Arkansas Money & Politics June 2021 by AY Magazine

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12600 CANTRELL RD. • STE 100 • LITTLE ROCK 501.224.1044 • DRSUZANNEYEE.COM

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The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official marketing organization for the City of Little Rock, charged with promoting the city for convention and leisure travel. The LRCVB also operates the Statehouse Convention Center, Robinson Center, First Security Amphitheater, River Market Ottenheimer Hall, and multiple parking facilities.

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ON INSPIRING LEADERS, YOU’RE BIG ON Little rock. CONGRATULATIONS Gretchen Hall on your appointment as Destinations International Board Chair!

JUNE CONTENTS

The lake house. Sounds good just saying it. The popularity of lakeside property has soared since the pandemic hit.

76 | All in the extended family

Fayetteville’s iconic Williams Tractor is changing hands and changing names, but technically, it’s staying in the family.

78 | Expectations exceeded

20 | A SELLER’S MARKET In Arkansas and all across the land these days, sellers hold the cards when it comes to residential real estate.

Dispensary owners say the legalization of medical marijuana four years ago has led to a thriving industry.

82 | Looking up

Little Rock entrepreneurs Thomas Burns and Gunnar Shaffer are reaching for the sky with their ag startup, Agrowponics.

98 | A Capital idea

Little Rock’s Capital Hotel, the subject of this month’s Digs of the Deal, has played a significant role in the city’s history.

ON THE COV E R 24 | FORWARD MOMENTUM The prospects are looking good for commercial real estate in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, the state’s largest markets. J U N E 2 02 1

Little Rock’s Casey Jones, with one of his Chenal Valley listings as a backdrop, was photographed by Jamison Mosley for this month’s cover. Inside, Angela Forsyth profiles the prolific real estate agent.

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

JUNE CONTENTS PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER

Heather Baker | hbaker@armoneyandpolitics.com EDITOR Mark Carter | mcarter@armoneyandpolitics.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Katie Zakrzewski | katie@armoneyandpolitics.com ART DIRECTOR Jamison Mosley | jmosley@armoneyandpolitics.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Rebecca Robertson | rrobertson@armoneyandpolitics.com DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Kellie McAnulty | kmcanulty@armoneyandpolitics.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lora Puls | lpuls@armoneyandpolitics.com COPY EDITOR Lisa Fischer | lfischer@armoneyandpolitics.com

29 | AN UNSUSTAINABLE PATH? Custom home builder Keith Wingfield speaks with AMP about the rising cost of building materials and more.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Dustin Jayroe | djayroe@armoneyandpolitics.com ONLINE EDITOR Tyler Hale | thale@armoneyandpolitics.com SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Greg Churan | gchuran@armoneyandpolitics.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Tonya Higginbotham | thigginbotham@armoneyandpolitics.com Mary Funderburg | mary@armoneyandpolitics.com Tonya Mead | tmead@armoneyandpolitics.com Kyle May | kyle@armoneyandpolitics.com Shasta Ballard | sballard@armoneyandpolitics.com ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER Jessica Everson | jeverson@armoneyandpolitics.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jacob Carpenter | ads@armoneyandpolitics.com ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ginger Roell | groell@armoneyandpolitics.com ADMINISTRATION Casandra Moore | admin@armoneyandpolitics.com

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68 | HELP WANTED

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Small business owners in Arkansas haven’t yet taken to street corners begging for employees, but the worker shortage is real.

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

EDITORIAL INTERN Kayla McCall

CONTRIBUTORS

Angela Forsyth, Becky Gillette, Elizabeth Small, David Conrads, Kenneth Heard, Dwain Hebda, Mark Hodges, Carl Kozlowski

106 | DELTA DESTINATION The Mississippi County hamlet of Wilson has reinvented itself and emerged as a burgeoning tourist draw. ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

AMP magazine is published monthly, Volume IV, Issue 2 AMP magazine (ISSN 2162-7754) is published monthly by AY Media Group, 910 W. Second St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Periodicals postage paid at Little Rock, AR, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to AMP, 910 W. Second St., Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201. Subscription Inquiries: Subscription rate is $28 for one year (12 issues). Single issues are available upon request for $5. For subscriptions, inquiries or address changes, call 501-244-9700. The contents of AMP are copyrighted, and material contained herein may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. Articles in AMP should not be considered specific advice, as individual circumstances vary. Products and services advertised in the magazine are not necessarily endorsed by AMP. Please recycle this magazine.

JUN E 2021

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Christine Holt has been named the next chancellor of the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.

ARKANSAS’

DUOS Linda and Rush Harding are among the state’s prominent power pairs Page 30

Linda and Rush Harding, photographed by Jamison Mosley at Cache restaurant in Little Rock, took to the cover of AMP last month. The Hardings were one of 10 business “dynamic duos” from Arkansas featured in the May issue. This first round of Dynamic Duos was recognized for its collective business and philanthropic accomplishments.

INSIDE: Trucking | Generational businesses | Junior Achievement $5 USD

FEEDBACK FORGING A LEGACY: JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT HONORING LEADERS WHO’VE SHOWN COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION “Thank you, Arkansas Money & Politics for the great article on our upcoming event and honorees. We look forward to honoring these leaders.” Junior Achievement of Arkansas

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DYNAMIC DUOS: SHAYLA AND SCOTT COPAS “A huge thanks for Arkansas Money & Politics for including us in your May issue as a ‘Dynamic Duo!’ I am forever grateful to be married to the best partner/mentor ever.” Shayla Copas NEW UAMS RADIATION ONCOLOGY CENTER WILL FEATURE STATE’S FIRST PROTON THERAPY MACHINE “Very excited for the partnership we’ve created to get this project moving forward for Arkansas.” Jake Stover MURPHY FAMILY, MURPHY USA FOUNDATIONS PLEDGE $1 MILLION TO UAMS CAMPUS IN EL DORADO “This is wonderful to share! How exciting!” Denise H. Dickinson

Lauren Mallett-Hays has announced her intent to run against incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, for the 3rd District Congressional seat.

DYNAMIC DUOS: GINA AND WADE RADKE “Wow! What an honor!” Wade Radke PITCHING HEALTH AND WELLNESS: LR ENTREPRENEURS AIM TO HELP ARKANSANS HEAL “Health is the greatest gift. Thank you, Arkansas Money & Politics.” Ryan Parker

TOP ONLINE ARTICLES 1. As Floodwaters Washed Away His Louisiana Home, The Pretend Brandon Burlsworth Found Inspiration in the Man He Portrayed in the Movie (Oct. 1, 2016) 2. Houston Nutt: ‘I Was Locked on Brandon Burlsworth’ (Dec. 4, 2016)

Heather Baker joined Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. at this year’s Junior Achievement of Arkansas Legacy Awards luncheon.

3. Costco Looking at July 2021 Opening for WLR Location (April 28, 2020) 4. Walmart Extends COVID-19 Emergency Leave Policy (Dec. 3, 2020) 5. Little Rock Costco Opening Date Confirmed (May 26, 2021) 6. The Capital Sets Reopening Date After Yearlong Absence (May 5, 2021) 7. Dynamic Duos (May 11, 2021) 8. Orbea Moving U.S. Operations Out of Arkansas (May 17, 2021)

Little Rock news anchor Susanne Brunner is signing off from KARK and FOX16.

9. Select State Employees to Receive Bonus for Getting COVID-19 Vaccine (May 20, 2021) 10. Drax Group Building Three Wood Pellet Plants in Arkansas (May 6, 2021)

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IT’S EASIER TO PLAN FOR THE FUTURE WHEN YOU HELP SHAPE IT. Arkansas works hard to stay ahead of trends and shape the future. It’s what makes our state one of the best places to do business, anywhere. And it’s why Stephens chooses to do business — across the country and around the globe — from Arkansas. At Stephens, we enthusiastically support Arkansas businesses, communities, hospitals, schools and other non-profit institutions. Working side-by-side with our colleagues, we’re committed to making our state an even better place for everyone.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

By Mark Carter

THEY’RE HIRING

f all the things small business owners expected to deal with in a post-pandemic landscape, a worker shortage likely wasn’t one of them. As the economy prepares to emerge from its COVID-19 hibernation, the businesses that used to teem with people such as retail outlets and restaurants are beginning to resemble their former selves. Except, in many cases, for one thing. Their former employees. Whether they moved on to other things or became content to rely on stimulus checks, many of those laid off because of the pandemic haven’t returned to the workforce, as Dwain Hebda writes this month for AMP. Some small businesses have had to cut back on hours and/or services because they simply don’t have enough employees. After June 26, supplemental federal unemployment assistance will no longer be available in Arkansas, perhaps spurring some back into the job market. We’ll see. In the meantime, here’s hoping those struggling small businesses can survive the double whammy. Unprecedented times Cambridge Place of the late 1970s didn’t

month, our hats are tipped to the agents working overtime to help meet demand. As agent extraordinaire Brandy Harp tells us inside, these are unprecedented times when it comes to residential real estate. For what it’s worth, our friends at Zillow (the Wikipedia of real estate, perhaps?) tell me that the same condo in which I spent my formative junior high years would list for $228,000 today. Or in these unprecedented times, maybe the owners could name their price. The unit does have some historical value, after all…

sit on the actual outskirts of west Little Rock, but the Valhalla of red brick on Pleasant Valley Drive wasn’t far from the edge of town. When my mom and stepdad bought a condo there in 1977 or ’78, the purchase price was $68,000. How I came to know this, I don’t remember. But for a kid of 12, it sure seemed like a lot. These days, I see plenty of trucks on the road that I’m not sure 68k would cover. And Cambridge Place barely qualifies as west Little Rock anymore. With real estate on our minds this

Highfalutin The Word of the Month for June, courtesy of (and in tribute to) our own Tyler Hale, is inveterate. For those unaware, Tyler was our esteemed online editor at AY Media Group. And by the time this June issue hits the streets, he’ll have started a new gig at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. A government man, a G-man. Yeah, he’d like that. Tyler, of course, is a Harvard graduate. He’s from Wynne but made the unlikely pilgrimage from Cross County to Cambridge (place, not Place) in pursuit of

By Heather Baker

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

REAL ESTATE, REAL BUSY

eal estate professionals are working overtime these days. The emerging landscape includes a huge seller’s market on the residential side and continued growth on the commercial side. In Northwest Arkansas, developers continue to try and keep up with the region’s growth. In Central Arkansas, Amazon’s commitment to the region has helped the industrial sector soar, and the July opening on Chenal Parkway of the state’s first Costco will welcome the wave of postpandemic shoppers. And across the state, home sellers can almost J U N E 2 02 1

See LETTER, page 13

name their price, as demand continues to outweigh supply. Plus, lakeside property is hotter than ever, as remote working becomes more prominent. Inside this month’s issue, AMP looks at those trends impacting the real estate industry in Arkansas. We also visit the booming industry of medical marijuana, how small businesses are struggling to find workers, the history of the Capital Hotel in this month’s Digs of the Deal, the reimagining of Wilson and more. Thank you for reading. Send me your story ideas at HBaker@ARMoneyandPolitics.com. 8

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JUN E 2021

VIEWPOINT

FROM THE GROUND UP BY ELIZABETH SMALL

inking real estate to economic development, community growth and sustainable business practices is what learning “from the ground up” means in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Real Estate Finance Program. While UA Little Rock’s School of Business began its real estate program in the 1970s, I stepped into the role of program director as the college began revising the program in 2016. As the former president and CEO of PDC Companies and PDC Construction, I know the value of an educated, ready-towork pool of candidates and saw it as a vital opportunity to get my peers’ insight on the program’s revitalization. For students, it all starts with a spark of interest. They see a “For Sale” sign and begin to muse over the potential behind a building’s vacant walls, and they are hooked. As program director, I’m drawn to the challenge of utilizing every available resource to expose students to the wide gamut of real estate industry opportunities. As the primary instructor of real estate, I rely on my own industry experience and the expertise provided by an advisory board, whose members represent a variety of real estate-related fields. I know firsthand the value of connecting real industry knowledge with talented students. These board members saw my vision and represent some of the most noteworthy names in the industry: Lisa Ferrell of Rockwater Village; Hank Kelley of Kelley Commercial Properties; Cathy Tuggle of Apartment Hunters/Arkansas Suites; Billy Roehrenbeck of Pulaski County Title; Tim Grooms of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull; Gus Vratsinas of Bailey Construction and more.

