER?

I attended Randolph-Macon Women’s College and triple majored in dance, politics and communications with a minor in art history. My education taught me to think analytically, to write effectively and to communicate both verbally and through creative expression. I was supported to tackle a triple major and do a lot of things at one time, which taught me how to handle lots of things at once, which you need in real life.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

Raising my children is my biggest accomplishment! Starting a high school girls soccer team that I volunteer-coached and

starting the Mountain View Youth Soccer Association were two of my proudest accomplishments. Winning my race in 2010 was a huge accomplishment.

Legislatively, passing comprehensive Juvenile Justice Reform, The Maternity Leave Act for state employees, and the Human Trafficking Act, winning the Rural Advocate of the Year Award were great, but those pale in comparison to my work in helping a young lady with her Medicaid coverage that were able to extend her life.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

Prayer and constantly thanking my husband for helping me maintain that balance by doing all he does for our family. It’s definitely a partnership with God as our foundation.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME?

Overcoming the fear of failure led to me holding this office. You have to believe in yourself no matter how the odds seem stacked against you. I was the first woman, the first Republican and the first person from Stone Co since reconstruction to win this seat. I had to get up everyday, smile, shake lots of hands and believe that I could win.

POWER WOMEN

Veronica Smith-Creer Mayor, City of El Dorado

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? There is no secret to success. You have to know what “you” consider to be success, and work hard to achieve it!

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? I love people and love helping people. I consider myself to be a “bridge builder,” and all those things play a part in what this position provides for our city.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD? My start in politics was working on the governor’s campaign in 2006. I ran for a city council position two years later. I didn’t win the seat, but it didn’t keep me from continuing to work for other candidates. I continued working in the community as well. Twelve years later, I launched the movement to become mayor.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I love the opportunity to serve the city I truly love through assisting our citizens in the day-to-day processes. It gives them the ability to make a difference by all of us working together.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? My advice is to truly know yourself so that you are not starting a career, but doing what you love! When you do what you love, it’s not work. Take every opportunity to better yourself through learning different skills and networking with others.

POWER WOMEN

April Seggebruch

Co-Founder/Chief Strategy Officer, Movista WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? Never, never, never give up. You must find a way or make one.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? As an entrepreneur, when people opt you into their lives by buying things that you’ve built, that is the absolute purest form of a review of your work. I absolutely love this, and it’s what motivates me.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Align yourself with people who care about your success and are like-minded to you.

Find people who are smarter and more accomplished — and who are willing to invest in your development. Honestly, this is most true for anyone starting a career, even a career in life.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? We have created a company where really smart, successful and accomplished people WANT to work. I am amazed by this and humbled every day.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? I throw away “the scale” and just enjoy life and work as if they are the same. To be clear, this is not to say you should live at work. You have to take care of yourself. Notice the things that light you up and energize you, so you can do more of those. Pay attention to the things that drain you, and do less of those. Time is too precious to fill your days doing things that don’t make you feel happy or fulfilled.

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POWER WOMEN

Stephanie Clouser Chief Brand Officer, PCA Technologies WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? I really love what I do!

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? I chose radio, TV and film with a minor in speech communications so I didn’t have to take any math classes. When I was 19, I worked at an advertising agency in town as a media buyer. It affirmed for me that I loved to make products, people and companies look their very best.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? I would say, starting your career, it is vital to have a couple mentors, and that doesn’t usually mean you keep the same ones. As you grow and develop, each season will likely demand new and different coaching. Read, read and read some more.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? Being in the moment has helped me through the years to do my best professionally or personally. I try to discipline myself in being a good listener, and that is not possible to obtain without truly being in the present.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? I am a sucker for quotes! Here are two or three of my favorites: • “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt • “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” — John Steinbeck • “There are two most powerful days in your life. The day you are born, and the day you discover why.” — Boniface Mwangi

POWER WOMEN

Faiza Samad Licensed Professional Counselor, Chenal Family Therapy WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? After taking a psychology class in high school, I knew this is the field I wanted to go into. This field is dynamic and very complex. I like how every person you meet has a different story, and each case has its own challenge.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I love getting to hear someone tell their story and being able to help them to navigate through the challenges and struggles they face. It gives me great happiness to see my clients succeed and overcome their obstacles.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Don’t give up on your dreams! Even when you feel defeated, remember that you are capable of anything. A huge part of life are the struggles and challenges we face, but that’s also what makes life interesting.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? My family! I grew up in a very supportive household where my parents instilled qualities that made me the person I am today. Also, I could not be more proud of my husband and two boys. Being a mom is one of my greatest joys and honors I have held in my life.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? At times, it can be difficult, especially working from home these days. However, I try to balance my day as best as I can. I work in the mornings, so I can spend time with the family in the evenings. I’ve always been a planner in life and make it a point to be well-organized so that I balance all facets of my life.

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SPECIAL SECTION has a bachelor of arts degree in speech communication from the University of Central Arkansas.

Before law school, Burrows served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in the Pacific island country of the Federated States of Micronesia, living on the capital island of Pohnpei for more than two years. Burrows is a founder as well as the inaugural and immediate past president of Arkansas Women in Power, outgoing president of the Historic Arkansas Museum’s Foundation Board and incoming president of the Friends of KLRE/KUAR Board. Recently, she graduated from LeadAR Cohort 18 and is a Leadership Greater Little Rock alumnus. Immediately before joining AECC, Burrows served as a legal advisor to the Arkansas Public Service Commissions and was an assistant attorney general in the consumer division of the Arkansas Attorney General’s office.

TJUANA C. BYRD

Attorney at Law

Tjuana C. Byrd has spent her adult life in public service. She is passionate about children, women and girls, the elderly and healthy living.

She is the immediate past president of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas.

She was previously appointed by former Gov. Mike Beebe to serve on the State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, and by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to serve on the Legislative Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force. She is a member of the Pulaski County Council for Youth Services Advisory Board. In 2009, Byrd opened the Law Office of Tjuana C. Byrd in North Little Rock where her primary focus was juvenile matters. She currently serves as an assistant city attorney for North Little Rock (handling HR and truancy matters), as Sherwood public defender and an attorney ad litem representing children in foster care in Poinsett County. She began her legal career with the Pulaski County Public Defender’s Office. In 2002, Byrd opened a small firm in North Little Rock and later formed a DEC E M BER 2 02 0

partnership with Lott Rolfe IV as Byrd and Rolfe Law Offices. The practice focus was primarily criminal defense but other areas of practice included family law, civil law, personal injury and juvenile cases. In August of 2006, Byrd became an assistant city attorney for the city of North Little Rock — responsible for civil litigation, truancy cases in juvenile court and human resources matters.

Byrd, a life member Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., is a member of the Beta Pi Omega chapter. She presently serves as president of the Ivy Foundation of Little Rock, the nonprofit fundraising arm of Beta Pi Omega. Byrd is an active member of St. Mark Baptist Church where she serves as a large group leader/storyteller and as a director for the Watson Primary Ensemble choir for children, ages 3-11. In addition to the community and church activities, she enjoys travel, exercise and fitness, outdoor activities, and attending and watching sports events. She is a graduate of Lonoke High School and received a degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas and a juris doctorate degree from the UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law in 1996. Byrd served as chairman of Class 27 of Little Rock Regional Chamber’s Leadership Greater Little Rock and is a graduate of Class 24. She is a member of the University of Arkansas Alumni Association, lifetime member of the UALR Alumni Association and a lifetime member of the NAACP. She is a volunteer in public schools as a reading tutor. Byrd has served on the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Committee, having led as the first African American chairperson for the Arkansas Race for the Cure, an event with over 45,000 participants, held Oct. 20, 2007.

BECKY CAMPBELL

Partner, Campbell Ward

As partner of Campbell Ward, Becky Campbell oversees communications and consulting activities including public relations, public affairs, media 40

relations, issue management, legislative monitoring, strategic messaging/ campaign development, political-action committee management, event coordination, stakeholder mapping and public engagement campaigns. Prior to establishing Campbell Ward, Campbell was director of operations at Noble Strategies, a full-service public affairs firm that represented Fortune 500 companies, federal and state associations, universities and other businesses. Cambell has also been the special events coordinator at the Arkansas Foodbank, where she built events benefiting the Foodbank and managed the related fundraising goals. She also served as chief of staff to former Arkansas First Lady Ginger Beebe, working as her scheduler, community liaison and media coordinator, while also championing the first lady’s causes. Campbell was appointed to the Simmons Bank Arena Commission in 2019 and also currently serves as a board member for the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. Cambell grew up in Bryant but now lives in the Park Hill neighborhood of North Little Rock with her husband, Daniel, son, Jack, and their dog, Bandit.

KENDALL CASE

Entrepreneur/social media marketer

Kendall Case, born and raised in Little Rock, is currently a senior at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is pursuing a degree in marketing while working full-time for her family’s dining establishments. Case manages nine social media accounts for her family’s small businesses across Central Arkansas and helps spread the word far and wide about the savory specials the Case family dishes out. What originally started as a part-time passion has grown into a full-time career. For Case, her passion is a blend of networking with Central Arkansas’ restaurant-goers and using her photography skills to capture the eyes and palates of hungry Arkansans. Her ultimate goal in every project is to fulfill her clients’ dreams — for this reason, she offers customizable packages ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

for her clients and bends over backwards to bring visions to life. “I had always heard about the importance of discovering your passion in life,” Case says.

“However, when I was able to combine my passion with my career, there was no slowing me down.”

STEPHANIE CLOUSER

Chief Brand Officer, PCA Technology Solutions

Stephanie Clouser is the chief brand officer at PCA Technology Solutions. Clouser has worked with PCA Technology Solutions for 15 years.

She and her husband, Ted Clouser, recently purchased the company in 2018.

Branding and marketing has exponentially evolved over the last few years and gone from community outreach, board membership and putting logos on everything to an intentional vision of how to position PCA in the national market. For Clouser, that meant having purpose with every single thing that would represent PCA, and how the company wanted its message to sustain and grow. Clouser is most proud of the rebrand she led in 2019. “It is a huge endeavor, and I had to force myself to think several steps ahead of where we actually were at the time,” she said. “Surrounding myself with talented people allowed us to execute without a hitch. I am passionate about delivering world-class IT because it is necessary. I want to be clear in my message that we can be trusted in what we do and how we do it. There is so much that concerns the community when talking about technology that I want PCA to be a part of the solution, not the problem. Technology is not going away, and I wake every morning hoping that with education, communication and offering the best of the best solutions we can continue to step into our place as World Class IT providers.” Clouser was born and raised in Arkansas and had the privilege of raising her kids to love and know Arkansas as well. She loves to hike, read, travel, and most would also consider her a foodie. These interests ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

often coincide. “I have been working on the Tim Ernst Hiking book for years.

This has meant many wrong turns, additional mileage and new food experiences all in the same day. ‘It’s the journey, not the destination,’ that keeps me going.”

CAROLYN COBB

Vice President/ Executive Broker, Coldwell Banker RPM Group

Carolyn Cobb was just named vice president of the Coldwell Banker RPM Group and has been working in the real estate industry for more than 18 years. As the executive broker of the Coldwell Banker RPM-West Little Rock office, she manages more than 50 agents.

Currently, Cobb is serving as the Arkansas REALTORS® Association’s 2020 President. The Arkansas REALTORS® Association is a trade association made up of almost 10,000 licensed real estate agents in Arkansas. Carolyn also is a past president and active board member of the Central Arkansas Multiple Listing Service (CARMLS). In the past, Cobb has served as president of Little Rock REALTORS® Association, past president of the Junior League of North Little Rock, and served on the front line in the Arkansas House of Representatives as a clerk. Very active at the National Association of REALTORS®, she will be the 2021 Vice Chairman of the State Leadership Idea Exchange Council and on the NAR Board of Directors. Cobb not only helps raise funds for an Arkansas REALTORS® philanthropic organization, Special Olympics of Arkansas, she is also very involved with Hearts and Homes of AR. Hearts and Homes provides grants for housing to Arkansans suffering a catastrophic loss. Cobb is the proud parent of two daughters and four grandsons. She enjoys spending her extra time with her family and traveling the world with her grandsons.

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JEAN COOK

Chief Financial Officer, Travel Nurses Across America

Jean Cook joined Travel Nurse Across America (TNAA) in January of 2016 as chief financial officer. Cook has more than 30 years of finance, HR and riskmanagement experience with more than 20 of those years in executive leadership roles. In 2020, Cook assumed the role of COO at TNAA. Prior to joining TNAA, she worked for companies ranging in size from $30 million to $6 billion in revenue under multiple structures — family owned, private-equity backed, publicly traded and internationally owned. For the two years prior to joining TNAA, she was a business coach for small/medium size business, and prior to that spent 25 years in industrial distribution. Cook is a University of Arkansas graduate. A believer in education, she received a mini-MBA certificate from the University of Tulsa.

She also is a Value Builder – Trained Advisor, EOS Trained Implementer, and a Certified Board Facilitator. Her personal accomplishments include serving on the board of multiple organizations, acting on the judging panel for Arkansas CFO of the Year awards and opening her doors as a foster home for dogs.

KRISTI CRUM

Chief Operations Officer, Rock Dental Brands

As COO of Rock Dental Brands, a dental-support organization headquartered in Little Rock, Kristi Crum leads the operations for 56 doctors and more than 450 clinical employees as they provide access to affordable dental care to 350,000 patients each year across Arkansas and Missouri.

Crum is responsible for the patient experience, clinical operations, marketing, supply chain, human resources and overall performance of more than D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

Dr. Christina Drale Chancellor, UA Little Rock WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

Two things have served me well throughout my administrative career.

First, I try to maintain a calm, steady approach to attaining goals and responding to challenges. The risk of distraction or overreaction is always there and can really derail the best course of action.

Second, I always try to start with the big picture and the desired results in mind and work backward from there. Even when you know what your goals are, you can miss the target if you don’t look at how everything works together and take a holistic approach.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

If you had asked me in my 20s why I chose to become a college professor, I probably would have said that I just stumbled into it. But in retrospect, I now realize that I was attracted to university life because I love learning, and this is the kind of job where you never stop learning.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

By the time I was in graduate school, I realized that I wanted to have a career that had some kind of connection with a university. After I attained my Ph.D., I began the process of applying for assistant professor positions and landed my first full-time position in Springfield, Mo., where I worked my way up through the ranks.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

Sharing the story of what UA Little Rock is all about and the great things we are doing here.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

There will be many who underestimate you along your career path.

Learn to use that to your advantage. Secondly, always work hard, but remember that if you let your batteries run out, you won’t get there.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER?

Beyond the obvious preparation for an academic teaching career, my postsecondary education gave me a lot of tools that served me well as I moved into administration. What higher education does well is to discipline your mind to become a better thinker and problem solver.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

I’m proud of being selected to lead this institution. It is a great honor and one that I try to live up to each day.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

It’s a little easier if you stick to a routine each day where you can set boundaries. This is me-time, this is you-time. When you’re a CEO, you’re never entirely off the clock, but you can still manage expectations in terms of what you are and are not willing to give up.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME?

I’ve had a lot of advantages in my life. I came from a family that valued education and had the means to send me to college. I had a stable and supportive childhood that allowed me to do well in school and develop confidence. I had great role models, especially my mother who taught me what it really means to be a strong woman.

All of that was good preparation for a world that is still largely patriarchal and where women are often met with low expectations, negative expectations, or if they make it into leadership roles, superhuman expectations. So the obstacles in my life are shared with many, and we must continue to strive for a culture of equal opportunity.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

One of my favorites comes from the late, great Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

POWER WOMEN

Lindsey Holman CEO, Holman Strategies WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

My mother always told me when I was afraid of trying something, “Go for it because you’re sitting on no, right now!” Basically, this means be brave, go for your dreams and have faith in your ability to accomplish them. You can always find a way; the worst thing that could happen is you fail and learn something. If you don’t try, you will certainly not succeed.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

I became interested in politics and government at a young age. We had been discussing “making a difference” in my second-grade class. That evening, my parents were discussing the 1992 presidential election. They told me how much government plays a role in the daily lives of people.

My thought was, “Wow, government touches everything! That is a good way to make a difference!” My dream of working in government has been with me ever since.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

I had amazing mentors in college and early in my career. Beth Wilson Gray, a professor at Arkansas Tech University’s Emergency Administration and Management (EAM) Program, was my first major mentor in my career. She took my love of politics and helped me mold it into a career in emergency management. I took the experience I cultivated in college and got on a flight to Washington, D.C., in January of 2009. That February, I packed up my little Pontiac Sunfire and moved to D.C. for an internship with Witt Associates, now Witt O’Brien’s. A few months later, I was hired full-time.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

Bridging the gap between legislation, policy and the real world. When I’m engaging with federal policy and lawmakers on critical issues that impact our nation’s resilience to hazards, I’m in my element. I love talking with them to help them understand what state and local governments need to strengthen their community’s resilience to natural and man-made hazards. I love helping decision makers in Washington connect to local first responders, state and local elected officials, and the private-sector partners. Bringing people together to discover effective solutions to issues like flooding, critical infrastructure protection, disaster recovery and improving equity in access to disaster assistance are some of my favorite issues to tackle.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

Never be afraid to be pleasantly relentless in your pursuits. Plan your long game and have faith in your abilities to accomplish it. Also, and I cannot stress the importance of this enough, cultivate meaningful and lasting relationships with mentors and peers, never stop learning from every experience you encounter, and nurture your reputation as someone with dignity and respect for others. Stand for what you believe in and don’t be afraid to share your ideas and concerns. Always know when you don’t know the answer and don’t be afraid to admit it. Then find someone who has the expertise and connect them to the effort.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

I separate personal accomplishments from professional. I think one of my best moments professionally was when I had my first success lobbying Congress. I convinced a key senator to introduce an amendment to spending legislation that would end up providing billions to state and

local governments for community disaster recovery block grants. Others had tried to appeal to key congressional members for months and failed, then my mentor George Kopp gave me a shot at trying to convince a Senate office to support an increase in disaster recovery funding. He said, “Hey, you know this stuff! How about you try?” I was successful and when the legislation passed, every jurisdiction that experienced a federally declared disaster in 2011, 2012 and 2013 was eligible to apply for grant awards from a $16 billion appropriation to rebuild housing and address other critical unmet community needs after disaster. Someday, I hope to see some of the homes and infrastructure that $16 billion built and meet some of the people and communities it helped.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

There are many, but this one comes to mind often. “Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

– Ruth Bader Ginsburg

POWER WOMEN

LaTonya Laird Austin Honorable Attorney at Law

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? My biological father, Roy Lee Laird, was a pastor and civil rights leader in the ‘60s and ‘70s before he passed away. He advocated for people’s civil rights across the state of Arkansas. I am told that my proclivity to advocate for people’s basic rights was birthed in me through him.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I wear and have worn many hats — wife, mother, attorney, social justice/civil rights advocate, ministry leader and political candidate. What I love about all of these hats is that I am able to serve others. In my professional world, I am able to make people aware of certain rights and how to enforce those rights.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Be authentic. Work hard. Surround yourself with other women who are knowledgeable, wise and kind. You

cannot be successful on your own. We need mentors, and as equally important, we must be willing to mentor others. It keeps the circle going. Remember, iron sharpens iron, and never be afraid to learn.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/ LIFE BALANCE? Spending quality time with my family is what keeps me grounded. I love to travel. I love to eat good food. I love to sing. I love to work in ministry. Oftentimes, I get to do several of these things at the same time, so it allows me to remain centered and faith-focused.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME? I should be in the Olympics for having to jump and overcome so many hurdles. BUT, I would trade nothing for them because all of these problems produced a positive posture in me that, ultimately, propelled my faith in God to levels unimaginable for someone with my challenges. While I do not list my obstacles here, when placed side-by-side with my victories, I think I turned out all right.