These leaders are now invested in students, building a cohesive community for real estate talent in Arkansas. Every member of the UA Little Rock Real Estate Advisory Board has a passion for strengthening the industry by creating graduates who not only know the technicalities, but also fully recognize the big picture. These board members have hired graduates, provided internships, shared stories and attended student capstone presentations. The advice these professionals

lish careers in title research, broker firms, mineral rights management, right-of-way acquisition, banks, investment companies and property management offices. Late in 2020, amid a global pandemic and a tumultuous political season, a gracious daughter made a $100,000 donation to UA Little Rock to honor her father’s legacy. Leslye Shellam, daughter of L. Dickson Flake, one of four original partners of the predecessor to Colliers International in Arkansas, made the donation to establish the L. Dickson Flake Endowed Scholarship. Leslye’s words struck me: “My father saw a great future for Little Rock. His goal for the scholarship is to give students the chance to get creative and be able to concentrate on his or her vision to bring the real estate industry forth for the city and for the good of all of us who live here.” Flake placed his trust in UA Little Rock. In fact, he served as a member of the UA Little Rock Board of Visitors for 12 years. When Dean Jane Wayland hired me to teach, I began to turn my conversations with Dickson from the business of real estate to real estate education. He was clear about wanting us to produce graduates qualified to work not only in his office, but in other offices in the region. Dickson saw our students, as we do, as part of the economic development engine that keeps a region strong. Community members are a crucial part of that development. We maximize all assets for students, such as the UA Little Rock Downtown Campus space, which places them right in the action of local real estate development. Students have real experi-

FOR STUDENTS, IT ALL STARTS WITH A SPARK OF INTEREST. THEY SEE A “FOR SALE” SIGN AND BEGIN TO MUSE OVER THE POTENTIAL BEHIND A BUILDING’S VACANT WALLS, AND THEY ARE HOOKED.

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give brings the “real world” to each student’s individual reality. When I started at the university, things looked a little different. By integrating real estate classroom education with experiential learning, the program promotes research in real estate issues and policy and supports the real estate profession in Arkansas. Student engagement is enhanced by the offering of industry association memberships, which prepare them for industry involvement post graduation. But how do we get talented students and retain them? Quite practically, investment in scholarships at UA Little Rock is an avenue that helps students thrive and learn. Recipients of these awards estab-

See SMALL, page 13

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VIEWPOINT

Buying IT is easy (and other hilarious jokes) BY MARK HODGES

nyone who has made a purchase decision has gone through the occasional bad experience. In the world of information technology (IT), missteps in buying products and services are not easily correctable, resulting in lost time and money. Consumers have learned a lot about technology and often know only enough to be dangerous. That knowledge and unearned swagger also create the perfect opportunity to be exploited, and those consumers are your employees. A terrifying situation on the rise in today’s business culture is the self-declared “IT expert.” In many businesses, these self-declared experts are often identified as such because they know phrases others do not and then wreak havoc in companies that take years to fix. If you think this does not apply to you, ask yourself what the primary job of your default IT person is in your organization. If your company hired this person for a role other than IT, they were likely a handraiser or just inherited the role. This challenge continues as people try to architect a business IT infrastructure the same way they configure their homes. This leads to layers of cobbled-together devices and “fixes” that were done by the brother-inlaw of the owner years ago, followed by changes made by the IT Intern you hired last summer because, “Hey, ...they’re an intern, and they’re cheap, and they can say ‘subnet.’” Put simply, business IT environments are nearly always subpar when developed from a consumer-economic mindset. How does this show up in a business? Ask these questions and see if any fit your situation: • When pricing either IT services or investments, do you or someone on your team declare, “That’s too expensive,” when your only association is a price tag you saw on Amazon, in Best Buy or on a price comparison website? • Do you ever use the phrase, “We don’t need all that,” when someone talks to you about IT security? ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

• Do you feel like, “We’ll just hire an IT person,” is the right answer? (As if anyone would staff a hospital with one doctor and think that covered all the specialty areas.) • Have you ever priced anything such as a network redesign, updated hardware, firewalls, etc., and thought, “I can get that cheaper at _________?” • Have you ever gotten a quote for a project and then tried to replicate the recommendations yourself? If that describes your business, how is that going for you? Business IT is an interesting dilemma. It has become the ultimate “do IT yourself” area for many small-to-medium size businesses. Our daily interactions with technology have created a false sense of “I can do that.” Regardless of your normal process, you likely end up in a situation that looks a lot like this: “Can’t we do some of this ourselves?” Hunt down the most tech-savvy person in the business who will boldly say, “Sure, I can do that for far less money.” Purchase from Best Buy, Amazon, even eBay, and attempt to match the design from the quotes. Implementation lags. Over time, you eventually call someone to fix the attempt, which ultimately costs you at least the same as the original quote, but usually more. Regardless of the outcome, you will still think you were overcharged. Consumer technology mindsets coming into the workplace are not the only things to manifest bad buying behaviors for a business. Some of the more common things that develop these behaviors actually feel like common sense: Organizational misalignment: When companies do not have a CIO or CTO, they often have IT report to the CFO. This is almost as big a mistake as having marketing report to the CFO. For some reason, the person who is responsible for finance inherits the responsibility of IT. Maybe it is because these individuals are inherently good with spreadsheets and are usually more techni11

cally adept with making a printer or computer work. Let’s reverse the logic. If an IT person is good with Excel, will he or she be your CFO? That is not a situation you want. Finance is an essential function in any organization, though it is NOT the optimal spot in your organization to place control of your IT. Residual budget approach: Some organizations try to make IT a strategic advantage. They build a roadmap and invest in its achievement. Others create their budget, then relegate IT spend to whatever amount remains in the expense budget after funding every other area. In many organizations, IT is the second budget to be cut in difficult times (a close second to marketing). This purely reactive mode of IT planning creates significant risk and virtually guarantees that a cybersecurity incident in the future will impact you. Whether you have in-house resources or use a technology partner, underfunding the effort is the primary reason for IT failures. Conference strategy: Some companies allow their IT direction to be influenced by the last conference their executives attended. Many have experienced “The Return.” That is the week after a conference when the senior executives return and blister the organization with, “Why are we not doing this?” and “We’re going to initiate these things.” Here’s an idea: an IT roadmap. Make your advancement through IT maturity predictable. “The world changed — why is my stuff not working?”: Some have a mindset that IT investments are one-and-done. Consider, for example, that most networks were designed for email and some file transfer. 2020 taught everyone that they should have tooled for video (which costs more money in configuration and equipment). This is just like the road you used to drive to work today receiving orders-of-magnitude more cars than was assumed when designed. Eventually, it will have to be widened, See HODGES, page 13 JUN E 2021

DISCOVERY ECONOMICS

WALKING THE HALLS OF ARKANSAS RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS By Bryan Barnhouse

aise your hand if you regularly get to walk the halls of the research universities in Arkansas. Most of us are probably still holding onto our tablets (or the edges of this magazine). There are really important things going on in those halls and labs that you need to know about. This is why, for the last several months, this space has featured a Q&A segment with university-based scientists and engineers who are shaping the future of our state and nation. Discovery Economics connects us to some of the state’s most talented research visionaries. It shines a spotlight on their innovation and the implications of the scientific advancements coming from our universities and federal lab. The research topics stretch across the strategic interests of multiple economic, social and geographic sectors. The benefits accruing to the state take several forms too, from the macro to the direct. In the big-picture sense, these researchers provide better visibility for the state as a player in the knowledge economy. It also helps ensure that Arkansas has a workforce prepared for the jobs of the future. In the direct sense, research results lead to new products and services, which become new companies and jobs. Each of the researchers profiled in Discovery Economics is a member of the Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Academy of Scholars and Fellows. ARA was founded in 2008 as a public-private partnership to advance job-creating research in Arkansas, primarily through the recruitment, retention and recognition of world-class talent. In partnership with university chancellors, ARA Scholars are recruited from outside the state, and ARA Fellows already reside at one of the ARA member-universities and are recognized for their achievements. The ARA Academy draws this group together into a community of research leaders. There are currently 32 members with more on the way.

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LET’S RECAP THE WORK OF SOME OF THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH LUMINARIES WHO HAVE BEEN COVERED SO FAR.

• Battling cardiovascular disease — the • Combating cyber misinformation with No. 1 killer worldwide and devastating for Arkansas — through engineered improvements to the performance and durability of heart valves (Morten Jensen, University of Arkansas).

• Expanding

participation in research, where it becomes a routine part of everyday life, to meet health challenges of Arkansans, especially those in rural areas (Laura James, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences).

• Enhancing

human productivity by building artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that span industries (Xiuzhen Huang, Arkansas State University).

• Improving

ingredients that comprise the diet of the nation’s top food-fish (catfish) to make it safer and healthier (Rebecca Lochmann, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).

big data analytical tools and training (Nitin Agarwal, UA Little Rock).

• Creating the very best power electronic

equipment coupled with leading cybersecurity (Alan Mantooth, UA).

• Imaging human brains to understand

the organization of information processes so that therapies can be designed to better treat depression, dementia, addiction and suicide, and alleviate the suffering, death and lost potential and productivity associated with them (Clint Kilts, UAMS).

• Developing

non-chemical, nano-engineering approaches to sanitize metals in industrial processes (Tansel Karabacak, UA Little Rock).