FEARLESS TRANSFORMATION If you consider the individuals transforming the healthcare system in Arkansas, the name Alicia Berkemeyer should be on your radar.

For more than 30 years, Alicia has focused on primary care, pharmacy and payment innovation in the healthcare industry. In her unassuming manner, she led and managed the development of clinics that focus on patients’ needs, employer clinics and pharmacy programs throughout the state. Alicia played an instrumental role in Arkansas being chosen as one of only seven regions in the United States to participate in the federal Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative. She assisted our state in receiving significant funding from the Centers for Medicare Services Innovation Center through a State Innovation Model grant that put Arkansas on the map for best-in-class care delivery models.

Humble. Hard-working. Caring. Collaborative. Fair-minded. Fearless.

We are happy to have her at the Blue and pleased to know her as a 2020 Arkansas Power Woman.

MPI 9937 12/20

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POWER WOMEN

Kendall Case

Entrepreneur/social media marketer WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME? I have consistently had a positive support system backing me in my social media business, but it hasn’t always been easy. Being a 22-year-old female, I have had to prove my abilities time and time again. The fear of failing has definitely been my biggest mental obstacle thus far in my career.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD? The first social media account that I was solely responsible for was just to pass time while I was still in high school. My dad opened his first restaurant, and I was only helping him. It quickly developed into more than just an after-school hobby. I developed a passion for all things marketing. This is why I’m currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in marketing at UA-Little Rock.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? I am most proud of the fact that I have continued to stay in college part time, work full time managing a restaurant and keep up with my social media accounts.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? “Friends can either speed up your steps or slow down your pace. Leaders choose friends wisely because they are aware of the consequences.”

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I love doing things at my own pace, and social media marketing allows me to be in control of my own schedule. I can plan most posts a month in advance and gather a lot of photo content in just one visit with a client. It’s all about planning ahead, and I live by the notes app on my phone.

Congratulations, Dr. Amanda Deel!

Congratulations to an outstanding physician, educator, mentor, and leader. We are so grateful for all of your tremendous work, and everyone at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University is so proud that you’re on our team!

Training Physicians In Arkansas, For Arkansas nyit.edu/arkansas | 870.680.8816 | ComjbAdmissions@nyit.edu ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

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SPECIAL SECTION 75 multi-specialty dental clinics. Those clinics operate under multiple brands including Westrock Orthodontics, Leap Kids Dental, Rock Family Dental and Kidz Choice Dental. Prior to joining Rock Dental Brands in 2019, Crum spent 18 years in the telecom industry, holding multiple executive level positions.

She spent 17 years successfully climbing the ranks at Verizon, the largest telecom company in the United States, ultimately holding numerous executive-level positions including president of the South Central Region as well as vice president of marketing and distribution strategy.

Crum is a native Arkansan who began her career in Little Rock with the legacy Alltel Corporation. Since then, she has lived on the East Coast, West Coast and finally settled in Little Rock where she supports her twin boys, Conner and Carson. Kristi earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Hendrix College in Conway.

DR. AMANDA DEEL, DO, FAAFP

Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University

Dr. Amanda Deel is passionate about serving the underserved and helping those who need it most. Her passions are evident in the way she cares for her patients as a family physician and trains the next generation of physicians through her role as associate dean of academic affairs at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University.

A native of New Edinburg, a small Delta town in southeast Arkansas, Deel knows firsthand how desperate many parts of our state are when it comes to access to quality health care. In 2015, she jumped at the opportunity to help launch the state’s first osteopathic medical school, one that was established with the mission of producing physicians to address the severe shortage facing our state, particularly the rural areas like the one DEC E M BER 2 02 0

where she grew up. Deel spent much of her first year at NYITCOM traveling the state and region to meet with hospitals and physicians to recruit partners to train third- and fourth-year medical students through clinical rotations. Without clinical partners, the medical school would not exist, and the approximately 120 medical students NYITCOM is training in each class would not be entering the workforce to impact health care in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta.

Thanks in large part to Deel’s work, NYITCOM at A-State has partnerships with more than 150 hospitals, clinics and physicians in 33 Arkansas counties and six total states. Deel also plays an integral role in preparing students for residency interviews. In 2020, NYITCOM at A- State’s inaugural class had 99 percent of its students placed into graduate medical education programs, well above the national average of 90 percent. Deel earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Arkansas State University and her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. She completed a graduate transitional internship at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Va., and served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy for five years following medical school. Deel achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

After completing her formal service to her country, Deel conducted her family medicine residency at the UAMS Area Health Education Center-Northeast in Jonesboro. Upon completion of her residency, she worked as an assistant professor and assistant program director for the UAMS AHEC-NE Family Medicine Residency. In 2014, Deel was recognized

by UAMS as the Red Sash Award Recipient for excellence in teaching and was UAMS’s Teacher of the Year for Regional Programs the same year. In addition to her role leading NYITCOM at A-State’s academic affairs and clinical education departments, Deel practices family medicine and obstetrics at AR Care and St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Deel earned a fellowship from the American Academy of Family Physicians in 2018 and serves on the board of the Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians.

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enjoys regularly teaching classes. Deel and her husband, Dr. Mickey Deel, live in Jonesboro with their two children.

DR. CHRISTINA DRALE

Chancellor, UA Little Rock

Dr. Christina Drale serves as chancellor for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Prior to this appointment, she was the interim executive vice chancellor and provost. As the university’s chief academic officer, she oversaw the administration, coordination and development of all academic functions of the university. Drale joined UA-Little Rock in 2006 as associate dean of the College of Professional Studies before becoming the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs in 2011. In this role, she was responsible for faculty relations, academic resource management, policy oversight and general administration.

A native of the Los Angeles area, Drale earned a Ph.D. in sociology, a master of arts in sociology, and a bachelor of arts in communications, all from the University of California, San Diego. She took her first academic position at Missouri State University in 1986, where she stayed for nearly 20 years and served as associate professor of media, journalism and film, and associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Current memberships include Fifty for the Future, Rotary Club of Little Rock – Club 99 and the Arkansas Research Alliance board.

DR. SHANNON EDWARDS

Associate Medical Director, Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care

TAMIKA EDWARDS

Attorney, Special Advisor to the CEO, Central Arkansas Water

ERIN ANSON ELLIS

Production Manager, The Momentary

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CATHERINE FOTHERGILL

Associate Artistic Director, Ballet Arkansas

Catherine Fothergill is the associate artistic director of Ballet Arkansas, a role she has held since the summer of 2017. In addition to staging much of the organization’s repertory and managing its education and outreach endeavors, Fothergill oversees all elements of Ballet Arkansas’ marketing initiatives. Prior to her arrival in Little Rock, she was a celebrated ballerina with the Alabama and Louisville ballet companies and an internationally acclaimed dance educator. She is a sought-after master instructor, guest faculty member at the Cecchetti Council of America’s prestigious International Summer School and an adjunct instructor at UALittle Rock’s Department of Theatre Arts and Dance. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with degrees in sociology and international studies and is pleased to now call Arkansas home.

NATALIE GHIDOTTI

Owner, Ghidotti Communications

ALEXANDRIA GLADDEN

Springdale Market President, Signature Bank

Alexandria Gladden is a Fayetteville native who graduated in 2009 from the University of Arkansas, where she studied banking and finance.

Utilizing her valuable knowledge in both areas, she has worked at Signature Bank for the past 15 years. Gladden served seven of those years as the SVP Loan Manager and now is the Springdale market president. Gladden is a graduate of Leadership Springdale Class of 2012. She has been involved with various local nonprofits, serving on the board of Hope Cancer Resources and two of their subcommittees, finance and personnel.

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She also currently serves as a committee member for the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Event Gala and is a member of Fayetteville Junior Civic League. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, Will, and 5-year-old daughter, Kingsley.

ELIZABETH GLASBRENNER

President/CEO, Smiley Technologies

Elizabeth Glasbrenner is the co-founder of Smiley Technologies Inc. and has been president and CEO since 2015. She founded the company in 2002 along with her brother, Vance Smiley, after seeing a need for better software and superior customer service. Her father, Walter Smiley, founded Systematics in 1968, which eventually merged with Alltel Information Systems and today is part of FIS. Smiley Technologies is a core systems provider for community banks and financial institutions with clients across eight states including Arkansas, California, Oregon, Washington, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas and Missouri. In 2020, Smiley Technologies became one of 25 firms in the country to receive the Forbes Small Giants distinction. In addition, in late 2019, Smiley Technologies was officially confirmed by Tugboat Institute to be a Certified Evergreen™ company. Evergreen businesses are led by purpose-driven leaders with the grit and resourcefulness to build and scale private, profitable, enduring and market-leading businesses that make a dent in the universe. Her experience prior to Smiley Technologies includes both development and special events roles at Carolinas Healthcare Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network and National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Col. Glasbrenner has a bachelor’s of science in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis with a double major in marketing and management.

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KALENE GRIFFITH

President/CEO, Visit Bentonville

Kalene Griffith is the president and CEO of Visit Bentonville, which promotes the city of Bentonville as a world-class travel destination. Griffith played competitive softball at Dodge City Community College and rugby at Kansas State University. She started her communityfocused career at Dodge City Parks and Recreation as the adult sports coordinator, which led to her being hired years later as the president and CEO of Visit Bentonville in 2005. As the mother of a competitive athlete, ranging from soccer and basketball to softball, she continues to witness firsthand the experience of tourism in other cities as she travels to attend her daughter’s softball games and tournaments. Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Griffith to the Arkansas State Parks, Heritage and Tourism Commission. She is a board member of the Southeast Tourism Society, the Arkansas Hospitality Association Travel Council, the Arkansas Association of Convention Visitors Bureau, Bentonville Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Bentonville Inc., Bentonville Public Arts Advisory Board, Bentonville History Museum, Dress For Success and Amazeum Children’s Museum. She currently resides in Bentonville with her husband, John; son, Keegan (21); and daughter, Keelah (19).

GRETCHEN HALL

President/CEO, Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau

ERIN HOLLIDAY

Executive Director, Emergent Arts/ Arkansans for the Arts

D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

Charlene Simon Serial Entrepreneur

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

Mindset. I consciously expect that the best outcome will prevail, no matter what the current reality looks like. How far a person can go or how great a success a person can have, depends on the thoughts you choose to believe.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

Soaps and cosmetics are beautiful to me. Fragrance, aesthetic and the sensory bliss that come from enjoying luxury self-care items bring so much to your alone time.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

You are powerful. Your power can be used for creation or destruction. You’ll know you’re using it for creation when you follow your intuition, despite contrary voices. You’re using it for destruction when you listen to people who don’t know your truth.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER?

I became a mother at 15, so a formal education wasn’t part of the unfolding towards a career. Soapmaking began as a hobby for me at my kitchen table, and I began self-educating in the chemistry of soapmaking at the local library. The internet was not in vogue like it is now. I appreciate the good struggles I went through to teach myself the science of soapmaking via library resources vs. digital teachings that seem to contain discrepancies these days.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

I am most proud of taking a kitchen-table hobby of soap and cosmetic crafting and turning it into a career and business that spans four states and has nearly 100 employees. The success of Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium has been a catalyst to launch several other nationally recognized brands.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

I used to feel guilty when I’d hear someone say, “Don’t work your life away; family first,” or “You need to take time off.” While I felt guilty hearing those things, something inside me would say, “But that’s not what’s happening with me.” I found my work to be my life and to be a creative vehicle for not only my children but for my work family and the hundreds of thousands of customers we share our products with. It’s been amazing watching my children’s entrepreneurial spirits thrive because of the work environment I created for myself.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

Don’t undermine what you know for the acceptance of others, because their acceptance is plagued with ignorance and doubt of your true creative potential.

POWER WOMEN

Marietta McClure Owner, McClure Fitness

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

Clap for yourself when no one else does, and be consistent with the little things, especially when you don’t feel like they matter.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

It was an accident... I love to workout, love to be around people — it’s a great combo for an Enneagram 8.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

I had recently moved to Saline County, and there were not fitness classes available, so I asked the director at the new Bryant Community Center if he needed any subs. He laughed and said, “Subs? We don’t have any classes at all. You can do whatever you want.” So, I rented space and (very slowly) grew a clientele.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

Working out is something I would do in my spare time. I’d list it as a hobby, but now my hobby is (a very small) part of my job. I remember when I worked full time and I was off on a random Monday and attended a mid-morning workout class, I came home and told my husband I wanted to quit my job so I could work out every day at 9 a.m. He laughed and jokingly said, “Well, if you can figure out how to make a living at it, then you can do that.” We still laugh about him subconsciously challenging me to level up.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

The people that you would expect to support you will not, but the most unexpected people will support and cheer for you.

Invest wholeheartedly in the people that show up. Don’t give a second thought to the others; they will only steal your joy.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER?

It didn’t at all — I majored in political science and used it for six years, but started my side gig three years in. I finally had to choose between my full-time job and a scary new business venture, as it had hit a point where I couldn’t do it on the side anymore. It needed my undivided attention.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

This is humbling to write, but being financially independent is a big deal to me. I waited tables to put myself through college and started McClure Fitness with $10,000 that took three years to save. I have worked so hard to get where I’m at, and I’ll never take being able to provide for my family for granted. Every once

in a while I pull up to my business and just stare at the building full of amazing, like-minded people and I can’t wrap my mind around how it’s all come together over the last 10 years.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

As a small business owner, it’s impossible to separate work and life. I take my work issues with me everywhere. That’s probably the thing I dislike the most. I miss being able to leave the office and not thinking about it until the next day. The only balance I have is that my husband is an amazing partner, and we manage our home life together.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME?

I had twins four weeks before MF opened — it was an incredibly stressful first year of business and life... but we all survived and are better for it!

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

Success is not a straight path; expect many unplanned detours.

POWER WOMEN

Julie McCallister President, ECCI

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? My success in life can be attributed to the immense support I have received over the years. I am very goal-oriented, and I work really hard to make my dreams come to fruition. However, I have always had folks beside me that have a desire for me to succeed. Without their support, achieving my goals would be much harder.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? I have always enjoyed being outside in nature and recognized the beauty of living in the Natural State from a young age. I grew up doing things outside with my family and was taught the importance of preserving the beauty of our surroundings. The environmental field was an easy fit for me and seemed like a career that I could be passionate about.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? I am most proud that I have been successful at my career while maintaining a family and my sanity all at the same time. Life is hard, and it is easy to forget the reasons why you do what you do on a day-to-day basis.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER? One of the most beneficial things that I brought with me from all levels of my education, is recognizing the importance in being able to write and communicate well with others. It doesn’t matter how good you are at what you do; if you cannot explain or express what you have accomplished with your clients, boss, coworkers, etc., there is not much success in what you completed.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

POWER WOMEN

Tjuana Byrd Attorney at Law

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? I trust God. I am my authentic self, always. I try to focus with a positive attitude. I try hard to make sure my sphere of influence is filled with good energy.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD? I began as a public defender serving indigent clients, and I developed a thick skin and learned to think quickly on my feet!

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? Advocating for children who often need a voice.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Get comfortable in your own skin, always use your power for good, support other women, and start saving and investing right away.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.”

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POWER WOMEN

Summer Khairi

Assistant Professor/Clinical Coordinator, College of Health Professions, UAMS WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? What attracted me the most about being an assistant professor and clinical coordinator was being able to teach and mentor the next generation of health care workers. I love seeing students so eager to learn and to make the world a better place.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I love my job. Each morning I wake up, I get excited about heading to work. Every day is a different day, and I get to do a mix of teaching and working with students, service work and research. I love being able to collaborate with other groups to get events and projects completed.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Only compare yourself to you. Compare yourself to the you last week, month or year.

If you are learning and making yourself better, that is the time to celebrate.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER? I have a degree in nuclear medicine and an MBA. I use my nuclear medicine degree while teaching my students. The MBA allowed me to understand overall business and to hone my leadership skills.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME? Age is really just a number. I don’t let age define who I am and what I am capable of.

Without fail, people feel compelled to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do because of my age. I do not listen to them. I follow my heart and passion to be my guide.

POWER WOMEN

Claire Brown

CEO, PowerWomen Realtor, Claire & Co./Keller Williams WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? Eliminating distractions has been key throughout my career. Pruning back the unfruitful branches of my vine in order to be more fruitful has given clarity, allowed goal-oriented motivation and provided a space for joy.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? I entered real estate out of necessity to pay for college while I was in school.

Immediately, I realized the impact I was able to have on helping others during some of their most difficult times and with one of their largest investments.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD? I started selling in college to pay for school. I also bought my first home at age 19.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? The people I am able to meet and work with are truly a gift. Clients have become lifelong friends.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? There is no such thing as balance! Balance to me is a “dirty word.” I listen to my body intently in order to know where I need to give myself grace. Having a messy house means I’m an involved mother who works a lot. Having a phone with 20 voicemails means I have a clean home. What we focus on expands.

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POWER WOMEN

Mellie Bridewell CEO, Arkansas Rural Health Partnership Regional Director, UAMS Office of Strategy, Management and Administration

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

It’s simple — being able to make a difference for rural folks.

There is nothing like being able to create a project or provide a service that truly affects the people that are your community.

It creates a pay-it-forward. It seems the more we are able to provide for our community, it comes back two-fold.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

It’s what I tell my daughters who are 21 and 23. 1) Only you yourself know what you are capable of achieving. 2) You have to believe in yourself before others will believe in you. 3) Find something that you are passionate about and make it your mission. Don’t limit yourself. 4) You don’t know what you are capable of doing until you try. 5) Asking the right questions and really listening can get you a long way in creating needed change. You will always need others; you can’t possibly be the expert on everything. 6) Whatever you do, don’t ever say you “will never” do something. Life just doesn’t work like that.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER?

I have a bachelor’s degree in English with a master’s in management tourism and recreation. My ability to communicate the needs of rural Arkansas as a grant writer along with the knowledge to work with communities and address economic impact brought me into the health care field with a unique perspective. I credit a lot to the college I attended (Spring Hill College) that molded so many of us to become responsible leaders in service to others. It was expected for me to go out and make a difference.

Photo courtesy of Arkansas Medical News

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

Personally, definitely my children. Professionally, I think I’ve helped raise awareness of the needs and concerns of our rural hospitals and providers. I hope my efforts will in some way keep them open and serving rural Arkansans.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

It’s the poster I have framed right by my desk. “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects the wind to change. A leader adjusts the sails.”