These are just for starters. There are countless discoveries underway. We hope to give a preview of what’s to come in the next column. By virtue of this column, we are trying to let you walk in our shoes and equip you with the people and stories of how university research is transforming and touching our lives, the lives of every Arkansan. We hope you will share this vision for the research future of Arkansas. It needs true believers and champions like you. Thanks for “walking the halls” with us. Bryan Barnhouse is CEO of the Arkansas Research Alliance. Before joining ARA, he worked with the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

Bryan Barnhouse

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

LETTER

SMALL

HODGES

a film degree. (He even did graduate work at Columbia.) The call of home proved too powerful, but Tyler’s still a Harvard man (as he is wont to remind passersby). And he alone in the AYMG offices would use a highfalutin word like inveterate. An adjective, inveterate perhaps is most often seen modifying liar — as in, “that son of a biscuit eater is an inveterate liar.” Which, of course, means he/she/it/ they is a habitual teller of fibs. Defined as having a particular habit or activity that’s long established and unlikely to change, inveterate comes from the Latin veter- (old) and inveteratus (made old). Me? I’m an inveterate morning Coke drinker. For us here at AMP and AYMG, Tyler’s been an inveterate hard worker. We raise a glass and wish him all the best on this new adventure that lies ahead. We just hope no one at AEDC asks him for a ride to the airport… *** Stumbled upon a quote recently, a very random one indeed. Given the social and political climate of the day, it, well… stood out. It’s attributed to the fourth earl of Pembroke, who is reported to have included it in his remarks to the English parliament on April 11, 1648: “A parliament can do anything but make a man a woman, and a woman a man.” 2021 might beg to differ.

ences studying downtown redevelopment as it happens and have an opportunity to feel as though they are part of history in the making. Uniquely, the UA Little Rock Real Estate Program is a complement to the Construction Management Program and offers a built environment track providing a perfect blend for the student entrepreneur wanting to be an owner/developer. There is a marketing track option for students and a straight finance track that fits the mortgagelending and financial-advising aspirations of many students. They have real-world options that lead to real opportunities. Our students have been hired at some of Arkansas’ best companies, including Pulaski County Title, JD Finish Line, Apartment Hunters/Arkansas Suites and Regions Bank. They have participated in internships at Rockwater Village and Windstream that provide invaluable experience. Students enter the workforce ready to work. Their learning curve is much shorter than those who have not engaged in a real estate program, particularly one at this level. Graduates are equipped to take advantage of business contacts made during their college years and tend to stay right here in Arkansas. Graduates add value to the region, as we emphasize the importance of being involved in the community in which one lives and works. These lessons sow seeds, not only for each student’s future success, but for the success of our communities across the state.

which is not free. Sacrificing security for convenience: Many technological conveniences are neutered by the security issues they create. Businesses must acknowledge the growing burden to keep their systems, data and customer data secure. This means a rational acceptance that some conveniences must be discarded in the interest of security. “Just teach one person to do it, and we’ll handle it from there”: This oddity really does not even warrant explanation. If you are truly willing to put your IT future, your data security and your ability to make appointments/make phone calls/process payments into the hands of someone who is “willing to do it if they get caught,” then you deserve whatever comes your way. Over time, our grassroots impressions of IT start to become our reality. Just like Plato’s Cave, we begin to think the shadows are what the outside world looks like. A rational approach to buying IT demands a willingness to acknowledge the real status quo and acknowledge that a healthy IT framework costs more than what anyone thinks they should pay. Technology in business is no longer a choice. Neither are the externalities that ride alongside technology. The most healthy buying process for technology starts with adjusting to a new mindset. The very best companies develop their roadmap and a logical process for progressing on their technology journey. This can be done for any size business and requires strong leadership to lead your people into both a mindset and process that leads to a more healthy IT infrastructure. This leadership must start at the top, though, because you cannot lead somewhere where you are not prepared to go.

Continued from page 8

*** Last month’s issue included another great Digs of the Deal installment, this one on Central Flying Service of Little Rock. Owner Dick Holbert shared with Associate Editor Katie Zakrzewski some great anecdotes about Central’s political history. But turns out, we got some dates wrong. Henry Kissinger visited Central Flying Service in 1974; George McGovern held a campaign rally at Central the night before the presidential election in 1972; and Ronald Reagan’s last trip to Little Rock was a stop at Central in 1988 while he barnstormed for GOP candidates. *** As always, thanks for reading. Hit me up anytime with questions, comments and feedback, good or bad, at MCarter@ ARMoneyandPolitics.com.

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

Continued from page 10

Elizabeth Small is the director for the Real Estate Program in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Business, Economics/Finance Department. A graduate of Hendrix College and UA Little Rock, Small is the former president and CEO of PDC Companies and a pioneer of the affordable housing industry in Arkansas. 13

Continued from page 11

Mark Hodges is vice president of sales and client management for Edafio Technology Partners, headquartered in North Little Rock with offices in Rogers and Conway. JUN E 2021

The Consistent Market Leader in Little Rock for Over 40 Years

The Janet Jones Company / REALTORS ® 7915 CANTRELL RD. | 501.224.3201 | JANETJONES.COM

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REAL ESTATE

WINNING

AT REAL ESTATE

For top seller Casey Jones, tenacity pays off

Jones specializes in high-end listings like this one in west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley. (Photo provided)

asey Jones knows a thing or two about real estate. He’s been in the business for more than 35 years, and as a member of the top selling Janet Jones Co. team, he is one of the most well-known real estate agents in Central Arkansas. He became a member of the Million Dollar Club in 1988 at the age of 19, within his first year in the inBy Angela Forsyth dustry, and later became a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Club in its first year, 1992.

He’s been a member each year thereafter.

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Since then, he has consistently ranked as one of the top sellers in the state and been Arkansas’ No. 1 residential agent (in number of listings sold) several times, including in 2020.

How to succeed in business

If you ask Jones the secret to becoming a great agent, he’ll tell you the key to success in real estate is the same as it is in any profession — “show up.” That doesn’t mean simply walk in the door and bask in success. What he means is something much more demanding. You have to“know what sellers and buyers are looking for, focus on their needs and be willing to do whatever it takes to help them get to where they want to go.” Jones will tell you it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years to establish the knowledge and experience needed to be able to serve clients in that capacity. It took him about five or six years of working in this industry before he considered himself proficient — and the more proficient he became, the more he enjoyed the job. In his opinion, the payoff is well worth the hard work. “It has been a great experience, and I enjoy it even more today than I did before,” he said. “It’s nice when you’re at a place where you can focus on the very best interest of your clients.” Jones has been in the game so long he’s gone multigenerational. He’s now selling and buying houses with the children and the grandchildren of his original clients.

Perks of the job

What Jones most enjoys about his work is meeting people from a variety of backgrounds, some who have lived in Little Rock their entire lives and others who are coming to the city

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Casey Jones (Photo by Jamison Mosley)

for the first time. Helping them find the right house, sharing the highlights of Little Rock and filling them in on the areas’ activities are the best parts of his job. “I feel like I’m an ambassador for Little Rock,” he said. “I don’t sell Little Rock; it sells itself. I get to show off what a great city we have.” Of course, working in any industry for this long doesn’t come without its challenges. For Jones, the toughest obstacles have been the ones that come from outside influences. One notably difficult time was right after 9/11. “We felt like no one would ever buy a home again,” he said. But slowly, life began to normalize, and eventually the housing market got back on track. Then, almost 20 years later, the pandemic hit, and real estate agents were forced again to work through a difficult moment in time, way beyond the scope of their industry.

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REAL ESTATE

“I don’t sell Little Rock; it sells itself. I get to show off what a great city we have.” Dealing with the economic effects of COVID-19 has been tough, but Jones has a unique, positive spin on that. He sees the real estate sector as a “catalyst for moving the country forward, not only economically but emotionally as well.” As people have had to spend more time at home, the space and amenities of where they live have become more noticeable. Realtors have taken on an important role in helping people reestablish a comfortable home environment.

think it will even itself out, probably by the end of summer, but of course it’s like the stock market, and you don’t know for sure.” Even with talk about interest rates increasing, Jones feels confident about the state of things. He agrees rates will most likely go up soon, but he believes it will not have a negative impact. In his opinion, because the current rates are at a historic low and buyers have “benefited from them for a while,” there’s room for rates to “acclimate a little bit” and still not hurt the market.

The housing market

Advice for novice agents

Looking back on 35 years in the industry, Jones wouldn’t change a thing. “It’s been a blast. It’s been the most enjoyable time. A lot of my closest friends have come from the business.” He dispels the idea that real estate agents are a bunch of sharks. “People think this business is competitive, and it is to some degree, but my greatest assets are the other agents I work with,” he said.

Staying home more also drove the market to a stunningly successful year in 2020, a factor Jones does not take for granted. “We’ve been fortunate in the real estate industry that our business has been as strong and as healthy as it has been,” he noted. “And I realize that’s not the case for many other businesses.” While some people may be afraid that the housing market is in a bubble that’s about to burst, Jones is not one of them. He believes the current boom is more of a classic case of supply and demand. He said there currently is less inventory because people were hesitant to put their homes on the market during the height of the pandemic, whether that was because they didn’t want to take the financial risk of buying a new house or the lingering safety concern of letting people into their homes. “The lack of supply and a strong demand has created some of the energy in the market,” he explained. “I

For Jones, the current market is a classic case of supply and demand. (Photo provided)

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JUN E 2021

In 2021, space for outdoor entertaining and the associated amenities, such as those found at this Jon Underhill Real Estate listing in west Little Rock, are of prime importance. (Photos provided)

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REAL ESTATE

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

IN ARKANSAS, THE RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET IS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’

By Mark Carter

upply may be gaining a little ground on demand in the residential real estate industry. But across Arkansas, a seller’s market endures. One west Little Rock homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous with a midJune closing date looming, received an offer above asking price within eight hours of listing his house. “We accepted that offer and then received a backup offer the next day, which we also accepted,” he said. Many such stories are being shared across the state — consumers scrambling to find a new house or make other living arrangements after their home is sold within hours of being listed. Factors enticing buyers into the market include a need for more space to accommodate home offices, historic 30-year fixed mortgage rates under 3 percent and a pent-up economy poised to fully rebound, according to Brandy Harp, principal broker with Jon Underhill Real Estate of Little Rock. Harp said the emerging post-pandemic market continues to perform aggressively across all price points, and she expects

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it to do so for the remainder of 2021 and even throughout 2022 as consumers find they can spend more on their homes. With inventory currently 46 percent lower than normal in the Little Rock market, including a significant shortage of homes under $300,000, Harp calls the times “unprecedented” for residential real estate. “Beginning in May, we started seeing slow increases in inventory, which we believe will continue. An additional factor is high demand. The pandemic has helped real estate; it has forced people to concentrate on their homes and examine how they want to live.” Harp said she’s seeing three specific trends in the residential market. “Empty nesters are downsizing to smaller, more efficient and lower maintenance homes. Younger families are upsizing to larger homes. And young professionals out of college entering the workforce are purchasing a home.” With demand so high, inventory is down, and average selling prices are up across the state, according to data from

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REAL ESTATE

Brandy Harp shows a home in west Little Rock to Little Rock surgeons Drs. Cindy and Gautam Gandhi.

the Arkansas Realtors Association. From March 2020 to March of this year, inventory dropped by 16.02 percent. And the average selling price for a new or existing home was up 12.26 percent to $100,042 across the board, including the following counties: • Benton — 11.82 percent to $311,524. • Craighead — 16.7 percent to $219,119. • Faulkner — 14.06 percent to $224,287. • Garland— 30.89 percent to $262,355. • Lonoke — 2.95 percent to $184,338. • Pulaski — 17.15 percent to $254,931. • Saline — 24.27 percent to $260,317. • Sebastian — 39.26 percent to $196,665. • Union — 20.29 percent to $168,823. • Washington — 23.56 percent to $297,535. Roughly 1,200 homes were sold in Benton and Washington counties in June of 2020. As of the last week of May, just 550 homes were on the market, according to Suzett Sparks, a managing broker with Lindsey & Associates in Rogers. It’s a seller’s market, all right. But Dale Carlton, an attorney and the principal broker with Carlton Realty of Fayetteville, told Arkansas Money & Politics it’s not often that the industry experiences a market this robust favoring the seller in so many ways. “Sellers in today’s market are realizing that buyers have few options, which alJ U N E 2 02 1

lows sellers the ability to negotiate all of the terms of a contract, not just focus on the price,” he said. “In many price ranges, the number of buyers exceeds the available housing by enough to result in multiple offers within 48 hours of a home being listed. “As a result, buyers attempt to make their offer stand out against other offers by offering such things as negotiable closing dates, committing cash to cover any shortage in the appraisal for loans, waiving inspections, offering nonrefundable deposits, and many other creative means to provide the best opportunity to have the seller choose their offer.” Like Harp, Carlton believes several scenarios coalesced to result in the current buying frenzy including record low rates and the desire for more space as homes begin to double as offices. But he also noted that less aggressive infrastructure growth in many cities has limited new subdivision development and thus new construction. This makes lenders more conservative when it comes to financing new subdivisions, which in turn results in rising costs for lumber, materials and labor. And that makes new construction a more expensive prospect. Even with fewer new homes available, Carlton noted that the “American dream of home ownership remains alive and well with new buy22

ers entering the market every day.” All of which helps elevate existing home prices, he said. Sparks said listing agents in NWA are presenting sellers with up to 40 offers. “Typically to win in multiple offer scenarios, buyers are guaranteeing to pay the difference for an amount over appraisal or saying the offer is not subject to appraising for the purchase price. In addition, it is not uncommon for a buyer to say they will not ask the seller to make repairs in their offer.” And with the region still attracting new residents at a healthy clip, she doesn’t think the market will correct itself anytime soon. “For buyers who don’t have a large amount of cash to pay the difference in price versus appraisal, the market is particularly challenging,” she said. The present-day perception of “home” was altered by the pandemic year. Americans want the ability to work comfortably from home when needed, and they want more space to accommodate children attending school virtually from home or for more pandemicfriendly outdoor entertaining. Jonie Burks, executive broker with the Charlotte John Co. in Little Rock, said she continues to see a “bigger is better” trend in 2021. “Buyers are wanting larger homes to accommodate working from home or family members moving in,” she said. “Outdoor living spaces are in high demand, especially pools, and homebuyers are focused on the suburbs where more acreage can be obtained.” Carlton said Americans are investing more in their home-office space as reflections of their own style. Furniture manufacturers are taking notice. Knoll + Muuto’s Work from Home line, for example, includes furniture, lighting and other home-office accessories marketed to remote workers. Harp is seeing consumers more attune to energy efficiency but calls home offices and outdoor entertainment spaces the new “must-haves’’ for homebuyers. For ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

her clients, outdoor entertainment essentials include a fireplace or fire pit, a spacious patio with plenty of shade, a “fantastic pool and other accoutrements such as mosquito misters, cooling misters and fans.” A recent HomeLight study found the value-add of an inground pool went up 39 percent in the Little Rock market, from $22,258 pre-COVID to $30,829 in May. The current seller’s market won’t last forever. Carlton thinks a few factors may hint at a change in the market. First, look at new construction permits, he said. They’ll provide a snapshot of homes being added to a market inventory and can be compared to existing demand. “Permits are an indicator of homes that will be available six to eight months from the time the permit was issued,” he said. “If permits starting to increase well above demand, then we could assume that six to eight months from that time there might be a small change; that rising interest rates will impact sales since the higher the interest rate, the less a buyer can afford to borrow toward their purchase which could result in less buyers having the ability to purchase; and as prices continue to rise there will be more reluctance to purchase in fear of buying in a bubble and losing money in the future.” Carlton doesn’t foresee a bubble, though. “As long as there remain more buyers than there are available homes, the seller’s market will continue.” He does, however, anticipate another 12 to 18 months of a market similar to the past six, with rates settling in at 4 to 4.5 percent and construction catching up with demand. “I don’t anticipate a rapid change at that time, just a slow movement toward a more normal market where homes sell in two to four months of being listed instead of 10 to 15 offers in the first 48 hours,” he said. “For many decades, we’ve indicated that a six-month supply of homes is a normal market with prices remaining fairly steady. With the change in technology and available information of the average buyer looking at their smartphone at instant market changes, it feels like a normal market may be somewhat shorter in the future.” According to the latest Skyline Report ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

from the Center for Economic and Business Research (CBER) in the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, building permits in NWA are at their highest level since 2006. In the meantime, many consumers who sold their homes quickly and couldn’t find a new house are looking at rentals to bridge the gap. Add the natural influx of young adults entering the job market, and you get a market in high demand. “An additional factor that we are starting to see is the absorption of available rental homes,” Carlton said. “When buyers are unable to purchase within their timeframe, they will choose to lease a home, and this appears to be happening more and more. Furthermore, the increased value of many rental properties is resulting in a sell-off by some investors to realize profits on their investment. These two factors will remove rental homes from the market and may impact the price of rent over the next year or two.” Harp, married to prominent Central Arkansas home builder Richard Harp, said the market and its future are a frequent topic of conversation around her house. The market eventually should catch up to itself, rates will rise, and inventory will return to normal levels. But Harp sees more of the same for the immediate future with sellers holding the cards. “Normally when interest rates increase, people can afford a smaller mortgage payment and pressure is placed on home prices,” she said. “As a result, we typically see decreased demand in residential real estate, lowering home prices. However, we don’t forecast this scenario playing out in today’s environment. The cost of materials to build and remodel homes has increased substantially. While we may see slight relief, all data reflects the cost will remain elevated for building materials compared to historical averages.” Material costs increased in 2020 due to factories and lumber yards closing because of COVID-19, Harp noted. And the current seller’s market is keeping them elevated. “In 2021, high demand is the root cause,” she said. “When the cost of new construction is substantially higher, this has a direct impact on the replacement value of a home. As a result, we expect home values to remain.” 23

Suzett Sparks

Dale Carlton

Jonie Burks

JUN E 2021

The Plaza at Pinnacle Hills should help continue the momentum seen in west Rogers. (Photo by Meredith Mashburn)

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REAL ESTATE

PROSPECTS

GOOD STABILITY, GROWTH SEEN AHEAD FOR STATE’S LARGEST MARKETS

By Mark Carter

he prospects for stability and continued growth in Arkansas’ largest commercial real estate markets are good. In Northwest Arkansas, Steve Lane is optimistic. After all, what’s not to like? Lane, managing director of the Northwest Arkansas office of Colliers Arkansas, can see what anyone else sees who visits the region or drives through Washington and Benton counties on Interstate 49 — plenty of burgeoning growth and development still, a pent-up economy ready to burst out of the pandemic bubble. Walmart’s new Google-like corporate campus emerging out of Bentonville’s limestone bed, signs of further retail, office and multifamily development seemingly around every corner… In many ways, despite the pandemic, Northwest Arkansas remains, borrowing a line from Seinfeld’s Frank Costanza, “the place to be.” “I’m very bullish on Northwest Arkansas,” Lane said. “The key is job creation, and we appear to be on a really good

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track.” Of course, as one of the nation’s fastest growing metros, NWA has been on a good track for a while now. The economic think tank Heartland Forward of Bentonville recently studied the nation’s 375 metropolitan areas and ranked them using a variety of metrics including job growth, personal income level and GDP growth. The metro placed third among medium-sized metros and 21st overall. The report noted the region’s transformation over the past 30 years as “astonishing” and said it was on a path “similar to what Austin and Nashville established 20 years ago.” Developers on the ground have cited the area’s potential to become the next Austin, Lane included. Despite a pandemic hiccup, in which the rate of overall commercial growth was slowed, the regional outlook remains strong, according to a CoStar report commissioned by Colliers. Increased demand for office space remains fueled by growth at Walmart and

JUN E 2021

REAL ESTATE

Amazon’s latest Central Arkansas facility is under construction outside North Little Rock. (Photo by Rebecca Fellars)

fellow Fortune 500s Tyson Foods and J.B. Hunt, not to mention Walmart’s bevy of vendors with increasingly large local footprints. Office inventory in NWA has expanded by 12 percent since 2015. The Walmart/Walton family commitment to making NWA an attractive place to live and work is the key, Lane said. “The area has always revolved around Walmart to a large degree, and as long as Walmart moves forward, Northwest Arkansas will continue to move forward.” After a strong 2019 that saw a net absorption of 604,000 square feet in the NWA office market, 2020 provided a hiccup. But the region still experienced a positive net absorption of 289,000 square feet last year. And the immediate market outlook calls for a return to pre-pandemic numbers, led by continued growth in downtown Bentonville and west Rogers, where Colliers is developing a high-end, mixeduse space that will accommodate retail, office and possibly residential. The Plaza at Pinnacle Hills will sit adjacent to Pinnacle

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Hills Country Club with access of Pinnacle Hills Parkway and Northgate Road. “We are working with retailers and office tenants currently and are seeing a strong demand,” Lane said. “The concept is more of a downtown feel, walkable and accessible lifestyle-oriented alternative to the more corporate, high rise projects currently offered in the Pinnacle area.” OUTLOOK STRONG IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS The industrial and multifamily sectors in Central Arkansas are “on fire,” according to Isaac Smith, president of Colliers Arkansas in Little Rock. “They were strong through COVID-19 and continue to be strong in 2021,” he said. “And the office market is pretty vibrant, especially in west Little Rock and Riverdale.” In fact, Little Rock’s office market is bucking national trends, according to Colliers’ quarterly report for the first quarter of 2021. The overall office vacancy rate in the region decreased from 18.1 percent in

Steve Lane (Photo by Meredith Mashburn)

the fourth quarter of 2020 to 15.2 percent with the average rental rate holding at $15.13 per square foot. West Little Rock’s office vacancy rate for the first quarter was 11 percent with an average rental rate of $19.83 per square foot, while the downtown vacancy rate was 15.6 percent with an average rental rate of $16.12/SF. The lowest vacancy rate was found in southwest Little Rock (4.2) and the highest in North Little Rock (22.9). Saline County was home to the market’s highest office rental rate at $21/SF, and Maumelle claimed the lowest at $11.10/SF. Smith said the decreased vacancy rate in the overall market is good news considering last year’s pandemic-fueled mass exodus of office workers to quarantine and remote work. The Colliers report also noted fewer lease renewals of five years or more with shorter term renewals of one to three years becoming more common. Led by Amazon’s continued commitment to Central Arkansas that ultimately will result in five distribution facilities in the region, Little Rock continued to ben-