A leader is a person who can adapt and lead through change. A good leader has the ability to motivate others, work well across different cultures, agendas and sectors, and the ability to adapt to and facilitate change. This willingness to get out of one’s comfort zone and learn continuously as a way of adapting to changed surroundings marks a key difference between successful and unsuccessful leaders.

POWER WOMEN

Kim Vail Owner, Elder Independence Home Care WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

I grew up in Hot Springs with parents that owned a lake resort and a restaurant. No two days were ever the same, and life was always an adventure. I learned very early in life the value of caring for others not only when it came to our customers but also people in need. And not just family but people that crossed our paths for other reasons. One of my first lessons in that was our maintenance man, Clarence. He was a jack of all trades and could fix anything. He was a natural to help take care of the cabins we rented out as well as the grounds. He had no family to speak of and no real stable home. My dad decided to provide a place for him on our property as well as a vehicle and three meals a day as long he worked for us, which was many years.

And when he could not work anymore, my parents continued caring for him until he passed away. That legacy of genuine, unconditional love for others made owning an agency that cares for people during the most difficult time in their lives a natural fit for me. My calling.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

I love being able to offer solutions for families in need of help.

Sometimes, they don’t need home care yet or they need more than home care. I love being able to collaborate with them to come up with solutions that make sense for their unique situation. It is so important to not only look at the right now but also look at the bigger picture so they can put plans in place for the possible issues that may arise in the future. Giving clients and families peace of mind is so rewarding.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

Find someone that is successful in the career you want to pursue, and ask them to mentor you.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

I am most proud of my boys. They are amazing, big hearted, Jesus-loving men.

I have enjoyed every season of raising them, but this season of enjoying them in adulthood has been amazing.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

I have accepted that there is no perfect work/life balance. I love what I do, so I tend to work more than I focus on my personal life. Especially during this season of life with my kids being grown. I still prioritize time for God, my family, friends, my health and unplugging from it all to regroup.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

“Struggle is temporary, sacrifices are investments. Give up the short-term comfort for the long-term win.”

SPECIAL SECTION LINDSEY HOLMAN

CEO, Holman Strategies

Lindsey Holman founded Holman Strategies to apply the emergency management principles to the political side of crisis management. She helps clients bridge the gap between legislation, policy and implementation. Over the last 12 years, Holman has worked with public and private clients in over 20 states to prepare, prevent, respond and recover from natural and man-made hazards.

Holman’s work with state and local governments has involved preparedness planning and training, staffing incident response operations, catastrophic planning, post-incident assessments and disaster recovery. Prior to launching Holman Strategies, Holman served as the associate legislative director for justice and public safety at the National Association of Counties (NACo). In her capacity, she strategically planned, managed and executed successful advocacy campaigns associated with emergency management, homeland security and criminal justice legislation, and executive branch actions. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in emergency administration and management from Arkansas Tech University and a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University.

LATONYA LAIRD AUSTIN HONORABLE

Attorney at Law

LaTonya Laird Austin Honorable is an 18-year trial attorney with offices in Little Rock, Sherwood and Conway. Honorable opened her solo practice, The Austin Law Firm, PLLC, in 2008, serving clients across the state of Arkansas in the primary areas of criminal defense, domestic relations, civil litigation, estate planning and personal injury. She has served as a deputy prosecuting attorney, DEC E M BER 2 02 0

public defender and city attorney. She also serves as a HelpLine attorney for the Center for Arkansas Legal Services and a neutral hearing officer for a local housing agency. Honorable offers free legal advice through local radio stations Power 92.3, JoyNet, Salem Media and 96.5 The Box. She has been a regular guest co-host on “Arkansas Talks” with Patricia Ward and “Let’s Talk About It” with Larry Hicks. She is known for her free legal advice segments on Facebook Live entitled, “LegalEase” and “My2Sense.” Since opening her law practice in 2008, Honorable has provided free public legal seminars on estate planning, criminal justice and domestic relations/ family law. She also provides pro bono services in those same areas as well as landlord tenant law and restoring voting rights of those individuals convicted of felonies. She has partnered with Arkansas Access to Justice, Center for Arkansas Legal Services, MEGA KINGFEST, Central Arkansas Reentry Coalition, Americans for Prosperity, and the W. Harold Flowers Law Society to offer these services. Over the past three years, Honorable has been a regular speaker for the “Think Legacy” program at the Arkansas Department of Corrections Wrightsville Unit, preparing inmates for reentry into society after incarceration. In May 2018, she began a speaking circuit, traveling around the Central Arkansas area informing and educating voters on the 2018 Arkansas Ballot Issues as well as other legislative issues.

During the 2019 legislative session, Honorable worked and advocated on many issues related to criminal justice and landlord-tenant reform. She has testified before the Arkansas legislature and has supported, worked and volunteered with various organizations such as decARcerate, Indivisible, Progressive Arkansas Women. Through her nonprofit organization, Voter E.M.T., she strives to empower her community by educating and motivating people to become and remain an active participant in the political and social justice arenas.

Though not elected to public office (yet, she says), Honorable has run for judicial office and plans to return to the campaign trail when the time is right. She is an active member of the St. Luke Baptist 54

Church in North Little Rock, where she serves as the assistant director of worship and community liaison. She is the former secretary of the Adult Learning Alliance, a board member of the Friends of KLRE/KUAR Public Radio, a past president and current member of the W. Harold Flowers Law Society, a member of the Pulaski County Bar Association, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. LRAC, and founding board member of Positive People Promotions Inc. She is a wife to Lee Honorable and mother to three “beautiful young ladies.”

SEN. MISSY IRVIN

Arkansas State Senate

Sen. Missy Thomas Irvin is serving her fourth term in the Arkansas Senate representing District 18, which includes Cleburne, Stone, and Searcy Counties and portions of Baxter, Faulkner, Fulton, Marion, Van Buren and White Counties.

She is chair of the Senate Public Health, Welfare, and Labor Committee and Senate vice chair of the Joint Budget Committee. She is a member of the Legislative Council, the Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee and the Joint Performance Review Committee. She is the state chair for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and a founding board member of the Human Rights for Kids Organization. Irvin was first elected to the Senate in 2010 as the first Republican to hold the seat since Reconstruction in 1874. She was also the first woman and the first resident of Stone County to hold the seat. She was also the youngest woman ever elected to the Arkansas Senate, at the age of 39. Irvin’s political interest began as a presidential campaign volunteer at the age of nine for Ronald Reagan in Arkansas. She volunteered for Sheffield Nelson’s first campaign for governor, and then worked for his second gubernatorial campaign in 1994 as special events coordinator and assistant finance director. Irvin and her husband, Dr. John Dawson Irvin, have lived in Mountain View for more than 22 ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

years. They are members of First United Methodist Church of Mountain View.

APRIL LEGERE

Senior Director, Human Resources, Sam’s Club

DR. TIONNA JENKINS

Founder, Plate It Healthy

MARLA JOHNSON

SKYE MARTIN

Attorney, Arkansas Department of Human Services

Co-Founder/CEO, LeapXL

MARY NELL MCBRIDE

SUMMER KHAIRI

Assistant Professor/ Clinical Coordinator, College of Health Professions, UAMS

Summer Khairi was born and raised in Little Rock. She attended Mount St. Mary Academy and then received her degree in nuclear medicine from UAMS. She currently works full time at UAMS as an assistant professor and clinical coordinator in the College of Health Professions. While working full time, she completed her MBA at UA Little Rock. Her hobbies include volunteering, traveling and playing several sports.

She is a member of the UAMS House of Delegates and many committees trying to better the culture at UAMS. Last year, she was named a UAMS Phenomenal Woman. She also was selected as a Museum of Discovery SPARKS! Star.

Museum of Discovery recognizes people from all over Arkansas who have successful careers in fields that require the intensive study of science, math and technology. Her passion in life is serving people. Outside of work, she loves to volunteer. Khairi volunteers at the 20th Century Club, Keep Little Rock Beautiful Board, Big Dam Bridge Foundation Board, UA Little Rock Alumni Board and Harmony Health Clinic.

HELEN GRACE KING/LEILA KING/KAMIYA MERRICK

Owners, At the Corner Modern Diner

STEPHANIE LAMBERTH

Owner, Skin Fix Med Spa

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Senior Account Executive, Business World

JULIE MCCALLISTER

President, ECCI

Julie McCallister has worked at ECCI, an environmental and engineering consulting firm, for more than 15 years. She began her career at ECCI, part-time as an environmental intern, as she was obtaining her master’s degree from UA Little Rock. After only 12 years of being a full-time employee of ECCI, McCallister was named president of the company, and appointed as a member of the ECCI board of directors.

She has been successful at maintaining and developing the company culture and places emphasis on developing her employee’s strengths and helping them meet their goals and is looking forward to continuing to grow ECCI and the markets it reaches. She is an active member of the Arkansas Environmental Federation (AEF) Board and is the chair of the AEF Membership Committee, and is active on other committees within AEF. McCallister was named to the 2020 40 Under 40 class and participated in the 2020 Arkansas Business Executive Leadership Academy and graduated from Leadership Arkansas. McCallister helped develop a program of community giving by establishing an ECCI “nonprofit of the month” program. ECCI employees are encouraged to nominate a nonprofit organization that ECCI can support monthly. ECCI has pledged a monthly financial commitment to donate to each organization that is nominated. Employees are also encouraged to offer their

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time or services to the monthly nonprofit. McCallister is married with three children and stays busy trying to balance work and home life. When the family has free time between work, school and school-related activities, it enjoys spending time on Lake Ouachita camping, fishing and boating.

MARIETTA MCCLURE

Owner, McClure Fitness

Marietta McClure has built a career around what gives her the most joy: people, energy, and movement — lots of movement. In 2007, McClure became certified in group fitness and started several group fitness classes in Saline County due to their absence in the community. A recent graduate of the University of Arkansas and working for the state of Arkansas full time, she kept the part-time fitness gig going, growing it a little every month. What sets McClure Fitness (MF) apart is that it specializes in all group fitness exercise genres: spin, barre, yoga, bootcamp, pilates, TRX, dance, strength training, HIIT, kickboxing and more, bringing traditional standalone studios together under one roof.

McClure built a client base large enough that she invested in a brick-and-mortar location in 2013, and opened with a staff of 10 instructors in a 7,000-square-foot building. McClure Fitness has grown to become Arkansas’ largest group fitness studio offering 75-plus classes per week with a staff of 35 in a 12,00-square feet facility that houses five separate studios, a child-care center, locker room and the MF “Fit Shop” selling athleisure wear.

McClure is wife to Kent and mom to Shad, twins Elin and Etta and youngest son, Rex. In her spare time, she loves to decorate, and most Saturday nights can be found trying a new restaurant with her husband and friends. McClure is gearing up to expand across the region through MF franchises. This will allow other entrepreneurial spirited persons to own a business and support a family doing something fun.

D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

Kristi Crum

Chief Operations Officer, Rock Dental Brands HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD? Unbeknownst to me, a colleague recommended me for the role of COO at Rock Dental Brands. A great reminder that you are always interviewing. You may be interviewing for your next big job two years before the opportunity presents itself.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I enjoy serving those who serve our patients. My job is to make sure our amazing doctors and staff have what they need to create great patient outcomes. I love reading reviews from our patients on how our doctors and team members changed their lives.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Be eager and willing for every opportunity. I had more than 11 different roles in my 18 years at Verizon/Alltel, and a number of them were lateral moves. Be willing to do the hard work and preparation to get you where you want to be.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER? On the outside looking in, a degree in biology when surrounded by a sea of MBA’s can seem like a disadvantage. However, biology required me to seek data and rely on analytics, which has served me well over the years. Decisions are much more simple when you rely on data. Charles Morgan used to say to me, “It’s all about the data.”

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? Get organized, prioritize where you spend your time, communicate clearly what people can expect from you, and give yourself grace. My life and work are integrated, and both have to give and take at times.

"For 42 years, Ballet Arkansas has been a pillar of the Arkansas arts community, providing world-class performances and education programs to nearly 300,000 children and adults throughout Arkansas.

Today, we continue our important work, inspiring, uplifting, and enriching communities across the state. Learn how you can play an important role in our future and the future of the arts in Arkansas by visiting us online at balletarkansas.org/pointe" Catherine Fothergill

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ARMON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Stephanie Ayeroff

Kelli Hamilton

Allison Perkins

Kayla Baugh

Alex Hanes

Rebekah Piper

Powerful.

Women.

Kelsey Blackmon

Lorina Hankins

Barbara Preston

Mayci Blankenship

Kimberly Harris

Jennifer Quilao

Melissa Boyle

Colleen Hathaway

Lauren Rath

Kimberly Braden

Kimberly Head

Caroline Reddmann

Whitney Burgess

Sarah Henley

Quinn Riley

Aziza Carroll

Mary Claire Hill

Julie C. Robbins

In an industry once dominated by men, today, women constitute more than half of our team.

Kristin A. Chacko

Hannah Hitchcox

Ryleigh Salmon

Lizzy Chandler

Ashley Hughes

Lisa Schulte

Sydney Clifford

Shannon Hyslip

Lauralee Scroggins

Mary Craig

Colbie Jones

Jacquelyn Springs

Cynthia Easterly

Jessica Jones

Paula Eifling

Laura Leibrock

Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl, President & CEO

Mary Elrod

Lexie Lybrand

Lauren Farabough

Karon Mann

Ariela Faulkner

Jeni Mazzacane

Ali Fougerousse

McKenzie McMath Coronel

Emily Gassman

Margaret Miller

Tonya Gautz

Mary Moore

Shaelyn Goecke

Molly Morrison

Greta Goslee

Reehana Musthaq

Laura Gray

Haylee Nichols

Larissa Gudino

Kristen Nicholson, APR

Leslie Haller

Rebekka Nickols

Every day, they lead, create, innovate, and inspire.

We think you should know their names.

Innovation Lives Here.

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Erin Wadley Catherine Ward Caitlin Weaver Tori Weaver Jordan Welch Natalie Wilhoit Kristen Wilson Colleen Young Shakayla Zoss

Marketing n Advertising n Public Relations n Digital/Social Media n Website Development mhpteamsi.com

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Member 4A’s

D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

Alese Stroud

Founding CEO, Isaac.ai Board Chair, Arkansas Angel Alliance WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? Sheer persistence and a passion for life-long learning. Jay Chesshir, CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, has been known to introduce me as one of the most persistent people he knows.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Show up. Do your homework. Always have something useful to add to the conversation.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? I was the first person in my family to graduate college. Thanks to the National Merit Scholarship organization, I was able to earn a degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville without financial support from my parents.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? Attempting to maintain some aspirational, ideal work/life balance is setting yourself up for failure and frustration. I don’t even try. I focus instead on doing what is meaningful, on projects I am passionate about. When I am with family or friends, I hold space to be fully present for them. The rest takes care of itself.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” — Arthur C. Clarke’s Second Law

POWER WOMEN

LaShannon Spencer CEO, Community Health Centers of Arkansas

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? The definition of success can vary from individual to individual. For me, success is a “growth mindset.” My mindset allows me to learn from my mistakes and realize that I have an opportunity to improve and achieve whatever goal I set for myself. Also, I am an early riser. I wake up reading the news and making preparations for my workday before I head into the office.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? My personal experience with health care providers, especially Dr. Orman Simmons, one of the founding physicians of Cornerstone Clinic for Women. I’m also fascinated by the public policies that impact how care is delivered to certain groups, particularly disadvantaged populations.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER? My formal education taught me a great deal about discipline and other transferable skills. Continuing your professional education and training, even after graduation, is a must for staying competitive and enhancing your skills.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? Being able to be a champion seeking to ensure that everyone has access to top quality health-care services, especially the disadvantaged in our society.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? Being a mother is one of the many accomplishments that I am most proud of. It’s an allencompassing job without random praise or validation. A lot of a parenting effort goes unnoticed, and our kids won’t realize it until they are older and have kids themselves.

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ARMON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

POWER WOMEN

Pam McDowell

Realtor/Broker, ERA Team Real Estate WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? I had always been interested in real estate and was ready to start a new career path.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? I had a really boring job working at a factory that made vending machines. Went to a couple of real estate agents I knew and asked them to sponsor me, and the rest is history.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE THE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? The challenge and, of course, finding the perfect home that is the best investment now and in the future for my clients.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Be prepared for the “ups and downs” and the “highs and lows.”

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER? My formal education is limited, and it did not prepare me for the real estate industry.

On-the-job training, determination, along with my co-workers and mentors, were my education.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

SPECIAL SECTION PAM MCDOWELL

Real Estate Agent, ERA TEAM Real Estate

A top real estate agent with style, grace and business savvy who believes hard work is the root to success, Pam McDowell’s greatest achievement is the relationships she has built with her clients and within the community.

McDowell listens to the wants and needs of her clients as they find the perfect property that will also be the best investment now and in the future. That’s what differentiates her in an extremely competitive business; her desire to always put the client first. An agent for more than 40 years, McDowell started Pam McDowell Properties as the principal broker in 1995 along with Hal Crafton and Rush Harding. She built a premier agencyPOWER that stood out in the Faulkner CountyWOMEN real estate market. In 2017, Pam McDowell Properties was purchased by ERA TEAM Real Estate, where McDowell continues to work. McDowell also has received numerous awards and served on many charitable boards. Outside of work, she loves to cook for family and friends. Her cooking partner these days is her grandson, Tanner, who “makes life complete.” McDowell loves spending time with her family including son, Jay, who runs McDowell Insurance; daughter-in-law, Michelle; and 7-yearold Tanner.

(ATA) in June 2014. Newton has been with the ATA since 2003 and was vice president from 2008-2014. Since joining ATA, Newton has filled a range of leadership roles with expanded responsibilities in the development and implementation of strategic initiatives including planning, finance, member services, governance, regulatory and legislative affairs and advocacy. In 2018, she was recognized by the American Trucking Association with the President’s Trucking Association Executives Council Leadership Award for her regional and national advocacy efforts. She has held a number of association and national industry leadership positions, served on Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s Working Group on Highway Funding and spearheaded the legislative effort in 2019 to pass the largest highway-funding package ever in Arkansas. Newton recently served as chair of the Vote for Roads committee that successfully campaigned for voters to pass a half-cent sales tax in November 2020 to fund infrastructure. In April 2020, she was appointed to Arkansas’ Economic Recovery Task Force to develop an industry-specific strategy and make recommendations to the governor for the state’s COVID-19 economic recovery. She is a member of numerous industry and nonprofit boards and councils.

Newton is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas. She and her husband, Josh, and their two children, Nash (13) and Nyla (11), live in Bryant.

April Pollard Edward Jones

ELIZABETH MICHAEL

Owner, Bark Bar

WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

GivingBud moreAgency than you take. Never go into a business relationship Principal, thinking about what is in it for you. It’s best to always look for ways you can support & help the other person as you begin to DONNA MOONEY work together.

A mutually benefiting business relationship will Co-Owner, Natural always outlast oneState focusedMedicinals only on what can be received.

MARNIE OLDNER

CEO, Stone Bank Director, Stone Bancshares

Margaret “Marnie” Oldner is the CEO, MVP and director of Stone Bank, based in HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD? Mountain View, and EVP and director In high school, I took part in the stock market game put on SHANNON of its parent company, Stone Bancshares

by Economics Arkansas.

In college, I was reading Financial NEWTON Inc. She has served the bank since 2011 Advisor magazinePresident, and helping Arkansas my friend’s parents with their astoitsuse CEO, portfolios and investing.

It was only natural for me my CFO, and president. Prior to Trucking Association Stone natural gift in a field that I love. Understanding my clientsBank, and Oldner worked with many banks inside and outside of Arkansas Shannon Newton serving them in their own paths is what makes me happiest while a managing principal at DD&F about what I do. was appointed presiConsulting Group in Little Rock. She the ABOUT Arkansas WHAT DO YOU dent LOVEofBEST WHAT YOU DO? hasclients. more than 30 years of executive Trucking Association The deep relationship I am able to develop with my Each and every one is individual in what they want to

DEC E Maccomplish.

BER 2 02 0 So, spending time to better understand what is

important to them is where I start. This clear understanding helps to drive our partnership together on their individual

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officer experience in banking. Before her direct involvement in the banking industry, Oldner was a certified public accountant for Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) in Newport Beach, Calif. She is a graduate of California State University in Fullerton, where she majored in business and accounting.

Oldner currently serves on the board of the Arkansas Bankers Association and is a member of the Federal Reserve’s 8th District Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council where she serves as chair. She also serves on the Federal Reserve’s National Advisory Council representing the 8th District.

DR. MARY PARKER

Chair, Department of Criminal Justice, UA Little Rock

DESIREE PAULHAMUS

Director of Communications & Strategic Initiatives, Tri Sigma Foundation

APRIL POLLARD

Financial Advisor, Edward Jones

Through her career of more than 10 years, April Pollard has led and served from many different leadership positions. In 2017, she created an organization called Women Influencers. In both her professional and civic capacities, Pollard is able to serve and care for others. “One of the things I love best in what I get to do every day is that I get to build a real relationship with my clients. To me they are more than their portfolios. They are their hopes, dreams and the goals we plan and execute together. It’s a joy to sit in a meeting with my client, their children, attorney and CPA really looking at and working to understand their current situation and the steps to reach their goals. I see myself as the quarterback for my client.” Pollard credits her husband and my two boys for much of her success. Outside of the office, the family camps, hikes and hammocks together and loves experiencing the outdoors in Arkansas and across the country.

ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

DR. JULIA PONDER

Nurse Practitioner, Arkansas Heart Hospital

KIM RICHARDSON

Consultant, Nursing Consultants Inc.

CASEY ROCKWELL

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Advertising, UA Little Rock President, Junior League of Little Rock

FAIZA SAMAD

Licensed Professional Counselor, Chenal Family Therapy

Faiza is a licensed professional counselor at Chenal Family Therapy and holds a master’s degree in counseling. She has experience treating children, adolescents, and adults with diverse backgrounds and ranges of concerns. Samad is helping to contribute to overcoming the stigma against mental health in her local efforts where she has volunteered her time through different organizations. Faiza serves clients with depression, anxiety, adjustment disorders, OCD and trauma, while helping individuals have a more meaningful life experience. Faiza also has received specialized training in the areas of eating disorders, autism and post-bariatric care through her internships and work experiences. As someone who is committed to staying up to date on the latest research, she attends continuing education workshops each year and reads professional books and journals related to her areas of practice.

Outside of private practice, Faiza enjoys traveling, working out and spending time with her family, especially her two boys.

MIMI SAN PEDRO

Chief Strategy Officer, The Venture Center

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APRIL SEGGEBRUCH

Co-Founder/Chief Strategy Officer, Movista

April Seggebruch is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Movista, the leading provider of an advanced, mobile-first smart retail execution and workforce management platform. In this role, Seggebruch is responsible for leading the strategic product direction and overall execution of the company’s growth initiatives. With the collaboration and technical expertise of a world-class team, Movista continues to innovate and grow features and capability sets of its software. Designed to harmonize the retail ecosystem, Movista is constantly working toward tools that create visibility, accountability and consistency for flawless execution of work. She is a retail-industry veteran with a successful background in business, marketing and finance. Prior to co-founding Movista, she held finance and strategy roles with Westchester Asset Group and Tyson Foods Corporate Strategy and Development group. Seggebruch then scaled the ranks at Spectrum Brands, where she held various sales roles focused on the strategic growth of Rayovac products at major retailers such as Walmart and Sam’s Club. Seggebruch earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing management as well as an MBA with a focus on finance and entrepreneurship from the University of Arkansas. She remains active in the university’s business school and serves as a leader on several nonprofit boards and educational missions worldwide including the University of Arkansas’s SAKE (Students Acquiring Knowledge Through Enterprise) board and the Northwest Arkansas Council’s Executive board. She is a Walton College Entrepreneur mentor and a winner of the Walton College Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Seggebruch currently resides in Bentonville.

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CHARLENE SIMON

Serial Entrepreneur

Charlene Simon, owner of Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium, is a self-taught soapmaker and cosmetic formulator.

Simon earned a GED and started making soap and cosmetics at age 19 before starting Bathhouse Soapery in 2000. In 2009, Bathhouse opened its first location in downtown Hot Springs and now has three locations and a thriving online cyber boutique. In the last decade, it has made nearly 1 million pounds of soap.

Simon also has worked hard in her efforts to revitalize the downtown area. After opening Bathhouse, she acquired Villainess Soaps and Plenty Mystic Beauty Emporium. Her culinary affections led her to launch Fat Bottomed Girl’s Cupcake Shoppe, the first of its kind in Hot Springs (which her daughter now runs), and Evilo Oils and Vinegars. To date, the Simon family now helms seven stores in downtown Hot Springs. “I don’t believe in getting a big break,” Simon explains.

“I feel that you can’t wait around for something big to happen to you; you must make it happen.”

MARIA BUNTING SMEDLEY

Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Strategy, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives

Maria Bunting Smedley is the vice president of human resources and corporate strategy for Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc., and has more than 15 years of electric utility industry experience. Smedley is responsible for human resource policy, organizational development, talent management, employee relations and total rewards strategies and programs. She also leads corporate-wide strategy development and implementation. Smedley is licensed to practice law in Arkansas and Virginia with degrees from George D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

April Pollard Financial Advisor, Edward Jones WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

Giving more than you take. Never go into a business relationship thinking about what is in it for you. It’s best to always look for ways you can support & help the other person as you begin to work together. A mutually benefiting business relationship will always outlast one focused only on what can be received.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

In high school, I took part in the stock market game put on

by Economics Arkansas. In college, I was reading Financial Advisor magazine and helping my friend’s parents with their portfolios and investing. It was only natural for me to use my natural gift in a field that I love. Understanding my clients and serving them in their own paths is what makes me happiest about what I do.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

The deep relationship I am able to develop with my clients.

Each and every one is individual in what they want to accomplish. So, spending time to better understand what is important to them is where I start. This clear understanding helps to drive our partnership together on their individual strategy. I help them to understand I am not only focused on portfolio returns, but for the longevity of their plan and the wealth transfer for their family later.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

Speak up. It’s easy to sit back and let others make the way for you. But you’ll never get to where you want to go without speaking up for yourself. Negotiate your salary. Ask for the corner office. Ask to lead the project. Then excel at what you asked for. The more you can show you are capable of personal growth, the more opportunities you can take to propel yourself in your career.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

Being asked to speak at an international conference. My passion is helping women to create more success in their own lives by building sustainable business relationships. Every year, I have many opportunities to speak about my own story of business

success using what I’ve learned. I really love coaching other women in their own professional journey.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

This is something I like to think of as sections of personal priority. I wouldn’t say that I have work-life balance. I would say that currently, I have a priority on my financial advisory practice during the workday and a priority of my family in the evenings. Sometimes this priority is switched. Sometimes, I work weekends. And sometimes, I take off during the week with my kiddos and husband. The ultimate goal is to ensure that YOU feel fulfilled and that you make time to love others, whether it’s your friends or your family.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE?

“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

POWER WOMEN

Kalene Griffith

President/CEO, Visit Bentonville WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS?

My work motto is, “solve for yes,” hoping to inspire our team to find a way to make things happen. The following qualities are my secrets to success: I try to implement qualities by being prepared, having a positive attitude, being honest, always challenging myself and collaborating often.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER?

The tourism industry is fun and something different every day.

But one of the things I found in this career is, the people make the difference.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR FIELD?

My career journey was like a roller-coaster ride — lots of twists and turns with a few stomach-dropping events. But what a great ride it has been! I had every intention of being a teacher in a classroom, then the hospitality bug got me and put me on the path to work in tourism. I started in parks and recreation as a playground supervisor, on a sports grounds crew, as a lifeguard and tournament director. That job led to many other hospitality and tourism positions, including college sports, event planning, lifeguarding, travel planner, membership and YMCA Director.

Each of those jobs gave me the tools to lead Visit Bentonville today. I often told my dad, “Every job I’ve had in the past 30 years has lead me to tourism.” I love my job.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

I love the people I work with every day and the idea of sharing Bentonville, Arkansas, with the rest of the world. My greatest joy is watching people experience our community and the happiness it brings to their faces.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER?

Be open to new experiences and be willing to try different things. You never know which unique opportunity might lead to something new and exciting. Always remember to have fun, get involved and be ambitious. You will not grow and advance your career unless you dare to ask. So, always ask.

HOW DID YOUR EDUCATION PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR CAREER?

Studying early childhood education in college taught me to celebrate and communicate. I’m often reminded that if someone does something great, celebrate them, and if you have to say no or have challenges, communicate why or what. I have found that adults and kids are more parallel than you can imagine.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD?

During my tenure at Visit Bentonville, I have been proud of how our team has established our organization as a leader in our industry. We have been part of economic growth, including increasing the sports market locally from 15 sporting events in 2006 to more than 80 sporting events in 2019. Our team is part of the marketing and promotional efforts to share that our city is a cycling and arts destination. Visit Bentonville was key to establishing wayfinding that spawned into a regional wayfinding program with a multimillion-dollar investment in our region. One of our most favorite projects was the opportunity we had to lead the effort from research to conception to reality of the ice rink and splash park at Lawrence Plaza. In 2006, Chris Sooter and former Mayor Terry Coberly tasked our organization to do research on a permanent ice rink which developed into a year-round event. It is a pure joy to see families and visitors experience it.

SPECIAL SECTION Mason School of Law (JD), the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga (MBA) and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville (BSBA). She is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and Leadership Greater Little Rock. In 2018, Smedley was recognized nationally as a Chief Human Resource Officer Leader of Distinction at the North American HRO Today Forum and as a top Chief Human Resources Officer in HR Today’s Magazine. Smedley is one of the founders and current president of Arkansas Women in Power, the president of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and serves on the boards of the National Industry Liaison Group, Center for Energy Workforce Development, the Arkansas Foodbank, the School of Business Advisory Board of Philander Smith College and the Little Rock’s Citizens Review Board.

MAYOR VERONICA SMITH-CREER

City of El Dorado

The story of Veronica Smith-Creer is one often told in books and on the big screen. She’s a devout woman of faith who partners with her husband in both life and business as small business owners. She also is the elected leader of the town she loves, where she has spent her entire life.

Smith-Creer is motivated by the fire to invoke change and instill in others the belief that together, anything is possible.

“Being elected as the first woman and the first person of color to be mayor of El Dorado in 2018 makes me very proud.

It required strength and support to do something that no one who looked like me had done before,” Smith-Creer says.

“I love being able to help the residents of our city. It is important to hear what they need, so I enjoy the atmosphere that has been created with my administration.”

Smith-Creer wants to be remembered for standing up for what is right and for giving a voice to those who need to be heard. She hopes that the movement she started continues and advises DEC E M BER 2 02 0

anyone who would like to follow in her footsteps to never be afraid to do what others could not do. “Have the courage to dream and the tenacity to make it come true.”

LASHANNON SPENCER

CEO, Community Health Centers of Arkansas

As an organizational leader, LaShannon Spencer provides Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA) management, guidance and vision while offering support, assistance and advocacy to Community Health Centers (CHCs), also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), in Arkansas. A major focus for Spencer is empowering Arkansans to improve their knowledge of best health practices. She champions policies that aim to reduce health disparities and raise health standards across the state. She has been especially involved in expanding health care access and assisting in development of the CHCA partnership to recruit physicians to practice in rural Arkansas. She arrived at CHCA in 2016 after working in several leadership roles in Nevada and California. She is an accomplished national speaker and writer on healthcare topics.

Spencer received a bachelor’s degree from Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., a master’s of public administration from UA Little Rock and a masters of health services administration from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Ill. She completed her doctoral coursework at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas School of Community Health Sciences.

Spencer is active in her community and serves on several nonprofit boards.

ALESE STROUD

Founding CEO, Isaac.ai

Alese Stroud is a Central Arkansas community leader and entrepreneur.

She has a passion for 64

helping angel investors make successful investments and for helping early-stage companies find the capital they need to realize their ideas. At a stage in her career when many would have retired, she founded two companies. Both of these ventures take advantage of her decades of experience with technology, due diligence and merger integrations.

Her startup, Issac.ai, has automated significant parts of due diligence and is working on application of artificial intelligence to the overall process. This past spring, Issac.ai launched Issac:Lite – a first online, due-diligence-as-a-service, SaaS product. Stroud also is a founding partner at Vortylon, a Little Rock M&A firm, where she manages due diligence and post transaction integration projects for clients. Prior to these two ventures, she had a multiple-decade career managing software upgrade and merger integration projects for many of the top 20 banks in the U.S. Stroud is especially proud of having been part of the de novo team that launched Signature Bank New York in 2001. She manages a real estate investment portfolio for Purple Moon Properties, where storage facilities are her preferred asset class, and maintains a Certified Self Storage Manager credential since 2012. She is one of three individuals in the state to do so. Stroud occasionally shares her insights on storage investing in articles published on Medium. She has been featured on a number of podcasts including three visits to “The Shrimp Tank,” Arkansas Flag and Banner’s “Up in your Business”, Ghidotti’s “Arkansas 100,” Stephanie Harris’ “Uppity Women,” and “Intro to Due Diligence” with Angela Grayson. She is a frequent speaker at local organizations like The Venture Center, Rotary Club 99, the Arkansas Association of Subcontractors, the Arkansas Society of CPAs, the Arkansas Society of Human Resource Managers, the Little Rock Chamber and Little Rock’s Tech Fest. She has been quoted in Forbes and has presented for the BEI National Conference for Exit Planners. Her favorite presentation topics include the silver tsunami and its impact on economic stability and anything related to due diligence. Stroud currently serves the Arkansas Angel ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Kim Vail was raised in Hot Springs and her parents owned a lake resort they operated with her two older sisters. Having been in the hospitality industry her entire life, Vail admittedly never meets a stranger and appreciates the personal joy found in caring for others’ needs. Vail is a Certified Dementia Practitioner with the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. She studied under Teepa Snow to earn her Positive Approach to Care Trainer Certification and Positive Approach to Care Consultant Certification. Vail believes every life is precious and considers the time she gets to spend with those in need of home care, including the time she spends with their families, to be a privilege and an honor. She loves spending time with her two boys, Daniel (24) and Dax (20). Both sons have their mom’s passion of caring for others and both have worked as certified nursing assistants while attending college.

Vail also loves the outdoors, reading and spending time with her rescue pups, Lacy and Luna, as well Lex the kitty.

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ALEXANDRIA WASHBURN

Administrator, St. Elizabeth’s Place

President/CEO, MHP/Team SI

Starting at Mangan Holcomb Partners as an intern in 1994, Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl now proudly serves as president and chief executive officer of what is now MHP/Team SI, an internationally recognized, award-winning, fully integrated “TraDigital™” team of 130-plus — and the chief mothering officer of two.

Her servant leadership philosophy has earned the Rotary International “Service Above Self” Award, the service organization’s highest honor and the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas Woman of the Year in Business. She has also recently been recognized among top leaders in the global communications field on PRNEWS’ 2020 “People of the Year.”

MHP/Team SI is known for award-winning creativity in all disciplines and its breakthrough results for clients, earning the following recognitions in the last year alone: •A dweek Top 100 fastest-growing agencies of 2020 •P RSA Silver Anvil of Excellence Award • I nc. 5000 ranking for fourth consecutive year •A rkansas Business of the Year Winner and Business Executive of the Year Finalist •W omen’s Foundation of Arkansas Gender Equity Workplace Award A passionate and purposeful mentor, Vogelpohl recently announced MHP/Team SI will offer pro bono marketing services to WFA’s women-owned business grant recipients to fuel female entrepreneurship and the next generation of “Powerful Women” in Arkansas.

JANET WALKER

Co-Founder, GenWealth Financial Advisors

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SUSANNA WATT

Lobbyist, JCD Consulting

Susanna Watt is a contract lobbyist at JCD Consulting, serving clients across the state of Arkansas.

She brings with her a unique and varied legislative experience and political background that includes work in the Arkansas General Assembly on behalf of large and small corporations and nonprofit associations. In addition to being a U.S. Navy veteran, Watt is an alumnus of the 2015/16 Leadership Arkansas Class X hosted by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the board of the Arkansas Society of Professional Lobbyists. She has been invited to sing the national anthem at numerous political gatherings and events around the state and appears each Sunday morning on the The Buzz radio network.

When she’s not singing or politicking, she might be traveling, working out or spending quality time with her husband and their two children.

ASHLEY WIMBERLEY

Executive Director, Arkansas Press Association

WOMEN 2020

KIM VAIL

Owner, Elder Independence Home Care

SHARON TALLACH VOGELPOHL

Power

Alliance as board chair. As a founding member of the Ark Angels, she invests significant time in sourcing deal flow for her fellow angels and collaborating with other angels and Ark Angel Executive Director, Grace Rains, to complete the due diligence necessary to close funding for regional startups. Her board service resume also includes Rotary Club 99 , Leadership Greater Little Rock Alumni Association, Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, The Allen School, The Centers for Youth and Families and the Heartland Alliance for Regional Transmission. She is a past member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and currently serves the Arkansas Governor’s Cup as a judge for the Innovation Division. Stroud is a graduate of both Leadership Greater Little Rock Leadership Arkansas.

D EC E M B E R 2020

POWER WOMEN

Elizabeth Glasbrenner

Co-Founder/President and CEO, Smiley Technologies, Inc. WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO SUCCESS? My success is 100 percent a credit to the people around me — the employees of Smiley Technologies and my family. The employees of Smiley Technologies are so committed to our customers and each other; they have taken us to the strategic growth we are seeing today. My family supports me on every level and grounds me every day in what is important in life.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I genuinely love listening and solving problems for our customers and/or our employees.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? I believe I am able to maintain this because of the team we have built at Smiley. We share the burdens, and that allows each of us more time for our families and personal lives.