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THE CHANGING FACE OF CORPORATE OFFICES

Costco is scheduled to open its first Arkansas store in July. (Photo by Jamison Mosley)

efit from the national e-commerce trend that started pre-COVID but was accelerated in 2020. Industrial vacancy rates in the market continued to decline in the first quarter. Rental rates continued to slowly climb, stronger lease terms were seen, and fewer second-generation spaces were available, according to the Colliers report. Retail was hit hardest by COVID, and the sectors in Central Arkansas that continue to see low vacancy rates despite the pandemic are medical/pharmacy, banking, grocery and auto service. But gradual lease-rate growth across the board is expected throughout 2021. Newmark Moses Tucker Partners (NMTP) of Little Rock, in partnership with Premier Gastroenterology Associates, developed the new $35 million Premier Medical Plaza, opened in late 2019. The project is being counted on to help revitalize its corner of west Little Rock, the stretch of Rodney Parham Road west of Interstate 430 now dubbed “West Village.” Padgett Mangan, commercial associate with NMTP, said the medical sector should continue to generate strong activity in 2021. “People will reconnect with their doctor and dentist and refocus on their health, creating lots of opportunities for health care providers,” he said. “In particular, expect mental health, depression and dependency treatment centers to expand their footprint across Central Arkansas and occupy more commercial real

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estate space than we’ve seen before.” With construction costs still on the rise and a seller’s market settled in for residential, the multifamily sector should continue flourishing in Little Rock and elsewhere, Colliers reported. According to CoStar, the Little Rock metro experienced more than $340 million in apartment sales volume in 2020, the second highest of the decade behind 2019. More than 1,500 units were delivered to the market in 2020 and another 500 are planned for this year. Multifamily vacancy rates for the first quarter of the year were 7 percent. Despite issues with materials for builders in both the residential and commercial markets, Smith is big on Little Rock. Industrial is surging while the office market is holding steady, vacancy rates have held steady or decreased in all submarkets and new development is strong. Just look at Little Rock’s new Costco, the first for Arkansas, which emerged from the pandemic dust and is set to open next month on Chenal Parkway. “There has also been continual new overall development in Little Rock,” he said. “The demand is strong for industrial, multifamily, banking and senior living projects. But material pricing has gone up and has caused either delays or developers to switch materials to meet deadlines. We’re hoping the material prices level out before the end of the year.”

In the commercial office market, the move to shorter lease terms reveals how businesses continue to feel their way in an environment drastically changed by 2020. Jennifer Herron, principal with Herron Horton Architects in Little Rock, said her residential clients are wanting more office space at home in both new projects and existing remodels — “And it must look like an office and not a bedroom” — and that corporate clients are looking for more flexible workspace. “The new purpose and design of the workspace is evolving to create new experiences that offer more flexibility and a variety of spaces,” she said. Herron cited a study from Knoll that predicted office employees will work remotely one or two days a week and individual workspaces will morph into group space. It also foresees more open airflow and unassigned spaces, the latter of which are expected to double; more collaborative group interactions; increased use of social and outdoor spaces will grow in importance; and decreased workspace footprints. “Our challenge is, how do we design a space that facilitates collaboration, that allows people who are virtual and physical to work together, that gives less individual space and more group space,” she said. “We can do the individual work at home. These collaborative spaces are more spacious. Before, it was more densifying. Jam more people together. We need more rooms that have open air flow, are not so much like being in a glass box. And holding meetings outdoors is important.”

JUN E 2021

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REAL ESTATE

HOME BUILDERS DEALING WITH SUPPLY CHAINS, RISING COSTS

A Q&A WITH KEITH WINGFIELD OF RIVER ROCK BUILDERS By Carl Kozlowski Keith Wingfield has been building Central Arkansas homes for more than 20 years. (Photos provided)

AMP: You’ve built your career for 44 years, with 22 of them building homes across Central Arkansas. Could you share the structure of your operations? Wingfield: We employ four staff members directly in management and supervisory capacities, but we also hire between 40 and 50 different subcontractors on every project. So, you know, we hire an outside electrician, hire an outside plumber, people like that, to complete the home. They have their own separate companies, and we routinely work with the same people over and over again. That’s a common approach in our industry. AMP: How has the pandemic affected the construction industry in the region?

eith Wingfield has spent his entire adult life working in the construction industry, with much of that time making custom homes as the owner of Little Rock’s River Rock Builders. He’s also respected in the industry, serving as the area chairman for Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi for the National Association of Home Builders, a position that provides him with a deep perspective on issues facing the construction trades. The pandemic has shaken the industry in some unexpected ways, causing tremendous impacts that could possibly rival the devastating days of the 2007-08 recession. Wingfield, 65, explained these forces in an exclusive interview with Arkansas Money & Politics. He opened up about his business, about the rising costs of building materials and what he believes is the corporate greed behind it, and how the industry could be heading for something like the 2007-08 housing market crash.

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Wingfield: Because I’m chairman for the three-state region and also a working task force responsible for lumber and material pricing, I’ve seen a lot of changes occur amid the pandemic. In the first months, we were virtually shut down because it was an unknown, and we had a lot of concern about our workers, so we followed all the safety measures. But after the first month, construction was deemed to be an essential industry, and when that occurred, then we continued to find ways that we could physically distance and separate and perform our jobs. That meant that we were slowed down because you couldn’t have as many people on your project at one time to keep them physically separated. For instance, you might not be able to work the plumber and the electrician in the same home because you wanted to keep those crews separated. AMP: How did the pandemic affect the supply chain?

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REAL ESTATE

Home builders have seen a dramatic rise in materials costs.

Wingfield: We started to see shortages in certain materials, meaning that when we would normally order something, it Keith Wingfield might take a week before we received it on the job. It started to be two weeks or three weeks or even several months. And along with that shortage in the supply chain, we started to see an increase in pricing for almost all products, and lumber has been the one that has risen the most. We’ve seen it in PVC pipe, anything made out of plastics, anything made out of any metals, aluminum, copper. So, it’s been across the board in building materials somewhat, but not to the degree where some of the lumber products are. Some of the lumber products have actually increased 400 percent during the pandemic, and engineered wood products like structural beams are in particularly short supply. Just a month ago, we received a price-

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increase letter that said lumber was going up another 70 percent. Our modern plywood we use today is an oriented strand board, or OSB, and you see it on the roof. On any given house, there might be two, three, four hundred sheets of it. Before the pandemic, it was about $8 a sheet. Today, it’s $50 a sheet. The common two-by-four was about $8 before and now runs around $20. And it’s all happening despite the fact we can prove that there’s no increase in raw material cost. AMP: Sounds like someone’s making out like a bandit. Wingfield: The largest landowner in the country is Weyerheauser, and they’re a publicly traded company. So, this information is very available. And in the fourth quarter of 2020, right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, they reported record profits. OK, this is at the period of time when a lot of other people are having to be helped with SBA loans and grants and prepay and all the other things that our government is passing out. But these people are enjoying record

profits. They’ve already reported their first quarter in 2021. Once again, another record. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, I don’t think, to figure this out. We’ve been screaming at the top of our lungs. And so, the question is, why is our association concerned? We’re concerned because we believe this bubble of pricing increase, which builders will pass on to the public. We believe this is going to be fundamental to the housing economy being ready to collapse because it cannot sustain this type of pricing. It’s very, very similar to what happened in 2008 where the housing activity was ramped up. It was being supported by faulty mortgages, and when the faulty mortgages went away, the economy collapsed around it. A lot of people wound up being upside down in their homes. If it finally gets to a saturation point, which we think it will, then it starts to decline. Once again, you’re going to have people in homes that they’ve spent far too much money for, and they’re not going to be supported by what the value collapse gets to. And so now, you’re going to have more people back into homes that are overpriced, but this is also affecting peo-

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AMP: Has there been a response from the Biden administration?

ple who are having damage claims. AMP: How does the problem cross over into home insurance? That seems like a leap. Wingfield: I know this because the insurance industry knows that most houses right now are underinsured. If there’s a disaster, if there’s a tornado or a flood, hurricane or whatever it might be, they’re underinsured. Some people are going to be way short on what their claim will actually cover. So, what’s the solution? I don’t know, but we’d like to get the players at the table and ask the administration for a summit that we can get the timber producers or the loggers, the lumber manufacturers, the mills, builders, mortgage companies, appraisers and whoever else is in the chain of housing, and sit down at a table and try to figure it out. This model of a 400 percent increase in prices is not sustainable. If you go up that fast, you’re bound to crash. And it’s going to leave some people really hurting when it does crash. So, let’s deal with it now.

Wingfield: All we’ve heard is they’re aware of the problem. But we’ve seen no action. Yet they’re also signaling that they’re trying to raise the tariffs on Canadian imported lumber. Now, that’s a hell of a time to think about doing that. Builders that, unlike me, build speculative homes can get caught with a price increase that actually can come out of their pocket. They will. Or they’ll lose money maybe once or twice. But on a given project, I’m a custom builder. All I build is for people, and so I’m able to pass all of those costs along. So, some people would say, ‘Well, what are you worried about?’ I’m worried about a sustainable housing economy because when our housing economy collapses, people hurt. I mean, all those people that I’m hiring, the electricians, the plumbers, the drywall, you know, a lot of them left

the industry after 2008 because they had no work. They had nothing to do. We’ve got to keep that from happening again. Every time we go through one of these cycles and it collapses, there are fewer tradesmen left. The average age of a plumber in the state of Arkansas right now with a master’s license is almost 60 years old. Everybody needs to be prepared. We’re not getting people coming out of high school wanting to be plumbers. And that’s a problem.

Another River Rock home in west Little Rock.

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JUN E 2021

REAL ESTATE

EXEC

Q&A BY MARK CARTER

he pandemic changed the way business is done in virtually every sector, and that’s especially true for real estate. Homeowners, and homebuyers alike, adjusted priorities and reexamined just what “home” should look like moving forward. Agents adapted to change the way they market properties and even the methods with which they show homes. Commercial brokers pivoted as the term “remote workers” grew into a probable permanent addition to the lexicon. And fitting for 2020’s long, strange trip, real estate in Arkansas ended up having a pretty good year overall. But the current seller’s market won’t last forever.