This is one of the many reasons we were selected by Forbes to receive the Small Giants award this past year. We were one of 25 companies in the country to receive this award.

In addition, I purposely make it a priority. Ninety-nine percent of things will be there tomorrow, and it will be OK if you handle it tomorrow. I am the only person that can enforce that balance for myself.

WHICH OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD? I am most proud of accepting the CEO position of our company when it was presented to me. I had many insecurities around taking this role. But, I got out of my comfort zone and went to work. This role has been the most fulfilling of my career because of my real ability to change people’s lives for the better.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? “Don’t worry about it until it’s a problem.” — Walter Smiley, my father who founded Systematics

POWER WOMEN

Susanna Watt Lobbyist, JCD Consulting

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO YOUR CAREER? During my tenure in the United States Navy, I had the opportunity to meet former President George H.W. Bush. I was able to shake his hand and speak with him briefly.

This encounter sparked a dream to pursue a career in the political realm, to impact policy and create change through law.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? I love being on the forefront of creating laws that positively impact people’s lives and businesses. Working with both my clients and legislators to achieve this is very rewarding. I’m truly living my dream as a lobbyist, and I look forward to being in the Arkansas political scene for many years to come.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING HER CAREER? Lead with confidence, but possess the humility to ask for help when you need it (because you will)! Be firm in your decisions without requiring constant input or feedback from others.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE? I’m a careerwoman, wife and mother, so having a job I truly love helps make it easier!

I don’t strive to maintain a perfect schedule; I strive for a realistic one. It’s impossible to predict what the day will bring, but the key is to always put forth maximum effort for my family and clients.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE? “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” — Henry Ford

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WE KEEP YOU INFORMED ON HEALTH CARE. armoneyandpolitics.com

Congratulations, Becky!

C O N S U LT I N G | C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

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INSURANCE

WILD RIDE

By Mark Carter

For Andrew Meadors, Arkansas’ own Forrest Gump,

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Andrew Meadors in his Little Rock office. (Photo by Jamison Mosley) ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

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rkansas insurance man and sports media guru Andrew Meadors can transition between the subjects of insurance and sports like one of his idols, Muhammed Ali, used to float around and then through opponents in the ring.

Seamlessly weaving, say, the challenges imposed

by COVID-19 and his journey to a belt with Jermain Taylor, Meadors is at home with either subject. These days, he’s at home as the CEO of the Arkansas and Tennessee markets for the Sunstar Insurance Group, an opportunity that found him not long after he sold his interest in Little Rock’s venerable Meadors, Adams & Lee firm to partner Roberts Lee. Insurance aside, Meadors is something of an Arkansas sports avatar, if not our own Forrest Gump. Among other noteworthy exploits, he served as the business manager for Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champ from Little Rock; as president of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) and Little Rock’s Major Sports Association (MSA); for a decade as statistician for beloved Voice of the Razorbacks Basketball Coach, Paul Eells; and he held the ladder in Charlotte as Nolan Richardson cut the net after the Hogs beat Duke for the ’94 title.

Through his work in sports media and connections in the insurance business, Meadors has been to 10 Super Bowls and 14 Finals Fours. Plus, he saw the Michael Jordan-led Dream Team play twice, in person, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and watched — from the front of the gallery, no less — as Tiger Woods chipped in on the first playoff hole to win his fourth Masters in 2005.

Not a bad run.

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1987 — Meadors, 24 and just called “ho me,” with firm partners Jimmy Ad ams and Allan Mead ors, his dad.

********* But it’s insurance that pays the bills, and Sunstar has been in growth mode since Meadors joined its executive team in 2017. Founded in 2012 by Memphis insurance executive Casey Bowlin, who had previously led the insurance group for Regions Bank, Sunstar has built a portfolio of firms across the region. Its current, four-state footprint resembles an inverted trapezium with Little Rock, Memphis, St. Louis and Wichita as the corners.

Its growth strategy entails majority stake in willing, successful independent agencies with at least $1 million in commission revenue. Sunstar is ranked by Insurance Journal as the 44th largest independent insurance agency in the country with roughly $500 million in annual premiums; it’s been a member of the top 100 for five consecutive years.

Once a local agency is acquired, its principals and key personnel stay on as Sunstar employees, of which there currently are roughly 400. Some acquired firms maintain their local identity; others become Sunstar hub offices. Sunstar is backed by global giant Brown Brothers Harriman Capital Partners, but several top employees,

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“I had the confidence in myself to know that the next adventure would come.”

Meadors thinks the time is right for the Sunstar model. (Photo by Jamison Mosley)

including Meadors and Bowlin, have ownership stakes.

Management of the group is provided by an overall executive committee on which Meadors sits.

Arkansas was a part of this growth strategy early on; Sunstar’s second acquisition (of 20 overall so far) came in 2012 with the First Delta agency in West Helena, known throughout the Delta for its expertise in agriculture.

Other Arkansas acquisitions include the former Town and Country agency in Jonesboro, a staple of the northeast Arkansas community that was a part of Stephens Inc.’s insurance division prior to the Sunstar deal, and the Matson agency in Little Rock, in 2018; the Todd agency in Little Rock in 2019; and this year, the Farris agency in Springdale, one of Northwest Arkansas’ largest.

Sunstar’s entrepreneurial DNA suits Meadors just fine, and he promises more Arkansas deals in 2021, including a big one in NEA. When he sold his interest in Meadors, Adams & Lee in 2016, Meadors walked

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away from a firm founded in 1909 that his father, Allan Meadors, had built into one of the state’s most prominent. But while he was ready for a change, he wasn’t ready simply to cash out.

“I had the confidence in myself to know that the next adventure would come,” Meadors told Arkansas Money & Politics. “I took five months, gathered myself, looked at all the different options and cast a wide net for opportunities. I didn’t see retirement for myself at age 53. I wasn’t ready for that.”

Five months after the deal with Lee, Bowlin came calling.

With uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and potential tax law changes on the horizon, Meadors thinks the time is right for the Sunstar model. “There are a lot of different factors at work that could be motivating folks to look at finding new partners,” Meadors said. Insurance is built on risk, of course, but the Sunstar model was built to serve as something like insurance for local agency owners, he noted.

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“Even though I was a young guy back then, I learned quickly that I could kind of bind my passion for sports and insurance and entertainment all together. And that really helped me in my career.”

The Meadors

family: Dr. Fred

The pandemic has impacted all lines of business, and insurers aren’t collecting premiums from many businesses wiped out by COVID-19. Following the 2002 SARS outbreak, the industry adopted exclusions releasing insurers from responsibility for losses resulting from virus or bacteria.

Meadors believes the industry should adopt something similar to the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, in which restaurant owners, for example, could check a box for virus pandemic coverage. It would result in higher premiums, of course, but also would guarantee coverage for their businesses in the event something like COVID-19 were to happen again.

He said, “In the world of insurance, we deal with services evolving in an inelastic demand curve. People still have to have their insurance.”

(d. 2012), Andr ew and Chase.

ness. He was connected to the sports media industry by a fraternity brother, who arranged for Meadors to meet a CBS Sports executive in town for an upcoming game between Pony Express-era SMU and Texas A&M. (In the mid to late ‘80s, the old Southwest Conference remained a major player, and SMU-A&M a bigger deal than it would be today.) Meadors got to work the game as a production assistant, and “things just took off from there.”

He’d work other big sporting events in Texas and following graduation, went to work for what was then the CBS affiliate in Dallas, KDFW, selling commercial spots.

In 1987, “Dad called me home,” and Meadors joined the family firm. (His brother, Dr. Fred Meadors, is a cardiovascular surgeon at CHI St. Vincent in Little Rock, and his sister, Chase Meadors Stover, lives in West Virginia.) Utilizing connections he’d made in Dallas, Meadors moonlighted as an independent contractor for CBS and ABC while building his insurance business.

He’d serve as a jack-of-all-trades, working stats or providing in-game research. Meadors said it was pretty special to come up with a nugget of research related to a specific play in a game and then see it included on the broadcast. He’d also hold the sound dish on the field or fill in as the driver for the broadcast teams working the game. His stages included NCAA tournament games, college bowl games, Monday Night Football, Dallas Mavericks playoff games, PGA golf tournaments and

********* Like many boys growing up in Arkansas, Meadors gravitated to sports at an early age. He followed the Hogs and even played varsity basketball at Little Rock’s Catholic High School. (Meadors credits Catholic High and Father George Tribou, its longtime former principal, as an “absolute foundation.”)

Meadors followed his older siblings to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he studied busi-

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, Allan, Joanne

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Andrew Meadors and wife, Susan, at Keeneland for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup.

Yankee Stadium, 2006.

In New Orleans for Super Bowl 47. (The Ravens beat the 49ers in the battle of Harbaugh brothers.)

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NASCAR. faced North Carolina for the national championship.

While still a student at SMU, Meadors worked the He watched as Chris Webber, one of the college game’s 1984 Daytona Firecracker 400, which was won by Richall-time greats, called a late timeout that Michigan ard Petty and included President Ronald Reagan in atdidn’t have, resulting in a technical foul and enabling tendance. Meadors and a pair of trusty binoculars had the Tar Heels to escape with a win. one job that day.

He said, “Back in the locker room area, it was amaz“My entire job for ABC on race day was to tap Jim ing to watch the sheer horror, shock and anger...”

Lampley on the shoulder when I saw Air Force One And in contrast to that agony of defeat, Meadors landing,” Meadors said. “When I did, he didn’t even experienced the thrill of victory the following April at look over. He just said, ‘And now, to my right, I see Air the Final Four in Charlotte that crowned the Hogs naForce One carrying President Ronald Reagan; he will tional champs. In addition to holding the ladder as the be here shortly.’ nets were cut, Meadors called the Hogs with players, “That was it. So cool. I saw Reagan and Petty together coaches and fans post-game in the team later. Heady stuff for a 20-year-old.” hotel lobby.

But before the commander in chief Back in Arkansas, Meadors worked arrived in Florida, Meadors had an for a decade as a statistician in the booth encounter with the Secret Service. for Razorback football, and he served as Hungover, he had crashed on a suite president of the ASHOF and MSA. He couch the night before the race, only still serves on the board of the Hall. He to be roused by a growling, Secret Seralso was a regular contributor in the vice-employed German shepherd. His ‘90s to Drivetime Sports on 103.7 KABZcouch just happened to be a planned FM The Buzz in Central Arkansas, just landing spot for the president later that as sports radio was establishing itself as day. a strong media presence in the state.

“I talked my way out of it, and they And through the MSA, Meadors let me go,” Meadors assured. helped raise funds to get Ozell NelThe road’s been filled with iconic moson, Taylor’s longtime trainer, to the ments. One special memory is of workSydney Olympics in 2002. After Taying the UNLV-Duke national champilor won gold and prepared to embark Barcelona, 1992. onship basketball game in 1990. In the on a pro career, Taylor and his team tunnel leading to the court before the remembered Meadors for his supgame started, Meadors was nearby as legendary CBS port and invited him to sign on as the future champ’s broadcaster James Brown put his arm around UNLV business manager. (Stephens Sports Management, star Larry Johnson and convinced him not to retaliate Meadors noted, had opted not to add “the unseamly” against Duke fans who were being verbally abusive. sport of boxing to its portfolio.)

Brown talked him down, and Johnson and his RunMeadors remembers wining and dining in Atlantic nin’ Rebel teammates would go on to crush the Blue City, almost as if it were a dream, with giants of the boxDevils by 30, the largest margin of defeat ever in an ing game such as Bob Arum and Don King. Of Taylor, NCAA championship game.

Meadors said, “I knew he had the ‘it’ factor. He could In 1993, Meadors was in the owner’s box in Dallas to be the next Sugar Ray Leonard.” And in 2005, Taylor witness Leon Lett’s infamous Thanksgiving Day miscue became the undisputed world middleweight champ. that enabled the Dolphins to kick a last second field Through Taylor, Meadors and his wife, Susan, got to goal to beat the Cowboys. Meadors was in Jerry Jones’ know iconic rocker Gene Simmons of Kiss, also a big box because his best friend growing up in Little Rock boxing fan. Simmons thought Taylor possessed the ‘it’ was none other than Shy Anderson, who married Jones’ factor as well. And turns out, Kiss had stayed at a hotel daughter, Charlotte. Meadors got to see all three Dallas owned by Susan’s mom when the band played the Pine 1990s Super Bowl wins as part of the Jones entourage.

Bluff Convention Center in the early ’80s. Simmons inEarlier in 1993, Meadors was one row behind the vited a thrilled young Susan to join him for breakfast Michigan team bench in New Orleans for one of college the morning after the show. During the meal, he corbasketball’s most iconic moments as the Wolverines rected her by explaining that, “Y’all is not a word in the

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English language.”

Meadors explained, “He was an English teacher in Detroit before Kiss.” When Susan reminded Simmons of the story once they reconnected through Taylor, the musician/promoter/salesman laughed and said, “That sounds exactly like something I would have said.”

Taylor’s ascent to the top of the boxing world and getting to witness Tiger’s most iconic moment at Augusta, made 2005 Meadors’ favorite sports year. Forrest Gump, indeed. ********* For Meadors, insurance boils down to “sifting through the suspects and the prospects,” and at Sunstar, quite simply, to matchmaking — deciphering the actual needs of a community and bringing the right people to-

Cape Town, South Africa, 2014.

gether at the right time. “That’s the fun part of our job.”

His proudest professional moment came in 1999 when Meadors got to marry his passions — he was awarded the insurance business for what was then the brand-new Alltel Arena (Simmons Bank Arena, these days). At $65 million, it represented the largest-ever builders risk policy in the state at the time.

“I just went crazy to research the markets, get the best price, get the best premium,” Meadors said. “Even though I was a young guy back then, I learned quickly that I could kind of bind my passion for sports and insurance and entertainment all together. And that really helped me in my career.”

One sports-related bucket list item remains unchecked, however. Meadors wants to attend a British Open. Don’t bet against him popping up at St Andrews one day. A

The Greenhurst “COVID-busting” team — Mandalynn Bradshaw, Donna Oakley and Rayna Callahan — with a UVC Safe Zone Mobile, a specialized mobile light used to disinfect rooms.

COVID-19

NURSING HOMES

“The good news is that the majority of our staffing and our colleagues across the enterprise have said, ‘We’re in this.’ They ran to the fire in the interest of the 2,000-plus elders that we care for every day. That’s been the beauty of it.”

Holding the

Line NURSING HOME EMPLOYEES ‘RUNNING TOWARD THE FIRE’ IN COVID-19

BY DWA I N HE BDA

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COVID-19

Greenhurst resident Rosella Stevens chats with family who can’t visit in person via Facebook Portal.

I

t’s been gaining on a year since COVID-19 landed in the Natural State, and only time will tell if the world will ever be the same. Even so, babies continue to be born, beaming couples still walk down the aisle, birthdays and holidays still roll to the top of the family calendar.

And Arkansas’ seniors, many of them, continue to take it all in from afar. Living behind panes of glass, PPE masks and their own physical frailties, theirs is the most foreign new normal, watching each day unwind from 6 feet away.

Many of these elders are lonely, but thanks to the efforts of caregivers in long-term care facilities across the state, they are never alone.

“We work hard during the day to put all these safety measures out there, and there have been long days.

There’s no doubt about it,” said John Montgomery, vice president of strategic operations for Southern Administrative Services, which operates The Green House Cottages of Poplar Grove in Little Rock.

“But even in those long days, we see the fruits of our labor where we’re keeping the infection rate down.

When we see various outbreaks across the state — and I wish that upon no home at any time — I know that we’re doing the right things.”

As Poplar Grove’s safety measures have been refined into familiar routine, management has turned its attention to enhanced activities and events in the name of attending to resident and staff mental health.

“The thing that we’ve changed the most is to try to continually have ongoing morale boosters for our staff and for our elders on an ongoing basis, more than we ever have,” Montgomery said. “It’s been really positive so far. We’ve had great response from our staff mem-

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For nursing home residents, daily activities continue. Poplar Grove resident Lois Patten receives a facial from employee Kristi Fisher.

bers; we’ve had great response from our community and, most importantly, our elders and their families.”

Having said all that, no amount of social activity can mask the hard facts of life: COVID-19 and its associated measures have taken a toll on seniors and staffs alike across the state, to say nothing of the industry itself.

“COVID-19, when it first emerged in this country and in Arkansas, we didn’t know if it was a sprint or a marathon back in March and April,” said Tim Hill, Southern Administrative Services’ chief operating officer. “We hoped it was going to be a sprint. Unfortunately, it’s really turned into a marathon.

“We kind of got through wave one, and things kind of settled, and they stayed light. And then, all of a sudden, the second wave seems to be somewhat more remarkable. You look at hospitalizations, early onset, you look at the death rate. All of that has literally destabilized both the acute care and the long-term care sector.

“It’s caused people to be gun-shy about applying for opportunities. We’ve lost employees that just didn’t want to run towards the fire. But the good news is that the majority of our staffing and our colleagues across the enterprise have said, ‘We’re in this.’ They ran to the fire in the interest of the 2,000-plus elders that we care for every day. That’s been the beauty of it.”

If care communities in cities like Little Rock and elsewhere are feeling isolated, then those located in Arkansas’ small towns and rural locations, such as Greenhurst Nursing Center in Charleston, can some days feel like they’re on another planet.

“We’ve been doing really, really well with our COVID-19 protocols. We haven’t had a horrific outbreak, knock on wood,” said Jonas Schaffer, co-owner. “Our staff is really working their rears off.”

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NURSING HOMES

“I have a 99-year-old, World War II vet, and he stormed the beaches at Normandy. He went all the way through, 17, 18 years old, people raining down machine gun fire, until the end of the war. I keep making this analogy that this man fought for us and now, we have to fight for him. He doesn’t want COVID-19, doesn’t want to be gasping for air.” each employee individually and assessing them, trying to figure out who needs to stay out and then telling them when to come back in.

“We’ve been nonstop trying to educate staff about what to do if you find yourself in a crowded living room with an uncle who thinks all of this is fake and is coughing. We’re also trying to provide the tools to keep people safe. I’m literally giving away all of this PPE, surgical masks and KN95 masks to my employees just to take home and give to family and just to have.”

Even with the fatigue in his voice, Schaffer demonstrates the kind of resolve that only comes with being a proud, third-generation owner of the award-winning community. What his forebearers saw through their eras’ challenges, he’s determined to see through coronavirus.

“I have a 99-year-old, World War II vet, and he stormed the beaches at Normandy,” Schaffer said. “He went all the way through, 17, 18 years old, people raining down machine gun fire, until the end of the war. I keep making this analogy that this man fought for us and now, we have to fight for him. He doesn’t want COVID-19, doesn’t want to be gasping for air. I’m trying to pick up all of these examples from our residents to inspire our people to feel it in their hearts and bones that they’re worth fighting for.”

Schaffer is something of an anomaly in the longterm care business, an on-site owner who works in his property every day. This immediacy has allowed the company to implement a variety of innovative programs during the course of the pandemic. Earlier this year, he started recording residents telling their life stories for social media broadcasts and posted their photos holding hand-lettered signs seeking pen pals. He deployed technology to produce socially distant hallway bingo games, made arrangements with local churches to stream services and helped residents stay in touch with loved ones, virtually.

“I’m trying to do anything I can, thinking outside of the box, that could help out,” he said, the strain of the past nine months flattening his voice. “The holidays were gut check time, then hoping we’d see the light at the end of the tunnel after that with a vaccine, if we could just do it.”

Operators don’t get any more all-in than Schaffer, who co-owns Greenhurst with his wife, Halie, a nurse practitioner. Together they devise and implement the protocols that serve both the elders and the staff.

“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” he said. “She has helped mastermind a very successful strategy of keeping COVID-19 out of the building. That’s taking

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D EC E M B E R 2020

You only want the best for your loved ones.

Northwest Arkansas’ only all-private room facility State-of-the- art therapy gym

ASHTON PLACE

2 beautifully maintained outdoor courtyards for residents and their families to enjoy

HEALTH & REHABILITATION, LLC

Daily activity calendar Restaurant-style food plus snacks served daily

Apple Creek Health & Rehab is located in quiet, Centerton, Arkansas. We are the newest all-private room long term care/ skilled nursing facility in Northwest Arkansas, and we are Medicare and Medicaid certified. Our staff includes Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Licensed Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapists, and Certified Nursing Assistants.

Now Accepting Reservations for Short Term Rehabilitation and Long Term Care

To schedule a tour before admission, call René at 479-831-6518.

318 Strozier Lane • Barling • 479-452-8181 Visit www.ashtonplacehr.com to take our virtual tour

1570 West Centerton Boulevard | Centerton, ar | 479-224-4817

Atkins Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

Hot Springs’ newest, premier skilled nursing and long term care facility.

Atkins Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is a newly remodeled rehabilitation and long-term care facility offering skilled therapies, a restorative program, as well as multiple amenities.

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Our mission is to provide our residents with extraordinary healthcare services and ensure families peace of mind by delivering compassionate care in a home-like setting.

605 NW 7th Street • Atkins, AR 72823 479.641.7100 • Fax 479.641.1285 WWW.ATKINSNR.COM

Our facility features all private rooms for our long term residents, as well as, private short term rehab rooms with 42-inch flat screen televisions and telephones for family and friend convenience. We have a dedicated secure unit with 23 private rooms and an enclosed courtyard.

2600 Park Ave | Hot Springs, AR 71901 | 501.321.4276

2018

BRONZE

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BRIARWOOD NURSING & REHABILITATION, INC. Briarwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center is a 24-hour skilled nursing and rehab center housed in a spacious facility, conveniently located off I-630 in Little Rock.

Our Rehabilitation Team offers Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapies— satisfying goals to return home after short-term rehab!

516 S. Rodney Parham Little Rock, AR 72205 501.224.9000

Bradford House provides skilled professional care in a compassionate and supportive atmosphere. Our licensed nurses, physicians, optometrists, dentists and other specialists believe that building strong relationships with residents and families is essential to the healing process. The entire staff is devoted to providing the quality of care which celebrates the dignity and grace of every single resident.

BriarwoodNursingAndRehab.com

1202 SE 30th Street | Bentonville, AR 72712 | 479.273.3430 BradfordHouseNR.com

nursing and rehabilitation

Cabot Health and Rehab, LLC Skilled long-term care facility offering short-term rehab, as well as long-term care and hospice. We accept Medicare/HMOs, Private Pay, Long-Term Care Insurance, and Medicaid.

Feels Like

Home

C

hapel Ridge Health and Rehab is a place residents can feel like home. A place of their own with staff and friends nearby.

We are here to provide a loving supportive home for our residents. One where they are cared for physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally while they are afforded the attention, respect and dignity they deserve.

Cabot Health and Rehab, LLC 200 North Port Drive Cabot, Arkansas 72023

It is our goal to provide the highest quality of healthcare services and the greatest variety of healthcare options to the residents of this community.

(501) 843-6181

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4623 Rogers Ave. Fort Smith, AR 479.452.1541

Chapel Ridge

Health & Rehab

D EC E M B E R 2020

TOP 10 NURSING FACILITIES IN ARKANSAS Ranked by total revenue for 2020

Facility Wood-Lawn Heights, Batesville

$14,276,928

Randolph County Nursing Home, Pocahontas

$13,603,959

The Green House Cottages of Belle Meade, Paragould

$12,563,836

Heritage Living Center, Conway

$12,205,520

Jamestown Nursing and Rehab, Rogers

$12,145,296

Arkansas State Veterans Home at North Little Rock

$12,137,806

Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Little Rock

$11,904,364

Methodist Health and Rehab, Fort Smith

$11,787,141

Ashton Place Health and Rehab, Barling

$11,748,732

Covington Court Health and Rehabilitation Center, Fort Smith

$11,720,427

Ownership: Wood-Lawn, Inc.

Ownership: Randolph County

Ownership: Paragould GH Operations, LLC Ownership: HLNC, Inc.

Ownership: Jamestown Nursing and Rehab LLC Ownership: Arkansas State Government

Ownership: Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation, Inc.

Ownership: Methodist Nursing Home of Fort Smith, Inc. Ownership: Ashton Place Health and Rehab, LLC Ownership: Northport Health Services of Arkansas, LLC

Source: Arkansas Department of Human Services

At the Dardanelle Nursing & Rehabilitation Center we are committed to providing the highest quality patient care, while maintaining a dignified atmosphere. Our qualified staff is here giving their loving support for the tasks of day-to-day living, allowing our guests to enjoy more pleasant and carefree activities.

Colonel Glenn Health and Rehab Colonel Glenn Health and Rehab is Central Arkansas’ newest 120-bed state-of-theart skilled nursing facility. We provide a range of services from long-term care to short-term rehab, including respite care. Our facility is conveniently located off the I-430 South Colonel Glenn exit. We provide 24-hour care for all skill levels. All employees are offered continuing education in addition to ongoing on-site training.

Dardanelle Resident Room Amenities: • Free Wireless Internet Dardanelle Features: • Flat Screen TV’s • State of the Art Rehabilitation Gym • Individual Climate Controls • Outside covered patio area.

• Private Telephone Hookups • Outside garden, wheelchair accessible.

• Offers both semi-private and private rooms • Physician Services 24/7 • Residents are provided with social services, daily • Our Activities Room can be reserved for family activities, housekeeping and a superior dining gatherings experience.

• Our library filled with books & magazines for • Residents are encouraged to personalize their residents & families rooms • Beauty Salon Services • Wonderful Activity Program • 24-hour Nursing Services by specialized staff • Daily Housekeeping and Laundry Services

• Outdoor pavilion • On-site beauty shop • Activity program for all skill levels, including trips within the community • 82 private rooms • Luxurious interior design

2199 Hwy 7 North, Dardanelle, AR (479) 229-4884

13700 DAVID O. DODD ROAD || LITTLE ROCK || 501-907-8200 DEC E M BER 2 02 0

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TOP 10 NURSING FACILITIES IN ARKANSAS Ranked by adjusted net income for 2020

Facility Ozark Health Nursing and Rehab Center, Clinton

$4,256,160

The Waters of Fort Smith, Fort Smith

$1,979,186

DeWitt Nursing Home, DeWitt

$1,757,700

Wood-Lawn Heights, Batesville

$1,655,183

The Waters of Mountain View, Mountain View

$1,649,904

Rich Mountain Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Mena

$1,548,263

Heritage Living Center, Conway

$1,539,813

Greenhurst Nursing Center, Charleston

$1,478,247

The Waters of Newport, Newport

$1,382,746

Crawford Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, Van Buren

$1,248,025

Ownership: Ozark Health, Inc.

Ownership: The Waters of Fort Smith, LLC

Ownership: DeWitt Hospital and Nursing Home, LLC Ownership: Wood-Lawn, Inc.

Ownership: The Waters of Mountain View, LLC Ownership: Mena SF Operations, LLC Ownership: HLNC, Inc.

Ownership: Greenhurst, Inc.

Ownership: The Waters of Newport, LLC Ownership: LTC of Van Buren, LLC

Source: Arkansas Department of Human Services

The amenities of a luxury hotel The best in clinical care

The Comfort of Home

At Greenbrier Nursing & Rehab Center, we are committed to being a premier provider and facility of choice throughout Faulkner County and the communities that surround us.

W We offer long term care and skilled nursing with physical, occupational and speech therapy.

e serve many types of patient and resident needs from short-term to long-term care. Our programs, services, and facility strive to serve and operate with superior quality in order to satisfy the needs of our residents, their families, and our communities.

Residents enjoy a range of amenities and activities, including room service, laundry, Wi-Fi, restaurant-style dining, public parks, fishing, shopping, museums, libraries, and community events. Occupational, Speech, and Physical Therapy are also offered, as well as an all-female observation unit.

We invite you to visit our website at greenbriernr.com, call us, or come for an appointment-free tour.

NUrSING NUr NU rSING & rehABILITATION AT

GOOD

• Daily Housekeeping and Laundry Services • Beauty/Barber Shop • Physicians Visits • Spacious Climate-Controlled Rooms 3001 Aldersgate Road •Little Rock, AR 72205 • Cable Television 501.217.9774• Fax: 501.217.9781 • Secured and Therapeutic Courtyard We Accept: Medicaid • Medicare • Private Pay • Transportation

GREENBRIER NURSING & REHAB CENTER

Shepherd

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D EC E M B E R 2020

NURSING HOMES BY COUNTY ARKANSAS

Gassville Therapy and Living 105

Crestpark DeWitt, LLC 70

Good Samaritan Society Mountain Home 70

Crestpark Stuttgart, LLC 100

Hiram Shaddox Geriatric Health and Rehab 140

DeWitt Nursing Home 60 Total 230

Pine Lane Therapy and Living 79

ASHLEY Nursing homes in Arkansas are listed by county and number of beds.

Source: Arkansas Department of Human Services

Somerset Senior Living at Crossett 83

Total 498

Stonegate Villa Health and Rehabilitation, LLC 76

Apple Creek Health and Rehab, LLC 114

Total 159

Ashley Rehabilitation and Health Care Center 100

BENTON

BAXTER

Bradford House Nursing and Rehab, LLC 98 Concordia Nursing & Rehab, LLC 102 Highland Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 90 Innisfree Health and Rehab, LLC 80 Jamestown Nursing and Rehab, LLC 140 Promenade Health and Rehabilitation 114

Care Manor Nursing and Rehab 104

LEGACY HEIGHTS Jamestown offers a state-of-the-art therapy gym and orthopedic center. Personalized physical, occupational and speech therapy programs will center on regaining strength and independence.

N U R S I N G & R E H A B I L I TAT I O N , L L C

Legacy Heights Nursing and Rehabilitation offers modern conveniences in a gracious setting. We proudly provide a comfortable, home-like atmosphere to each and every person who enters our facility.

Customized physical, occupational and speech therapy programs are conducted by licensed therapists who focus on improving mobility and motor skills following an injury or illness. The enrichment of daily physical function can significantly improve a resident’s self-reliance and overall happiness.

Our staff provides residents with specially tailored treatment plans designed to recapture health, independent living and facilitate a return home.

Jamestown features separate rooms and private suites with a private entrance for the comfort and convenience of short-term residents and their families focused on returning home. A full meal service with snacks is prepared daily.

2016

• Private and semi-private rooms available • 24-hour nursing services by specialized staff • On-site physical, occupational, and speech therapy services

To schedule a tour, call our Referral Line at 479.586.9707 or take a virtual tour at www.JamestownNR.com 2001 Hampton Place | Rogers, AR

Compassion in Action 900 West 12th St. • Russellville, AR 72801 • 479.968.5858

Conveniently located at off of New Hope Road near Mercy Medical Center.

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• State-of-the-art rehabilitation gym • Superior dining experience • Outside & garden courtyard, wheelchair accessible

legacyHeightsnr.com 84

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Rogers Health and Rehabilitation Center 140

BRADLEY

CLARK

Chapel Woods Health and Rehabilitation 140

Courtyard Gardens Health and Rehabilitation Center 100

Shiloh Nursing and Rehab, LLC Total 140 80

Southridge Village Nursing and Rehab 122 Total 262

CARROLL

Twin Rivers Health and Rehabilitation 112

Siloam Healthcare LLC 125

Autumn Hil 114

Total 212

The Green House Cottages of Southern Hills 75

The Waters of Rogers, LLC 110

Brighton Ridge 100

CLAY

Total 75

Total 1,293

Total 214

CLEVELAND

BOONE

CHICOT

Corning Therapy and Living Center COLUMBIA Community Compassion 84 Center of Magnolia 140 General Baptist Nursing

Hillcrest Home 103

Dermott City Nursing Home 70

Home of Piggott 105

Somerset Senior Living at Harrison 90

Lake Village Rehabilitation and Care Center 102

Rector Nursing and Rehab 70

Somerset Senior Living at Mount Vista 154

Total 172

Total 259

CLEBURNE Somerset Senior Living at Seven Springs 140

Total 347

Summit Health & Rehab Center 70 The Green House Cottages of Wentworth Place 135 Total 345

We are a comfortable “home in the country” in the small, historic city of Lonoke.

Our staff of trained professionals help residents to attain optimal health, maintain independence and dignity and when possible, to assist them in returning home.

NURSING & REHABILITATION

Lonoke Health & Rehab 1501 Lincoln Street, Lonoke, AR • 501.676.2600

Superior Drive, Conway

Contact Vickey Kirkemier to learn more at 501-733-0802 ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

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CONWAY

CRITTENDEN

Ridgecrest Health and Rehabilitation 135

Brookridge Cove Rehabilitation and Care Center 118

Community Compassion Center of West Memphis 119

St. Elizabeths Place 110

River Chase Rehabilitation and Care Center 88

CRAWFORD

CRAIGHEAD

Alma Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 80

Community Compassion Center of Jonesboro 136

DESHA Somerset Senior Living at McGehee 140

West Memphis Health and Rehab Total 140 155

Total 780

Total 206

Total 126

Willowbend Healthcare and Rehabilitation 118

DREW Belle View Estates Rehabilitation and Care Center 80

Total 392 Crawford Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center 129

Craighead Nursing Center 121 Lakeside Health and Rehab 75

Valley Springs Rehabilitation and Health Center 105

Lexington Place Healthcare and Rehabilitation LLC 117

Van Buren Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 140

Monette Manor, LLC 86

Total 454

CROSS Crestpark Wynne, LLC 100 River Ridge Rehabilitation and Care Center 100 Total 200

The Woods of Monticello Health and Rehabilitation Center 122 Total 202

FAULKNER Conway Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 105

DALLAS

Greenbrier Nursing and St. Johns Place of Arkansas, LLC Rehabilitation Center 84 126

GReySToNe

Nursing & Rehabilitation

Nursing &Rehab

STARRatings RATINGS 5 5STAR Skilled Nursing Facility Skilled Nursing Facility

400 West 23rd street Hope, Ar

• 2 Courtyards • Cable System • Modern Furnishings • Private & Semi Private Rooms • State-of-the-Art Rehab Gym • Restaurant Style Dining • Separate Rehab Dining • Hospice & Respite • Physical, Occupational, Speech Rehabs Offered Medicare • Private Pay All Major Private Insurance

Occupational Therapy • Physical Therapy Speech Therapy • Spacious Living Area Secured Unit • Hospice & Respite Care Semi-private or private beds available for long-term care & rehab services

Greystone Nursing & Rehab, LLC Greystone Nursing 121 Spring Valley Rd. | Cabot

& Rehab, LLC 501-605-1545

www.GreystoneNursingAndRehab.com www.greystonenursingandrehab.com 121 Spring Valley Rd. | Cabot | (501) 605-1545

Tours available daily, call to set up yours

HeAtHermAnornursingAndreHAb.com | 870.777.3448

Tours available daily—call today to schedule yours!

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Heritage Living Center 140 Salem Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Inc. 115

Superior Health & Rehab, LLC 112 Total 660

FRANKLIN Greenhurst Nursing Center 102

Total 237

The Green House Cottages of Belle Meade 167

Total 184

Total 310

Somerset Senior Living at Canyon Springs 95

GARLAND

St. Andrews Healthcare 104

Ozark Nursing Home, Inc. 135

Quapaw Care and Southfork River Therapy and Living Rehabilitation Center, LLC 126 84

Abby Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation The Pines Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 86 125 Belvedere Nursing and Village Springs Health and Rehabilitation Center, LLC Rehabilitation 110 120 Garland Nursing and Total 1,073 Rehabilitation Center 95

GRANT Sheridan Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 121

Hot Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation - A Waters Community, LLC 152

Total 121

FULTON Eaglecrest Nursing and Rehab 100

Lake Hamilton Health and Rehab GREENE Greene Acres Nursing Home 84 143 Lakewood Healthcare, Inc. 80

HEMPSTEAD Heather Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 128 Total 128

HOT SPRING Arbor Oaks Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 104 Encore Healthcare and Rehabilitation 95 Happy Valley Nursing & Rehabilitation 83 Total 282

offers a state-of-the-art therapy gym and orthopedic center. Personalized physical, occupational and speech therapy programs will center on regaining strength and independence.

Hickory HeigHts

Nestled in the center of a quiet neighborhood, Innisfree Health & Rehab is a unique, family-oriented facility offering skilled care in a loving, supportive atmosphere.

Our licensed nurses, physician assistants, dentists, podiatrist and other specialists believe that our residents need strong relationships with their families and is key to the healing process.

Customized physical, occupational and speech therapy programs are conducted by licensed therapists who focus on improving mobility and motor skills following an injury or illness. The enrichment of daily physical function can significantly improve a resident’s self-reliance and overall happiness.

Our staff provides residents with specially tailored treatment plans designed to recapture health, independent living and facilitate a return home.

Hickory Heights features a separate Rehab wing for the comfort and convenience of short-term residents and their families who are focused on returning home. A full meal service with snacks is prepared daily.

The entire Innisfree staff is devoted to providing the highest quality care possible, in a manner which celebrates the dignity and grace of every resident.

Âť Conveniently located at 3 Chenal Heights Drive in Little Rock

Our home is conveniently located just off Walnut in Rogers close to Walmart, under the medical directions of Dr. Kimberly Burner.