Andrea Alford

Tony Moore

J U N E 2 02 1

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PANDEMIC PIVOTS

Real estate professionals adapt, anticipate changes ahead Arkansas Money & Politics asked Andrea Alford, executive director of the Arkansas Real Estate Commission, and Tony Moore, AREC board chair and principal broker of Russellville’s Moore and Co., to look back on the challenges posed by the pandemic year and ponder the industry outlook for the rest of 2021 in Arkansas. The Arkansas Real Estate Commission, established in 1929 by the Arkansas General Assembly, licenses more than 14,000 agents in the state. Alford, a past president of the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Managers, has been with AREC since 2008. In addition to its Russellville headquarters, Moore and Co. has offices in Clarksville, Morrilton, Ozark and Conway. Moore, serving his second term on the board, has received 15 Diamond sales awards for closing more than $7 million in transactions. AMP: Overall, how did the industry handle the pandemic? Alford: From our perspective here at the commission, we saw agents and brokers move quickly to adapt and take the steps needed to protect their clients, customers and the public in general. Especially in the early days, we received numerous calls from licensees seeking guidance on how to conduct showings, open houses and closings in a way that was safe for everyone, while also looking out for their clients’ best interests when it came to unforeseen contractual issues. Moore: Almost 100 percent of real estate professionals are independent contractors, not employees, and in 2020, “independent” was the key word. From one corner of the state to the other, agents continued to do business in resourceful ways amid very evolving environments. Miraculously, many had the best sales year of their careers. No doubt the disruption of ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

2020 will propel the industry into a whole new normal — the challenge is what in the world will it be? AMP: Has the pandemic had any impact on the influx of new people into the industry? Alford: Absolutely. Heading into 2020, we were already seeing a steady increase in license applications, with a five-year average of around 180 new applications per month. Since 2020, that number has risen drastically, with a current average of around 250 new applications per month. While not all those applicants will go on to become fully licensed, we are seeing a significant increase in the percentage of applicants who become fully licensed as compared to two years ago. An interesting facet of this trend is the volume of applications we processed in the latter half of last year. Applications tend to be higher January through June in conjunction with real estate’s peak season, but the opposite was true in 2020. From July to December, we received nearly twice as many applications as in the preceding six months. So far, the numbers are holding steady in 2021 — in March alone, we processed 401 applications. Obviously, there are a wide-ranging number of factors at play here, from the pandemic’s effect on employment and working-parent families to the highly competitive housing market as a whole. But overall, I think it’s safe to say much of this increase has been influenced by the pandemic in one way or another. AMP: Aside from the increase in virtual tours, what are some ways real estate agents have adapted in the pandemic? Moore: Agents have adapted by working from home. This is something agents have always been good at, but they per33

fected it in 2020. Agents also adapted by carrying plenty of extra masks in case a client, customer or fellow agent found themselves in need. One of the more substantial ways agents had to adapt was Stacy Hurst in their level of in-person contact with clients. Instead of driving customers to homes, agents and customers would meet up and drive separately. In many areas across the state, this separation extended to the closing table, where agents were not allowed to physically attend closing with their clients. This has been a difficult adjustment. It’s important for agents to hand clients the keys to their new house and see the satisfaction on their faces. It just didn’t feel right sitting out in the parking lot and missing that moment. AMP: What’s the outlook for the rest of 2021 as we prepare (fingers crossed) to fully emerge from COVID-19? Alford: From a licensing standpoint, I expect to see continued growth in licensee numbers, so long as the market remains strong. From a regulatory standpoint, a highly competitive housing market means the emergence of “creative” selling strategies, some of which can prove risky for consumers. We’re working to find ways of providing consumers and licensees alike with the resources they need to navigate some of these new challenges. Moore: The outlook remains positive through the second quarter, but by the third quarter, the impact of already drastically low inventories of existing homes for sale, compiled with the sharp decline in new construction due to rising materials costs, will result in weakening sales through the end of the year. Rates surpassing 3.5 percent will also send a cold chill to the fall market. JUN E 2021

REAL ESTATE

BUYER LAKE Arkansas waterfront properties fetching top dollar By Dwain Hebda

Greers Ferry Lake J U N E 2 02 1

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Condominiums on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. (Photos provided)

t the conclusion of a conversation during a recent weekday, Realtor® Amber Wilson reached for her phone, checking to see what she’d missed in her business over the last 15 minutes. “Four calls, two texts,” she said dryly. Assuming that’s typical, that’s 24 communications per hour and approaching a thousand in a typical 40-hour workweek. Except there’s nothing typical about what’s been happening in Wilson’s world over the past 16 months, a stretch where the phone hasn’t stopped buzzing, and the aforementioned 40-hour work week only gets you through Wednesday. “It’s been nonstop since last March,” said Wilson of Donham Realty in Higdon, right outside Greers Ferry. “Right now, I have 16 properties under contract, all trying to close by next month. As of March this year, I’ve had four days off: Mother’s Day, Easter, my cousin’s wedding and another one I can’t even remember. I’ve really had no life.” Wilson’s plight is shared by most in the residential real estate game these days, but her marathon hours and breakneck dealmaking have come almost exclusively in the vacation/retirement home sector, specifically lake properties. Once largely reserved for retirees, such properties are rapidly becoming the choice of younger buyers as well. “As far as what’s driving this, I think a lot of people are doing lake houses because they can work from anywhere now, and a lot of companies found they’re just as productive working remotely,” she said. “Where a lot of buyers used to be, ‘We’re going to buy here and in five years retire,’ now it’s people buying homes and moving in with their young kids. We did have some younger families before, but it’s a bigger range now; some are even parents in their 30s.” Mark McKenzie, principal broker with McKenzie Realty Group in Heber Springs, said he’s seen “a perfect storm” of market factors that have kept him hustling 12 hours a day for the past year and a half. “Number one, COVID had people trying to figure out what to go do, because they were trapped at home, and the lake was a natural thing and closer to home for a lot of people,” he said. “Another factor is, once the COVID buying spree

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JUN E 2021

REAL ESTATE

“And then there’s another really interesting factor where we are seeing a lot of people who, just like I read in The Wall Street Journal a couple days ago, are coming to Mayberry because it’s so dadgum affordable, compared to where they are in Big City, USA.”

J U N E 2 02 1

started, a lot of folks went, ‘Oh, I better go get mine now, or I’ll never have another entry point that’s affordable for me.’ “And then there’s another really interesting factor where we are seeing a lot of people who, just like I read in The Wall Street Journal a couple days ago, are coming to Mayberry because it’s so dadgum affordable, compared to where they are in Big City, USA.” These factors have combined to produce a market phenomenon that even an industry longtimer like McKenzie can scarcely believe. Eden Isle, an island development connected to the shore by a causeway, is a good example. “It’s 600 acres in size. It has about 450 residencies on it, 330 homes and 110, 120 condos, something like that,” he said. “I’ve lived there since 1998, and it’s the first time I’ve seen it sold-out. “We’re used to having 40 or 50 residential properties on the market at any given time, because that’s the nature of vacation destinations. People buy them and use them for a year or two or five or 10. And then, they go do something else. Eden Isle’s the most popular vacation destination on Greers Ferry Lake because it has everything for the vacationer on the fun factor side. But I just never imagined it being sold-out.” Another hallmark of the current buyer’s boom has been the speed with which many properties are snapped up, often generating multiple offers in days at well above asking price. “It seems like you can almost double the price for a home on the lake versus one across the street. The land is very valuable,” said Rob Pfautz, principal broker with Hot Springs Realty in Hot Springs. “People are buying older homes on the lake, tearing them down and building their dream home. That’s not uncom36

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Agents who sell lakeside property at Greers Ferry aren’t getting much time off these days.

mon here. “The first four months of this year versus last year, you’re looking at 18 percent price escalation. Lake home and condo sales are up 35 percent year over year. Four months is not a big view of it, but that gives you an idea of how it’s trending.” Pfautz said the average lake home price in his market, sold in the first four months of 2020, fetched $509,000, whereas that same property commanded $600,000 over a comparable period in 2021. Condos followed suit, with last year’s average unit price of $227,000 growing to $306,000 this year. As in other parts of the state, Hot Springs’ client demographics go beyond the stereotypical retiree to include many different types of buyers, Pfautz said. “People who are relocating here are typically retiring; they have the means to afford a half-million to $1 million home,” he said. “We’re doing deals for people paying that for second homes. There are some people using them for their primary residence. “One recent client came from California, where they probably sold their middleof-the-road home for $1 million, and then they come here and pay $500,000 for a lot, and they’re going to have a $1 million home when it’s all done. Others maybe live within a couple hours’ drive of Hot Springs; they own a business and want a nice retreat for their families.” Pfautz said one emerging trend among buyers is people looking for properties as income-generating opportunities. “We’ve had some people paying up just to make them Airbnbs,” he said. “Being a resort town, there are homes on the lake grossing $200,000 per year. Property owners are getting $500 to $600 a night. “That’s one of the things driving condo sales, the Airbnb business. Some condos allow rentals, some don’t, and we’ve seen more demand in the ones that do because ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

Amber Wilson

Mark McKenzie

JUN E 2021

REAL ESTATE

Mark McKenzie said the price point for a quick sale on Greers Ferry (above) has risen dramatically.

(Upper right, opposite page) With remote working becoming more prevalent, the dramatic lakeside settings, like those found at Greers Ferry, are appealing to more buyers.

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investors come in and will pay a premium based on what that cash flow is.” Of course, the trick to leveraging such a market is being able to navigate the feeding frenzy that ensues with just about every new listing, thanks to low interest rates and even lower inventory. “If a home is under about $600,000, it’ll sell very fast here,” McKenzie said. “When I moved to Heber Springs in 1998, that price point of selling very quickly was closer to $300,000. And, we’re seeing a lot more million-dollar homes sold than we ever have around this lake. A lot more, especially on the Little Red River.” “It depends on the property,” Wilson added. “Some go just $5,000 over, then another will be a revolving door because it’s lakefront, priced at $440,000 and a cash buyer got it for $510,000, which is $70,000 over, right there. There’s no set price mentality; it all depends.” Some of the same trends are playing out in other types of vacation, second home and investment properties. Gar Lile, president of Lile Real Estate in Little Rock, said demand for hunting grounds, working farms and timber acreages has also been brisk, particularly among younger buyers. “I think they’re very much interested,” Lile said. “We’re seeing a lot of that younger age group wanting to have a getaway, and if it can be turned into investment as well, it seems to support the decision. Most people would like to be an hour, hour and a half drive away, max, if it’s going to have personal use, not just straight investment. And we find that people do like to have the option of recreating on their investments. “I do think those mid-30- to early 50-somethings are probably more attuned to this than prior generations, just because of knowledge of investments. So many more peo38

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ple are aware of those investment types than they were 30 years ago, if for no other reason than the internet and the spread of knowledge.” Lile, who said the majority of his recreation land clients are from Arkansas while investment buyers are split 50/50 with outstate bidders, said he sees certain trends that are accelerating buying decisions at this particular moment in time. “I do think you’re seeing a couple of movements,” he said. “You are seeing some investors finally acknowledge that we may be going into an inflationary period, which tends to push people toward real estate and other hard assets. “You’re also seeing a cultural shift of a certain segment of the population not wanting to be in the cities. They want to have a place that they can go and be able to work remotely.” As for the future of this part of the real estate market, none of the professionals interviewed saw a slowdown coming anytime soon, as much as they might like one to catch their breath. “I can only speak to my area as I’ve learned you can have a market an hour away that is totally different, but I think it will go to the end of the year at least, unless something comes out of left field,” Pfautz said. “We can’t build inventory; we’re just turning it.” McKenzie said supply is starting to loosen up in his market due to some property owners hearing what neighbors got for their homes. But even if that dries back up, he’s not sure the rabid buying spree will. “I don’t think that anything but a severe collapse in our financial industry and the stock market is going to stop people from buying a vacation home or a retirement home in Heber,” he said. “I don’t think they will stop even if interest rates tick up or if we get a 15 percent pullback in the stock market. I just don’t see the demand for Small Town USA changing. I’m 51, and I don’t see it changing in my lifetime.” Wilson agreed, albeit with a tired sigh, as her phone rattled to life in her hand. “From talking to other real estate professionals and according to the National Association of Realtors®, they see this going on for another year,” she said as she stepped out to take the call. “But I’m not gonna lie; I would love a little break.” ARM O N E YA ND P O L I T I C S .COM

Some of the same trends are playing out in other types of vacation, second home and investment properties.