301 S. 24th Street | Rogers, AR 72758 | 479-636-5545 | www.InnisfreeHR.com

To schedule a tour, call us at 501.830.2273 or take a virtual tour at HickoryHeigHtsHr.com ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

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D EC E M B E R 2020

HOWARD

IZARD

Community Compassion Center of Nashville 78

Pioneer Therapy and Living 86

The Villages of General Baptist Health Care West 177

JACKSON

The Waters of White Hall, LLC Walnut Ridge Nursing and 120 Rehabilitation Center 119 Trinity Village Medical Center 94 Total 269

St. Michaels Healthcare 130

Total 661

LEE

White River Healthcare 70

Dierks Health and Rehab 70

Total 156 Nashville Nursing and Rehab, Inc. 70 Total 218 The Waters of Newport, LLC 120

INDEPENDENCE Community Compassion Center of Batesville 150

LAWRENCE Lawrence Hall Health & Rehabilitation 150

Total 250

Arkansas Convalescent Center 103

Wood-Lawn Heights 140

Pine Ridge Healthcare, LLC 41

Total 400

The Villages of General Baptist Health Care East 126

Clarksville Nursing and Rehab, LLC 82

Total 80

Johnson County Health and Rehab, LLC 120

East Point Health and Rehab 87

Total 202

Gardner Nursing and Rehabilitation 95

LAFAYETTE

Total 182

LINCOLN

JEFFERSON

Mountain Meadows Health and Rehabilitation 110

JOHNSON

Crestpark Marianna, LLC 80

The Waters of Stamps, LLC 94 Total 94

Lake Hamilton HEALTH & REHAB

• State-of-the-Art Rehabilitation Gym • Private Speech Therapy Room • 24/7 Physician Services • 24-Hour Nursing Services by Specialized Staff • Treatment Nurse • Specialized Occupational Therapy • Return-to-Home Training Area • Beauty Salon Services • Daily Housekeeping and Laundry Services • Outside Covered Patio Area in Courtyard

• Semi-Private Rooms with a Dividing Wall, Access to a Window, and Heating & Air Unit • Free Wireless Internet • Private Rooms • Superior Dining Experience • Flat Screen TV’s with Direct TV • Private Telephone Hookups • Short-Term Rehabilitation • Long-Term Care including Respite and Hospice

SpEciALizing in: •Short Term Rehab AccEpTing Medicare/Medicaid Private Pay Long Term Care Insurance

LH

1451 East Poplar Street Clarksville, AR 72830 479-754-2052 www.johnsoncountyhr.com DEC E M BER 2 02 0

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120 Pittman Road Hot Springs, AR 501.767.7530 ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

LITTLE RIVER Little River Nursing & Rehab 85 Pleasant Manor Nursing & Rehab 88 Total 173

LOGAN Oak Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Inc. 120

Harris Health and Rehab MARION Cavalier Healthcare of 115 England Community Compassion Center of Yellville 70 Heritage Square Healthcare 96 Center Chambers Nursing Home 86 Twin Lakes Therapy and Center, Inc. Living 90 Manila Healthcare Center 80 70 Greystone Nursing and Total 176 Rehab, LLC Total 341 80

MILLER

MONROE

Lonoke Health and Rehab Center, LLC

80

Arkansas Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 173

Paris Health and Rehabilitation Center 140

Spring Creek Health & Rehab 109

Bailey Creek Health and Rehab Total 116 115

Total 260

Total 659

MADISON

LONOKE

Cla-Clif Nursing and Rehab Center, Inc. 116

MONTGOMERY

Bentley Healthcare, LLC 111

Barnes Healthcare 141

Meadowview Healthcare and Rehab Total 399 105

Cabot Health and Rehab, LLC 89

Total 105

Montgomery County Nursing Home 112 Total 112

MISSISSIPPI Gosnell Health and Rehab 70

NEVADA Hillcrest Care and Rehab 90

Oak ManOr

NursiNg & rehabilitatioN CeNter, iNC.

L

akewood Health and Rehab offers skilled professional care in a supportive and compassionate atmosphere.

We invite you to experience the difference our facility has to offer from the moment you walk through our door.

Call us to today to schedule your tour!

“

We offer a warm, home-like environment, encouraging each resident to achieve the maximum level of activity and independence.

Lakewood Health & Rehab 2323 McCain Blvd, North Little Rock • 501.791.2323 ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

”

Oak Manor is a licensed healthcare facility inspected and federally regulated by the Arkansas Office of Long Term Care. 24 hour skilled nursing care, inpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy are available to the residents of Oak Manor. This 120 bed facility provides Medicare/Medicaid certified care with private and semi-private rooms.

150 Morton Avenue, Booneville, AR 72927 479.675.2689 oakmanornr.com 89

D EC E M B E R 2020

Southern Pines Health and Rehab 111

PERRY Perry County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 95

Total 201

NEWTON

Total 95

Newton County Nursing PHILLIPS Home Cedar Lodge Nursing Center 70 122 Total 70

OUACHITA Longmeadow Nursing Center - Camden 69 Ouachita Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 142 Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation 104 Somerset Senior Living at Pine Hills 106 Total 421

Crestpark Helena, LLC 100 Total 222

PIKE Glenwood Health and Rehabilitation, LLC 80 Murfreesboro Rehab & Nursing, Inc 66 Total 146

POINSETT Quail Run Health and Rehab 77

Three Rivers Healthcare and Rehabilitation 110

Stella Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 124

Woodbriar Nursing Home 80

Total 436

PRAIRIE

Total 267

POLK Mena Manor 69 Rich Mountain Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 115

Des Arc Nursing And Rehabilitation Center 98 Maple Healthcare 70 Total 168

Total 184

PULASKI

POPE

Allay Health and Rehab 70

Atkins Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 90 Legacy Heights Nursing and Rehab, LLC 122 Russellville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center 100

Arkansas State Veterans Home at North Little Rock 96 Barrow Creek Health and Rehab 139

Perry County Nursing & Rehabilitation Center Skilled, long-term care facility and spacious living areas, with rehabilitation services including speech, physical therapy and occupational therapy.

Because your loved ones deserve the best care.

QuApAw

Care & Rehab Center

PerryCountyNursingAndRehab.com | 501-889-2400 DEC E M BER 2 02 0

138 Brighton Terrace, Hot Springs, AR 71913 (501) 525-7140 | www.QuapawCR.com 90

ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Inc. 120 Colonel Glenn Health and Rehab, LLC 120 Cottage Lane Health and Rehab 143 Encore Healthcare and Rehabilitation of West Little Rock 97 Hickory Heights Health and Rehab, LLC 120 Lakewood Health and Rehab, LLC 85 Midtown Post Acute and Rehabilitation - A Waters Community, LLC 154

The Green House Cottages of Poplar Grove 118

Randolph County Nursing Home 140

The Village at Valley Ranch 110

Total 237

Presbyterian Village, Inc. 78

The Waters of Cumberland, LLC 120

Alcoa Pines Health and Rehabilitation 120

Robinson Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, LLC 110

The Waters of West Dixon, LLC 140

Amberwood Health and Rehabilitation 101

Sherwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Inc. 98

The Waters of Woodland Hills, LLC 140

Arkansas Health Center 290

Somerset Senior Living at Premier 132

Woodland Hills Healthcare and Rehabilitation 120

The Lakes at Maumelle Health and Rehabilitation 70

Total 2,745

Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at Good Shepherd, LLC 120 Parkway Health Center 105

SALINE

Evergreen Living Center at Stagecoach 116 Good Samaritan Society Hot Springs Village 50

RANDOLPH Pocahontas Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 97

The Waters of North Little Rock, LLC 140

Heartland Rehabilitation and Care Center 119

Where Your Loved One Becomes Our Loved One

Resident Room Amenities

W

e specialize in Short-Term Rehabilitation and LongTerm Care services. From the moment you enter our facility, we want you to experience the difference our home has to offer.

We want you and your loved one to feel comfortable and safe while here with us. You will also notice the pride we take in our facility by keeping our building sparkling clean from the inside out.

We are a 24-hour skilled nursing and rehab center conveniently located in North Little Rock, AR. Our professional nursing staff provides physical, occupational and speech therapy services. Even when you can no longer live at home, you can still live in a warm, friendly, home-like environment.

Come by and visit, and we will show you an experienced, caring staff that is dedicated to your health, happiness and well-being.

519 Donovan Briley Blvd. • North Little Rock, AR 72118 • 501.753.9003 ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

Z Free wireless internet Z Individual climate controls Z Offers semi-private rooms Russellville FeAtuRes

Z State-of-the-art rehabilitation gym Z Outside covered patio area Z Physician services 24/7 Z Beauty salon services Z Wonderful activity program

Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

215 S. Portland Ave. | Russellville, AR 72801 | 479.968.5256 | russellvillenr.com

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Southern Trace Rehabilitation and Care Center 116

SEVIER Chapel Ridge Health and Rehab Bear Creek Healthcare LLC 131 157

Stoneybrook Health and Rehabilitation Center 80

Covington Court Health and Rehabilitation Center 140

Total 992

Fianna Hills Nursing & Rehabilitation Center 102

SCOTT Waldron Nursing Center, Inc. 105 Total 105

SEARCY

Total 131

SHARP Ash Flat Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center 105 Cave City Nursing Home Inc. 90

Legacy Health and Rehabilitation Center 115

Timberlane Health & Rehabilitation 106

Total 100 Total 617

STONE

Total 78

Ashton Place Health and Rehab, LLC 122

Hudson Memorial Nursing Home 108

ST. FRANCIS Crestpark Forrest City, LLC 100

Pink Bud Home for the Golden Years 110

SEBASTIAN

Courtyard Rehabilitation and Health Center, LLC 101

Oak Ridge Health and Rehabilitation 180

Total 195

Methodist Health and Rehab 145

Highland Court, A Rehabilitation and Resident Care Facility 78

UNION Advanced Health and Rehab of Union County 122

The Waters of Mountain View, VAN BUREN LLC Indian Rock Village Health 97 Center 55 Total 97

The Waters of Fort Smith, LLC 117 Total 1,008

2017 People’s Choice Winners for Faulkner Co. in these categories: — by the Consumer’s Research Council of America — Best Nursing Home

Best Elder Care

Best Nurse Director of Nursing

First Runner-up Best Nurse

Best Conway Business

wood Srshinge& r Rehabilitation Cen

Best Employer 2017

Nu

ter

Where your Health and Happiness Matter 245 Indian Bay Dr, Sherwood, AR 72120 (501) 834-9960

We are a 24-hour skilled nursing and rehabilitation center located centrally in Sherwood. Our caring, professional staff strives to provide quality service in a warm and family-like atmosphere. Our facility offers all the amenities, comfort, and relaxation of home.

• Physical, Occupational & Speech Therapies • Private Rehab Rooms • Fully remodeled in 2013 • TVs and Cable Provided • Full -Service Beauty Salon

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Ozark Health Nursing and Rehab Center 118

Katherine’s Place at Wedington 119

Total 173

North Hills Life Care and Community Compassion Rehab Center of Searcy 92 245

WASHINGTON Arkansas Veterans Home at Fayetteville 90 Butterfield Trail Village 87 Edgewood Health and Rehab 102 Fayetteville City Hospital and Geriatric Center 123 Fayetteville Health and Rehabilitation Center 140

YELL

WHITE Beebe Retirement Center, Inc. 105

Prairie Grove Health and Rehabilitation, LLC 70 Springdale Health and Rehabilitation Center 140

Dardanelle Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Inc. 110 Mitchell’s Nursing Home, Inc. 105

Oakdale Nursing Facility 154

Pennington Manor, LLC 74

The Crossing at Riverside Health and Rehabilitation 138

Total 289

Total 642 The Maples at Har-Ber Meadows WOODRUFF 140 Woodruff County Health Center Westwood Health and 120 Rehab, Inc. 85 Total 120 Windcrest Health and Rehab, Inc. 70 Total 1,258

Our ServiceS ɟ ɟ ɟ ɟ

We are a skilled nursing facility with a state-of-the-art rehab center offering person-centered care in a quiet and serene setting.

Awarded Bronze National Quality Award by the American Health Association.

Short Term rehabilitation Long Term care respite care Hospice care

Stella Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation provides skilled professional care in a compassionate, supportive and comfortable atmosphere. Our staff takes pride in their jobs and it shows by their caring nature; by striving to find more innovative ways of caring for our residents as well as providing 24 hour skilled nursing care, inpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy to our residents.   400 N. vancouver russellville, Ar 72801 479-968-4141 | StellaManorNr.com

1092 West Stultz Road, Springdale | 479.750.3800 | ShilohHR.com ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

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D EC E M B E R 2020

Giving theGift of the Outdoors

T

he popularity of stocking stuffers has necessitated the small gifts as borderline requirements during the holiday season. Sure, the large presents will always win the day — a diamond pendant for her, a new pitching wedge for him, or the latest gaming console for the kiddos. But the mantel ought also be dangling boot-looking gift holsters, filled to the brim with lagniappes of all varieties.

And everyone has a supposed guide to stuffing your loved one’s stockings, from Country Living to the New York Times. A virtual trip to Amazon will even feature a seasonal

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subcategory on its homepage centered around the fireplace hangers, “Best Stocking Stuffers 2020.” But there’s something missing from nearly all of these idea lists, something that will reward you with much more appreciation from your recipient than tabletop bowling or a coffee mug warmer: the gift of the outdoors.

Fortunately for us Arkansas folk, we live in a Natural State that is rife with opportunities for outside entertainment, and we have the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) from which to give and get our gifts from — both literally and figuratively.

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HUNTING LICENSES We’ve gone without a lot of our usual traditions this year, but hunting was not one of those things. It roared back into scope last month while both deer and duck hunters breathed a collective sigh of relief that it did not succumb to 2020 like (almost) everything else.

While the hunter in your life is perched silently in a blind or waist-deep in a frigid pond, there’s no better time to ensure a next season for them than by getting a jump start on a 2021 hunting license.

For enthusiasts under the age of 16, the fee is free; you need only obtain an officially licensed ID for them on agfc.com (which is also free). For everyone else, there is a wide range of options to stocking stuff.

There’s the Resident Sportsman’s License ($25), which allows the holder to hunt with modern gun, muzzleloader or bow, and also includes two turkey tags and six deer tags; a waterfowl stamp ($7), which entitles all holders of hunting licenses to skyward prey; or even a Nonexpiring Lifetime Resident Hunting and Fishing Sportsman’s Permit ($1,000), providing both hunting and fishing licenses for life. Visit agfc.com/en/resources/licensing/huntinglicenses/ for more information.

FISHING LICENSES The art of angling has played out similarly to that of hunting this year; as most of the events inside four walls became causes for health concerns, activities spent with Mother Nature were given the green light.

The AGFC offers a plethora of fishing license options, such as the general, Resident Fisheries Conservation License ($10.50), entitling Arkansans to fish with sport fishing tackle; a Resident Trout Permit can be tacked on ($10) to fish and retain those species; or a Combination Sportsman’s License ($35.50), providing the privileges of both the generic hunting and fishing licenses.

Visit agfc.com/en/resources/licensing/fishinglicenses/ for more information.

COMMERCIAL LICENSES Outside of the standard-issue fare, the Commission also offers various Commercial Licenses, such as a Resident Fur Dealer ($50); Resident Trapper’s Permit (free); Wildlife Breeder/Dealer’s Permit ($75); Commercial Wildlife Hunting Resort Permit ($600); and the Game Bird Shooting Resort Permit ($250).

Visit agfc.com/en/resources/licensing/ commercial-licenses/ for more information.

THE GIFT OF GIVING

The best part about giving the gift of the outdoors is that you are essentially buying two presents — one for the recipient, the other for the AGFC. Only a small segment of the Commission’s annual budget comes from the Conservation Sales Tax implemented in 1996. For the remaining sums, the AGFC has to pool resources from a variety of mediums, including a sizable share from licenses.

But recently, those monies have fallen into a consistent decline. Over the past five years, fishing license sales have decreased significantly, from 519,816 to 432,505. Hunting licenses tell a similar tale.

With each license sold, the Commission can fulfill its vital mission — to protect, conserve and renew the many resources that make up our Natural State, ensuring that outdoor enthusiasts of all types have bountiful opportunities available to them, from this generation to the next.

So, step outside the box this holiday season and give the gift of the outdoors. Like cousin Eddie says in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, “That’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.” A

THE SUN ALSO

RISES T

By Tyler Hale / Photos courtesy of Seal Solar

OUTLOOK GOOD FOR SOLAR IN ARKANSAS

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he sun is rising on the solar industry in Arkansas.

Across Arkansas, as the sun shines down, its rays are striking rooftops and ground arrays, generating renewable energy for homeowners and businesses. Through advancements in technology and legislation, more people have been able to acquire solar power, providing them with a measure of control over their energy usage and payments.

But local leaders say that this is just the dawn of the solar industry in Arkansas, with more to come in 2021.

Seal Solar president Heather Nelson and CEO Josh Davenport have had a front-row seat to the growth of the solar industry throughout the last decade.

The North Little Rock-based solar company, which installs “everything from two panels to 20,000-plus panels,” according to Nelson, has been a major player on the business and legislative sides of the push for increased solar usage in the state.

Co-founded by Nelson and Davenport in 2012, Seal Solar (formerly Seal Energy Solutions) has shifted its focus completely to solar in recent years in response to rising demand for the renewable energy.

Starting in 2015, it became increasingly involved in advancing the solar industry at the legislative level, playing a role in the eventual approval of significant energy legislation in 2019. In April 2019, the company sold its heating-and-air and energy-efficiency units to concentrate on solar design and installation.

“It’s been a long five years, and I don’t think there’s any comparison to 96

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Seal Solar arrays at a private residence in Austin (Lonoke County).

where the market was in 2015 compared to today. It’s night and day, due to legislation, policy, competitors and the penetration rate that we’ve seen in the last few years,” Nelson said.

Over the last decade, solar energy across the United States has boomed, growing by an average annual rate of 49 percent, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the leading U.S. solar trade organization. Net metering applications, which allow for individuals to sell excess electricity to utility companies, tell a similar story about the rise of solar power in Arkansas.

In 2015-2016, the penetration rate in the state was only 28 percent. In the years since, it has been more than 50 percent year-over-year. For 2016-17, Arkansas had a 56 percent increase, a 52 percent increase in 2017-2018 and a 53 percent increase for 2018-2019.

While Arkansas has been in the middle of the pack among U.S. states in terms of solar adoption, its stock has been rising lately. The SEIA ranked Arkansas 36th for solar in 2019, a ranking that was increased to 33rd in 2020.

Coming into 2020, the solar industry in Arkansas was riding high after a banner 2019. Then the COVID-19 ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

Seal Solar’s Heather Nelson and Josh Davenport, showing off arrays installed for Community Bakery in Little Rock, are optimistic for the growth of their industry in Arkansas.

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Over the last decade, solar energy across the United States has boomed, growing by an average annual rate of 49 percent. pandemic struck.

Nelson said the early days of the pandemic, with its rising case counts and quarantines, caused confusion and uncertainty throughout her industry and company. Quickly, they realized how the pandemic highlighted the necessity of solar power.

“It was very scary at the beginning of COVID for everybody and certainly our industry,” she said. “It’s been exciting to see not only the industry in Arkansas survive COVID, but also find a way to thrive on some level.

“What we have seen, listening to our customers, is in the midst of COVID, when you have control over nothing in

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your life, solar is really appealing because now all of the sudden, you’re saying, ‘Here’s one thing I can have control over.’”

Matt Bell, a partner with Little Rock solar firm Entegrity, echoed this sentiment, saying that customers had a “sense of urgency” about adopting solar with the pandemic in full swing.

“The combination of better technology, lower implementation cost, good legislation and favorable financing has made energy efficiency and renewable energy investments a sound choice,” he said.

The pandemic also served as a test case for where the industry is moving toward: batteries and storage.

“I think solar plus storage is answering a very legitimate expense question, but it’s also answering an emotional question — a hole that everybody’s got where everybody feels like their life is out of control,” Nelson said. “What we’re selling is security, and we’re selling control at the end of the day.

“They know that they’re living in their house 24/7, and if a storm goes through, they’re going to have power. And guess

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Solar arrays have been installed at River Valley Horticultural in Little Rock (far left) and The West Haven, a residential care facility in DeWitt.

what? During the day, those lines are still down, and the battery is backing up with the sun coming down on the roof of their house. If the grid is down for two nights or 14 nights, they’re going to be OK. The only way they’re not OK is if the sun doesn’t come up.”

Arkansas Advanced Energy Association executive director Stephanie Osborne is seeing storage options becoming more mainstream around the country and has seen increased use in Arkansas.

“Honestly, I think the next step is going to be storage and batteries. That’s next for Arkansas. Across the country, that’s the technology that’s going to become more mainstream and more necessary to continue to provide what customers are looking for,” she said.

Today’s Power Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, has already installed battery storage — a technology that TPI president and CEO Michael Henderson calls an “economic game changer” for the company. For Henderson, this battery storage is a way to expand solar’s competitiveness and deliver increased

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service for customers.

“Today’s Power expects that the momentum created over the past six years will continue and even increase in 2021.

An economic game changer for TPI’s service offering is the combined advantage of integrating solar with the dramatic benefit of battery-energy storage and the potential to collect and control every kWh of renewable energy,” he said.

Arkansas solar companies are already staking their ground for growth in 2021.

Bell told Arkansas Money & Politics that 2021 is shaping up to be a “breakout year for solar in Arkansas.” He expects customers to retain that sense of urgency that the pandemic inspired to seek out more efficient and cost-reducing energy alternatives.

Entegrity also is expecting to wrap up construction on its new Northwest Arkansas headquarters in Fayetteville by summer of 2021. Construction has already begun on the Net Zero-certified office, which will have a ground-floor office with 28 multifamily units on the second and third floors.

Today’s Power also has begun mov-

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ing beyond Arkansas, providing services in Kansas in Oklahoma. In addition to a full slate of Arkansas projects, TPI is developing more than 20 megawatts of solar power projects for the Kansas Cooperative Sun Power Program in 2021 and beyond. Henderson expects the company to develop 14 1-megawatt solar farms in 2021 and another eight in 2022.

Overall, Henderson sees a dramatic growth on the horizon for the whole industry. “We anticipate solar energy doubling in 2021 and again in 2022 as customers try to capture as much of the ITC before dropping to 10 percent for commercial customers and expire for residential customers,” he said.

Seal Solar is in the midst of multiple projects, with more awaiting approval from the Arkansas Public Service Commission. According to Nelson, the company is working on approximately $6 million in projects for Lexicon Steel — providing solar for its Blytheville and Little Rock locations. While the Little Rock project is awaiting approval, the Blytheville project is in the works with the possibility of being completed by the end of December.

D EC E M B E R 2020

Seal Solar projects include Square Peg Holding Co. in DeWitt (right), Peavine Farming in Altheimer (below) and Crow Construction in Morrilton (facing page).

“People have rented their electricity their entire life... Now there’s an opportunity to own.”

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Nelson and Davenport are also banking on batteries, as well as the rise of electric vehicles and fully-integrated homes. As certified Tesla installers, they have seen a dramatic rise in Powerwall sales in the last year. In 2019, the company sold three Powerwalls, which are the home batteries that can store solar energy. In 2020, they sold 53 as of November — an 18x increase.

“We’re seeing that increase around EVs and EV chargers. How that plays into residential will be really interesting,” Nelson said. “That fully integrated home — I think that’s where it’s moving to. In some ways, it might be moving a little bit faster.”

Henderson has his eyes on the political arena for 2021, waiting to see the impact that the upcoming state legislative session and presidential transition has on the solar industry.

“Based on trends in other states, we anticipate that there may be legislation at the state level to amend solar net-metering legislation. On a national level, TPI is diligently tracking developments in order to assess if the presidential transition will lead to more incentives to grow renewable energy and to the extent that taxes will in-

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crease,” he noted.

Nelson already expects the legislative session will be “lively” in the coming months with new bills and discussions about the future of solar. The 2021 legislative session is the first since the landmark Solar Access Act, passed in 2019. This legislation has been credited with driving solar growth in Arkansas by adding third-party financing options, increasing the solar project cap size from 300 kilowatts to 1 megawatt and establishing a 1:1 full retail credit for netmetering through 2022.

Both Nelson and Davenport agreed that the legislation that emerged from the 2019 session was game changing for the state’s solar industry. Solar leaders hope to build on that progress in the 2021 session.

“All of that tees us up for coming back to the table,” Nelson said. “We fully expect that there’s going to be some push back from the utility side to clarify some things that were in Phase III, and so we are prepared. We are getting the gang back together to see what that could look like.

“I do hope that we have a broader discussion as an industry for things that we need and want for our consumers. We may look at a tax credit for the state in Arkansas. We have a tax credit on the federal level. It would be nice to see a discussion about Arkansans doing something on the state level. It would be

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great to talk about property tax and how you deal with the property tax issue for solar.”

Davenport has a broader goal of merging the interests of two industries that have traditionally been on opposing sides of the solar issue. He sees the legislative session as an opportunity to bring the solar industry partners and the utilities to the table to find common ground. “I would like to see the divide between the solar side and the utility side mesh. There’s so much synergy by us all working together and embracing this technology. We’re honestly hurting the economic development of the state, and we’re hurting the advancement of the state,” he said.

State legislators are still filing bills to be considered in the upcoming session, and no major bills concerning solar have emerged yet. For Osborne, the focus should be on maintaining the solar industry’s momentum and keeping the industry open and competitive.

“We’re on a good path both for technological advancement and innovation,” she said. “For us, we don’t want to see us take steps back. Why would we move back when things have been so great the last two years? We want to keep moving forward.”

At the federal level, SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper has already outlined proposed changes for the coming year —– a “wish list” for the solar industry. In early November, Hopper called upon federal leaders to extend tax credits for solar energy for five years at the original 30 percent rate and to lift tariffs on imported solar panels.

Bell supported the call for the continued tax credits, which he said have been instrumental in growing and subsidizing the solar industry.

“I hope that the federal government extends the Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy investment to either maintain the current level of 26 percent tax credit or better yet, go back to the 30 percent tax credit. The tax credits afforded to traditional fossil fuels have

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subsidized the industry for years, maintaining a reasonable tax credit for renewables allows for the solar industry to compete and grow to scale, which therefore reduces long term cost,” he said.

A major hurdle that solar industry leaders are planning to tackle in the coming year is the perception of solar energy. For Osborne, there is an outdated assumption that solar energy is unattainable due to cost or other factors that no longer apply.

“There’s still a stigma that solar is just about the environment, and it’s expensive. That’s just simply not the case anymore. Perhaps it was, a decade ago.

Solar is incredibly affordable, and the benefit is not just for the environment but also for your own energy efficiency, and for bringing business into the state.

“The solar industry is a bright spot.

People are still operating and growing,” Osborne said. “It’s not just an environmental issue. It’s also a market and economic issue.”

While company growth is top of mind for Davenport, he and the Seal Solar team are planning to beat the drum for solar in 2021. Educating consumers, he said, is critical for them to buy into a relatively new energy source.

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“It works here, it works in Arkansas.

People assume that it only works in California or it only works in Hawaii. It is here in Arkansas, and it not only saves you money but it provides security,” he said. “People have rented their electricity their entire life. You don’t think about it, but that’s all you’re doing. You’re renting your electricity, and now there’s an opportunity to own. And you don’t have to be wealthy to own it.”

These educated consumers will help raise the tide for all parties in 2021, Nelson hopes.

“Our growth is directly tied to how fast and efficiently we can educate. We really are a team of educators at the end of the day. We are trying to educate Arkansans on solar and storage, and our hope is that they have great knowledge about the technology and about what that technology will offer them.

“We hope that they select our firm to design and install, but even more, we hope that we have an educated consumer. It’s much more important that we educate than sell because we believe that if we educate properly, the sales will be there. If we sell and don’t educate, we’re not really building solar nerds. We’re not building advocates,” Nelson said. A

D EC E M B E R 2020

ADAPTATION

SMALL BUSINESSES ADJUST TO CHANGING TIMES

By Caroline O’Connor | Photography by Jamison Mosley

B

outique owner Kendall Sandifer began the year preparing for business as usual. Her shop, Fringe Clothing, sits in the heart of the River Market District of downtown Little Rock and attracts wandering tourists and dedicated shoppers alike. Sandifer opened the store in 2013 to offer unique and stylish clothes, and its continued success convinced her the store had become a well-oiled machine.

“I thought I would be able to take a step back this year, especially since I’d had my baby,” said Sandifer. “I thought I had figured it all out.”

When the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdowns began, however, Sandifer found her entire business model upended. Fringe had always depended on in-person shopping, and though the store had a web-

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site, she had not used it to sell her products for years. Faced with a fully stocked store and no customers, Sandifer realized her sales would need to go virtual.

The website just picked up and took off...

“My husband and I said, ‘Let’s just start uploading things to the website and turn the store into a warehouse,’” Sandifer said. “At first, we said, ‘Let’s

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just pay rent.’ Then after a week, we did that, so we said, ‘Let’s just pay the bills.’ The website just picked up and took off after that.”

Many stores like Fringe have been forced to turn to e-commerce to remain open this year. Larger businesses and chains with already robust websites were able to thrive quickly once the pandemic prevented in-person shopping, while smaller establishments had to improve websites or create new ones entirely. Commerce has increasingly gone online in the past decade, but the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated that shift.

In 2019, e-commerce made up about 10 percent of total retail sales, representing yearly growth of about 1 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Online shopping did not

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Fringe owner Kendall Sandifer thought she had business figured out before the pandemic hit.

Fringe Boutique remains open for in-person shopping but adjusted to focus on selling its unique ware online.

dominate the market, though Amazon has made it increasingly easy to receive items just days after making a purchase. This year, however, people have turned to online shopping out of necessity and fear for their safety rather than just convenience.

In 2020, e-commerce sales jumped to 16 percent of total retail sales.

The impact on stores selling non-necessities, especially those without websites, has been stark. Coresight Research estimates that 5,000 retail stores have closed this year, while only 680 new stores have opened. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that within retail, clothing stores have fared the worst. Monthly sales for clothing stores has decreased by 30 percent compared to 2019. Major department stores including J. C. Penney and Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy this year. The owner of Little Rock’s Park Plaza mall, CBL & Associate Properties Inc., filed for bankruptcy in November. Park Plaza is home to Dillard’s flagship store.

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Major commerce giants Amazon, Target and Walmart have reported record sales this year. While Amazon has always specialized in ecommerce sales, Target and Walmart were both able to remain open to in-person shopping due to being classified as essential businesses.

But each has been developing its online shopping capacity for years.

Target launched a curbside pickup program, Drive Up, in 2018, and expanded the service to include grocery pickup at most stores nationwide this past summer. Walmart also launched a delivery service in 2020 called Walmart+. Small businesses generally have neither the money nor the necessary crowds to create apps or systems to power curbside and delivery programs, but they have still had to adapt to an increasingly online shopping environment.

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Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston told Arkansas Money & Politics that retail consistently adapts to consumer demand across digital and physical retail-sales channels.

“From local store owners generating foot traffic through Small Business Saturday and other avenues to companies like Walmart unveiling the Walmart+ program, business owners in Arkansas are doing an excellent job of meeting customer demands through challenging times,” he said. “The retail industry will continue to innovate and adapt to customer needs, and Arkansas will continue to welcome investments from both brickand-mortar and e-commerce retailers.”

Fringe Clothing, after moving to sell merchandise online, was clearly

WordsWorth owner Lia Lent and employee Frederick McKindra have seen steady business despite fewer customers in the store.

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At WordsWorth, the focus is on more personalized customer service.

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exclusively sold books, and both local shops and national chains have struggled to compete ever since. WordsWorth Books & Co. has been serving the Heights neighborhood in Little Rock for 30 years. Lia Lent bought the store in 2017, and Amazon has always been a significant competitor. One of Lent’s first actions was to overhaul the store’s website so customers could actually make orders online.

Our staff loves making re c o m m e n d a t i o n s .

Our message is really just, ‘Shop local.’ We have to support our local businesses.

able to quickly innovate, but Sandifer is conscious of what the store has both lost and gained in 2020. Fringe’s website was a huge success, and the shop had two of its best selling September and October months in years.

Its neighbors in the River Market District, however, have struggled. The Ottenheimer Market Hall has remained closed since March, decreasing significant foot traffic in the area, and other retailers have had to close their doors.

LUV boutique, another women’s clothing store next door to Fringe, has remained open, while men’s high-end clothing store Barakat Bespoke is open ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

by appointment only. Freckled Frog, a gift shop, closed entirely. Despite Fringe’s success, Sandifer notes that Amazon is always a looming threat.

“They can buy in bulk, so they sell boots for $30 while I’m selling them for $74,” she said. “I try not to think about those things, but I try to focus on my business and on being creative.

I try to stay positive. There’s something about a small business that Amazon just can’t give you.”

The retailers that have traditionally struggled to compete against e-commerce giants are booksellers. When Amazon launched in 1994, the website 109

According to Lent, WordsWorth has had a fairly steady year in sales despite fewer people shopping in the store. After the pandemic began, WordsWorth closed to in-person shopping and focused on online orders and curbside pickup before reopening to the public in late May. The bookseller also focused on social media to stay in touch with customers. The shop launched a “Shop from Home” campaign for Christmas that actually encourages people to order books on WordsWorth’s website and have them shipped to their home to avoid crowds in the store. Similar to Sandifer, Lent simply tries not to think too much about the larger competitors, and instead she focuses on what WordsWorth can give customers that online shopping cannot.

“We have more personalized customer service — even if you call us on the phone, you talk to an actual person. Our staff loves making recommendations,” she said. “Our message is really just, ‘Shop local.’ We have to support our local businesses.” A D EC E M B E R 2020

LETTER

astrology and magic.)

Then, of course, there’s The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry’s 1905 short story about a struggling young husband and wife who each sacrifice a most prized possession to buy the other a Christmas gift. Despite the ironic twist at the end, the author’s intent was to convey wisdom upon

Continued from page 5 century to refer to kings and eventually, of course, “wise men.”

Its origins date back to Zoroastrianism and other early Persian religions, for which the term was used to describe priests. (Magician, it should be noted, derives from magus. Turns out the Greeks believed ancient Chaldean prophet Zoroaster to be the creator of

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LITTLE ROCK

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ROGERS

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JONESBORO

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And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all the people.

For unto this day is born in the city of David a Saviour, Which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe Wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, Good will toward men.

Luke 2: 8-14 (KJV)

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And there were in the same country shepherds abiding In the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them: And they were sore afraid.

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the protagonists for their selflessness.

You know, magi...

— And finally, asking readers’ indulgence, we’ll leave things in the capable, blanket-wielding hands of Linus van Pelt, who one evening several decades ago explained for the Peanuts gang the meaning of Christmas, with help from Luke the Evangelist:

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All together now… And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

— As always, let us know how we’re doing, good or bad, and thanks for reading. Hit me up anytime at MCarter@ARMoneyandPolitics.com. Here’s wishing everyone a safe and peaceful Christmas and holiday season.

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D EC E M B E R 2020

THE LAST WORD

NEW YEAR’S? WELL, MAYBE THIS YEAR

I

’ve never been one for the whole “New Year’s” thing. It’s all a construct, of course. For me, Jan. 1 is not so much a magical transition into a new ethereal realm, as some seem to believe (at least until the bills start piling up), as it is the first day of the next month after December.

And it is indeed, sadly, the end of a holiday season that begins in October. I envision the transition from that wonderful week between Christmas and New Year’s into the stark reality of January as being something like elven roadies packing up after a hit show that ran for three months. All good things must come to an end, and all.

Imagine with me, if you will: It's dusk on Jan. 1; the show is over. The wise men and Santa are huddled together in a corner, comparing GPS apps and contemplating new shortcuts home, a nearby lingering turkey leaning against the wall, getting in one last smoke; angels collect wayward tinsel from the rafters and orange Reese’s wrappers from under the chairs; toy soldiers scoop up excess candy canes with their swords, moving about like stadium crews picking up trash after a big game, one of them nonchalantly stashing a forgotten Amazon gift card in his pocket; and ultimately, the Island of Misfit Toys Express pulls up to the station, exhaust goading the fog and drizzle into an eerie glow as the lone streetlight strains to illuminate a bare patch of broken pavement…

Fate accepted and heads down, weary passengers silently embark — first in line, the stuffed Chick-Fil-A cow, accidentally dropped into the stocking of the girl with two moms… You get the idea.

But oh, that glorious, three-month run

DEC E M BER 2 02 0

BY MARK CARTER

known as October through Decem- The year 2020 waves goodbye. ber — Halloween and Thanksgiving, A-list opening acts awash in foliage and football, eventually deferring to the crown jewel of holidays in late December.

Imagine a noon first pitch at Baum, a 4 p.m. tip at Bud Walton and a 7:30 kick at Razorback Stadium, and there you have it.

• Love thy neighbor, folks. It’s really If it represents anything, aside from pretty simple. Or at the very least, take the a red-letter day for football and another Libertarian route and just ignore them. chance to remember how much I dislike • The SEC doesn’t necessarily hate Arblack-eyed peas, and it is very much both kansas.

(Necessarily.) But it sure does proof those things, New Year’s Day for me reptect its “blue bloods.” resents the “now, what?” of a dried-out Fraser fir tossed to the curb; the front doorstep • Banishment to a Mississippi bean field of the cold, gray way station that is January for anyone who drives at a slower-thanand February in Arkansas, spring a mere traffic pace in the left, ahem, passing, lane, afterthought. And yeah, the Island of Mis- as well as for those infidels in the Chick-Filfit Toys.

A drive-thru who don’t pull up all the way.

(And New Year’s Eve? Scoff. The incomThis New Year’s Eve, assuming we can parable Libby Sharp used to refer to it as detach our gaze from the spectacle of Jen“amateur hour.”) ny McCarthy cozying up to/flirting with/ This year, however, perhaps New Year’s will carry a little more weight as we tran- outright seducing a forlorn sailor in Times sition from a poop-emoji year into… well, Square (occasionally even in that order), probably another poop-emoji year, hon- let’s take a minute to remember how lucky we are to be ringing in a new year at all. estly. At least, expectations will be lower.

Let’s count our blessings, which really, But before we enter this magical new world of 2021, where surely a new year and are more numerous than we realize, and new president will make everything better for which we certainly aren’t worthy. (insert exaggerated eye roll), three random And remember, be on the lookout for observations from a wild and woolly year: amateurs bearing black-eyed peas. A

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TWO POWER WOMEN HONOREES! We’re proud of Maria and Lori for being named AMP 2020 Power Women. Both have risen to prominence as Arkansas leaders who have achieved success in their professional and philanthropic efforts. This is a well-deserved accomplishment.

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