Gar Lile

Rob Pfautz

JUN E 2021

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REAL ESTATE

AUCTIONEERS RIDE ONLINE SURGE,

BACK TO ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’ By Mark Carter

he auction industry was uniquely positioned to weather the pandemic storm. For the first month after COVID-19 hit, some auctioneers saw a surge of 200 to 300 percent in online auctions. Blackmon Auctions of Little Rock began conducting online auctions in 2007, so the transfer last year to online only was seamless, company president Thomas Blackmon said. “The issue we ran into was trying to keep people from wanting to come and inspect the equipment in person,” he said. “That was a new problem that had never been dealt with during previous auctions. We also had to put into effect new ways to pick up items and drop off items. Contactless delivery became a thing.” David Brewer, president of Wilson Real Estate Auctioneers of Hot Springs, said utilizing the company’s app for online auctions, beginning in March 2020, was a game changer. “We now have over 5,000 app users across the country bidding on real estate, equipment, cars and much more,” he said. “The pandemic made us move into the new era of technology, and we were fortunate we were ready to have our app take off in a dramatic way. We have seen bidder registrations increase by over 200 percent for our auctions.” Blackmon is grateful to be returning to “business as usual.” With the pandemic seemingly under control, in-person auctions across the states Blackmon serves have been picking up. Southern customers, especially, were “finished” with COVID restrictions even before 2020 came to a close, he noted. “Our customer base followed the rules

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Thomas Blackmon

Since COVID hit, Blackmon has utilized online auctions for properties such as this one near Greenbrier.

with masks and social distancing, but they also continued to work and function on a daily basis,” Blackmon said. “My clients are made up of the people that make the world go round. They build, they buy, they sell, they scrap, they invest, and none of that stopped during the pandemic. Now that restrictions have lifted and vaccines are common, we are seeing large crowds come back to the auctions. “We are still selling a significant amount online, but the live crowds are getting bigger. We still see masks and social distancing from some people, but most are back to business as usual.” Blackmon said when the quarantine was at its strictest and people were forced to stay home, online auctions allowed people to still buy and sell from the comfort of their living room or home office. “We’ve always had a good following

David Brewer

online, but the pandemic accelerated that need to buy via computer and phone. As one contractor told me, quarantine doesn’t change the fact that he is on a strict construction timeline. Concrete still had to be poured, and buildings had to be built. Everyone had to adjust.” Brewer said his team adjusted by transitioning everything — auction, real estate, equipment, cars, trucks — through the app. “Bidders love being able to buy from their office, homes or wherever they may be when the auction is ending,” he said. For now, auctioneers will continue to ride out a seller’s market. Now is the time when an auction really shines, Blackmon said. “Instead of selling for your asking price to the first person who calls, auctions put your property in front of hundreds of thousands of people and let them decide the sales price.”

JUN E 2021

TOP COMMERCIAL BROKERS IN CENTRAL ARKANSAS, MAY 2020-MAY 2021 COMPANY

SALES VOLUME

TRANSACTIONS

TRANSACTED SF

AVERAGE SF

PRICE/SF

$17,143,000

375,072

26,791

$46

Industrial Colliers International Grey Mountain Partners

$15,100,000

554,416

$27

Hathaway Group

$12,775,000

259,620

28,847

$49

$6,157,500

228,330

38,055

$27

$4,305,000

89,864

17,973

$48

$78,197,951

1,089

136

$71,807

Newmark Knight Frank

$75,300,000

500

250

$150,600

Marcus & Millichap

$34,550,000

740

185

$46,689

Berkadia Real Estate Advisors

$25,775,000

420

210

$61,369

Cushman & Wakefield

$22,650,000

149

$152,013

Colliers International

$26,940,780

164,189

23,456

$164

Newmark Knight Frank

$10,100,000

47,627

23,814

$212

Hathaway Group

$8,389,000

43,850

6,264

$191

RPM Group

$6,460,247

234,809

39,135

$28

Eastdil Secured LLC

$3,186,780

24,000

$133

Marcus & Millichap

$23,813,658

62,273

7,784

$382

Colliers International

$18,435,000

119,150

13,239

$155

Flake & Company

$13,650,000

89,637

22,409

$152

Cushman & Wakefield Sage Partners

$12,443,750

237,532

Newmark Moses Tucker Partners

$11,437,605

80,547

5,370

$142

Newmark Moses Tucker Partners Kelley Commercial Partners

MULTIFAMILY Colliers International

OFFICE

RETAIL

TOP RESIDENTIAL AGENCIES 2019 SALES VOLUME (MILLIONS)

14. B axley-Penfield-Moudy Realtors $156.91

20. R e/Max of Hot Springs Village $127.26

15. T he Charlotte John Co. $145.65

21. P orchLight Realty $125.3

16. L imbird Real Estate Group $139.29

22. B assett Mix & Associates $116.51

11. T rademark Real Estate $241.5

17. K eller Williams Platinum Realty - Fort Smith $136.98

23. E RA Team Real Estate $112.16

12. R e/Max Real Estate Results - Bentonville $238.88

18. R e/Max Advantage Realtors - Searcy $132.14

13. C oldwell Banker Village Communities $195.75

19. M cKimmey Associates Realtors $127.78

1. C rye-Leike Realtors $1,123.05

7. R e/Max Elite $351.12

2. K eller Williams Market Pro Realty - Fayetteville $769.74

8. Keller Williams Realty Little Rock $313.07

3. C oldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette $753.61

9. T he Janet Jones Co. $286.37

4. L indsey & Associates $640.17 5. C oldwell Banker RPM Group $516.48 6. W eichert Realtors The Griffin Co. $500.47

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10. i Realty Arkansas $269.02

24. B radford & Udouj Realtors $111.59 25. R e/Max Associates Fayetteville $111.48

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TOP COMMERCIAL BROKERS IN NWA, MAY 2020-MAY 2021 COMPANY

SALES VOLUME

TRANSACTIONS

TRANSACTED SF

AVERAGE SF

PRICE/SF

$5,195,000

112,819

28,205

$46

Industrial Weichert, Realtors - The Griffin Company Kelley Commercial Partners

$4,941,000

299,393

59,879

$17

Cushman & Wakefield Sage Partners

$4,840,000

140,426

Newmark Moses Tucker Partners

$4,108,591

99,650

12,456

$41

Berkshire Hathaway HomeSolutions

$4,100,000

240,589

$17

Ward Jones Realtors

$4,100,000

243,193

121,597

$17

$81,200,000

597

299

$136,013

Newmark Knight Frank

$57,500,000

402

201

$143,035

McGraw Commercial Properties

$40,500,000

324

162

$125,000

Newmark Moses Tucker Partners

$7,770,000

Joseph Hayes & Associates

$6,125,000

$278,409

Newell Development

$6,125,000

$278,409

$34,310,000

265,250

Colliers International

$21,127,455

158,173

19,772

$134

The Griffin Company Realtors Inc.

$14,800,00

70,741

35,371

$209

Bennett Commercial Real Estate

$12,950,001

113,319

37,773

$114

Newmark Moses Tucker Partners

$12,216,409

75,067

15,013

$163

MULTIFAMILY Cushman & Wakefield

OFFICE Cushman & Wakefield Sage Partners

RETAIL Cushman & Wakefield Sage Partners

$19,994,376

222,333

CBRE

$15,821,066

36,503

3,650

$433

Newmark Moses Tucker Partners

$10,260,000

137,828

10,602

$74

Prime Net Lease

$6,950,000

9,900

4,950

$702

Lindsey & Associates

$6,920,000

64,786

10,798

$107

PROMINENT LAND BROKERAGE FIRMS BASED IN OR DOING BUSINESS IN ARKANSAS •J .P. King Auction Co. Founded 1915 •D avis Dubose Knight Forestry & Real Estate (United Country Realty) Little Rock Founded 1962 •N eeley Forestry (United Country) Camden Founded 1972 •W hite Land Co. Wynne Founded 1977

• Kingwood Forestry Arkadelphia, Monticello, Texarkana Founded 1983

• Delta Land Management (Mossy Oak) North Little Rock Founded 2005

•N atural Farms and Wildlife (Mossy Oak) Fayetteville Founded 2014

• Glaub Farm Management Jonesboro Founded 1993

• Mid-Ark Properties England Founded 2006

• Wellons Land Little Rock Founded 2015

• Habitat Land Co. Searcy Founded 1993

• Stuttgart Land and Farm (Mossy Oak) Stuttgart Founded 2007

• National Land Realty Little Rock and Stuttgart Founded 2016

• Lile Real Estate Little Rock Founded 1993

• Whitetail Properties Founded 2007

• Outdoor Properties Mountain View Founded 1995

• Cache River (Mossy Oak) Searcy Founded 2012 Sources: NWA Board of Realtors, Colliers/CoStar, agencies

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JUN E 2021

A Growing Health System for a Growing Community

Expanded Access

Innovative Services

More Specialists

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We’re not just growing—we’re growing together.

New Medical Ofﬁces

ST ADMIRED

COMPANIES BY AMP STAFF

Arkansas is full of successful businesses that become a part of the fabric of the communities they serve, if not the entire state. These operations are not only successful businesses but conscientious community partners. Arkansas Money & Politics asked our readers to name their favorite Arkansas businesses in 58 categories. Readers submitted their votes online, and the firms chosen by AMP readers as the Most Admired in Arkansas for 2021 are listed on the following pages.

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JUN E 2021

MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES

ACCOUNTING FIRM BROWN ROGERS & CO. Brown Rogers & Co. LLC is a leading accounting firm located in Little Rock and providing personalized financial guidance to local individuals and businesses around the state. The team at Brown Rogers provides basic tax management and accounting services as well as more extensive services, such as audits, financial statements and financial planning. The Brown Rogers team has a mission to help clients maintain financial viability in the present while progressing toward their future goals. Thorough research, analysis and attention to clients’ needs allows the team to provide the most accurate advice and plan of action. High standards of dedication and professionalism have allowed Brown Rogers & Co. to maintain an esteemed reputation throughout the years in the business and financial community.

ADVERTISING FIRM MHP/TEAM SI Little Rock’s MHP/Team SI is an awardwinning, full-service advertising and marketing agency that was named by AdWeek as one of the top five fastest growing agencies over 20 years old and among the top 100 fastest growing agencies with “freshthinking and fearless leaders.” Over its nearly 50-year history, the agency helps a diverse range of clients build their brands, increase public awareness, change behaviors, engage audiences and achieve results. MHP/Team SI is best known for coining the term TraDigital™— the art of

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blending traditional and digital marketing. The agency leverages its own proprietary service called Doppio® that pairs the best data-analytics platforms with the insights and instincts of its certified professional staff to optimize campaign effectiveness.

AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS RICELAND Riceland is the world’s largest rice miller and marketer and one of the midSouth’s most prominent soybean processors. Generations of Riceland farmers have planted and harvested the rice that has made the company the industry leader it is today. Riceland works closely with its 5,500 farmer-members in Arkansas and Missouri to continue cultivating the best quality of rice. On average, Riceland’s 1,500 employees prepare and market more than 125 million bushels (2.5 million metric tons) of grain. Riceland products are shipped and sold under the Riceland label, private labels, as ingredients, and in bulk. The brand is sold across the country and to more than 75 locations outside of the United States.

ARCHITECTURAL FIRM WDD WDD Architects — Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson — is one of the largest architectural firms in Arkansas as well as one of the largest comprised solely of architectural designers. Originally

founded in 1919, WDD is now managed by six principals, each responsible for a particular area of the firm’s practice. Currently, it has 30 employees with locations in Little Rock and Fayetteville. With four LEED Accredited Professionals, WDD is an active participant in the initiative to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, energy efficient and healthy places to live, work and learn. The majority of WDD’s portfolio falls within the areas of municipal, education, health care, office space and correction projects. The firm is involved in projects of varying scopes from small renovations and additions to large renovations and new facilities. In addition to architectural designers, the professional staff of WDD includes interior designers, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance specialists, space planners, contract administration personnel and computer-aided drafting and design staff.

AUCTION COMPANY BLACKMON AUCTIONS Blackmon Auctions, based in Little Rock, is a third-generation family business founded in 1938. Led by Thomas Blackmon, who took over from his father, Tom Blackmon Sr., the firm conducts auctions of all sizes throughout the United States. In the past 24 months, it has conducted more than 150 auctions in more than 25 states — as close to home as its own auction complex in Little Rock and as far away as Wyoming, Florida, New York, California, Ohio, Louisiana, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Oklahoma and more. Although Blackmon Auctions has grown into one of the largest equipment auction companies in the country, it still ARM ON E YA N D P OL ITIC S.COM

specializes in one-owner, on-site auctions, regardless of size.

AUTOMOBILE DEALERSHIP EVOLVE AUTOMOTIVE EVolve Automotive Inc., located in North Little Rock, is the first exclusive electric and hybrid dealership in the South. EVolve has two goals: increase the availability of electric vehicles to the public and educate people about the benefits of switching to electric vehicles from fuel powered. Electric vehicles produce zero emissions and contribute significantly less greenhouse gases and air pollutants compared to gasoline engines. EVolve is looking toward a greener future with electric and hybrid vehicles. The team at EVolve wants to make the transition to plug-in vehicles smooth and easy with a relaxed, nopressure buying experience for customers through transparency, competitive prices in the EV and hybrid markets and personable relationships.

BANK SOUTHERN BANCORP Southern Bancorp is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with 52 locations across Arkansas and Mississippi. Founded in 1986 by some of the nation’s leading political, business and philanthropic leaders, Southern Bancorp has grown into a $1.9 billion asset organization with a unique array of financial products and services designed to help individuals at all stages of life’s financial journey.

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Headquartered in Arkadelphia, Southern Bancorp combines traditional banking and lending services with financial development tools as well as public policy advocacy to help families and communities grow stronger. Southern Bancorp’s approach to creating economic opportunity in the most persistently impoverished areas is rooted in the belief that net worth drives economic opportunity, and the strategic framework provides individuals an opportunity to build net worth through homeownership, entrepreneurship and savings.

BLACK/MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS SMOKE BEAST BBQ Smoke Beast BBQ of Little Rock is a family-owned barbecue food truck operated by the husband and wife duo of Rebecca and Brandon Williams. Smoke Beast officially opened in late 2020. Facing the adversity of opening during the pandemic proved to be difficult. However, the owners say this has built a toughness that’s needed to run a business. Smoke Beast cooks up some of the best Texas-style barbecue. From tender brisket and pulled pork cooked low and slow, to homemade mac and cheese that rivals Grandma’s, every dish is made with love. And the customer service is elite. Quality is the essential ingredient of Smoke Beast. As an added spice, Smoke Beast also caters company events, weddings and any special occasions.

BUILDING CONTRACTOR CBM CONSTRUCTION CBM Construction Co. Inc. has ties back to 1922 when W.E. Clark, great grandfather of current CEO, Clark B. McGlothin, began his masonry business. W.E. Clark’s business operated for more than 78 years before leading into the establishment of CBM Construction in North Little Rock. The CBM staff consisted of just three people in 1976 but has grown to 24 employees, and each employee is able to assist any customer need from working projects to warranty requests. Services provided by CBM include design build, pre-construction project evaluation, general contracting, construction management and CBM facility services. Building relationships since 1922, the CBM team strives to provide the highest quality of customer service.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LITTLE ROCK REGIONAL CHAMBER The Little Rock Regional Chamber helps promote economic growth and development of the community. Guidance and support are available to ensure that businesses and industries can operate profitably, create opportunities and improve the quality of life for residents. Members of the Little Rock Regional Chamber can connect with each other to network, attend training events and workshops, engage with business leaders and receive greater exposure to the community. With international corporations headquartered in Little Rock in addition to

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MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES startups, small businesses, universities, hospitals, nonprofits, religious organizations and more, the city is home to many areas of economic development. The Chamber connects both new and existing businesses to necessary resources to help them succeed.

COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY, FOUR-YEAR UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS The University of Central Arkansas was founded in 1907 as Arkansas State Normal School, a training institution for teachers. Today, the Conway university serves more than 10,000 students from all 75 counties in Arkansas, almost every state and more than 70 countries. Students may choose from 162 academic programs and certificates, which include undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs offered in-person and online. The student-to-faculty ratio at the university is 16 to 1. Faculty and staff promote intellectual, professional, social and personal development through innovations in learning, scholarship and creative endeavors. The UCA campus provides an active community of more than 200 student organizations. These include learning, leadership, community building, creative expression, volunteerism, mentoring and more.

COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY, TWO-YEAR UA PULASKI TECH TheHarding University of Arkansas-Pulaski Rush

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Technical College in North Little Rock is a comprehensive two-year college, offering associate degree and certificate programs for students who plan to transfer to four-year colleges and universities and/or for career preparation and advancement. UA-Pulaski Tech’s history dates back to October 1945 when it was established as the Little Rock Vocational School under the supervision of the Little Rock Public Schools. In the early 1970s, the Veterans Administration transferred 137 acres to the North Little Rock School District, and what was by then called Pulaski Vocational Technical School was given 40 acres for a new school site. When the Arkansas General Assembly created the Arkansas Technical and Community College System in 1991, Pulaski Technical College was created along with 12 other technical colleges under the coordination of the Arkansas Board of Higher Education. In 2017, the college formally joined the UA system.

CONSTRUCTION NABHOLZ Conway-based Nabholz, one of the state’s leading commercial contractors since 1949, offers a full range of construction services across the United States. With more than 70 years in the industry, Nabholz has the people, resources and expertise to provide excellent services and creative solutions, meeting the diverse needs of every client. Over the years, the company has expanded its work to other states and even formed Nabholz University, which offers a fouryear apprenticeship program to individuals interested in the carpentry profession. Continuing education, professional development and advanced management training is also offered to team members at Nabholz. The company has office locations across the state as well as in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Connecticut.

CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU LITTLE ROCK CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) serves as the official destination marketing organization for Little Rock. Currently celebrating its 51st anniversary, LRCVB is responsible for promoting the city as a destination to leisure travelers and as a group meeting destination across the United States and worldwide. Aside from its offices in downtown Little Rock’s historic Cromwell building, LRCVB is responsible for the management of Robinson Center, the Statehouse Convention Center, the First Security Amphitheater, Ottenheimer River Market Hall, three downtown parking garages and surface lots. Using the iconic “Big on Little Rock” tagline, LRCVB’s advertising efforts bring millions of visitors to the capital city each year and inspire travelers to discover the pleasant surprise of Little Rock.

COSMETIC SURGERY PRACTICE DR. SUZANNE YEE Dr. Suzanne Yee founded her cosmetic surgery practice in Little Rock on the principles of artistry and innovation. Alongside her team, Dr. Yee can perform

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treatments ranging from advanced laser therapy and injectables such as BOTOX® Cosmetic to comprehensive mommy makeovers. When designing treatments, Dr. Yee combines her keen sense of aesthetic balance and harmony to enhance each individual’s unique beauty. At their onsite, private surgical center, the team is equipped to perform each stage of any plastic surgery or noninvasive treatment to the highest standards. A successful cosmetic surgeon must combine passion and artistic sensibilities, with years of extensive study and meticulous training in medicine. Dr. Yee’s extended training, professional memberships and awards paint an impressive picture, and patients respond to her integrity and professionalism.

CREDIT UNION ARKANSAS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Arkansas Federal Credit Union has been making a difference in the lives of employees, members and the communities they serve since 1956. With more than $1.5 billion in total assets and more than 300 employees, Arkansas Federal is the largest credit union in Arkansas. As a notfor-profit financial institution, Arkansas Federal invests profits back into benefits for members through higher dividends and lower loan rates. Both consumers and businesses entrust the credit union to get competitive rates and reduced fees on accounts and loans. Currently headquartered in Jacksonville, Arkansas Federal continues to grow and expand in order to better meet member needs. This year, it will move into a new, larger corporate headquarters in west Little Rock. Arkansas Federal has 18 branches throughout Arkansas that serve more than 120,000 members.

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DISASTER RESTORATION METRO DISASTER SPECIALISTS Metro Disaster Specialists is a recovery, repair and remodel service serving Arkansans since 1979. Founded in North Little Rock by Reed McConnell, the company has grown to complete more than 18,000 projects across Arkansas. Metro Disaster specializes in fire-andsmoke recovery, water-and-flood recovery, environmental recovery and naturaldisaster efforts. In the past 41 years, the company expanded its facilities to provide 40,000 square feet of production and storage area. This expansion resulted in Metro Disaster becoming the most abundant storage space in the Natural State. In 2019, Metro Disaster was named the “Restoration Company of the Year” by the Arkansas Adjusters Association and Professional Insurance Agents of Arkansas. In addition, the company was named the Arkansas Adjusters Association “Vendor of the Year” in 2016.

DISTRIBUTION/ SUPPLY COMPANY R&E SUPPLY In 1928, brothers Sid and Pat O’Bannon of Little Rock teamed with Carl Miller Sr. of General Electric in Schenectady, New York, to launch GE appliance dealerships in Arkansas. This led to the creation of what is now Refrigeration and Electric Supply Co. As the business grew and prospered

under Miller’s firm hand, it soon outgrew the space on Louisiana Street, and Miller had a new building built in 1955 at 1222 Spring St., which still serves as R&E’s headquarters today. R&E has continued to grow, expanding throughout Arkansas with its first branch opening in Pine Bluff in 1971. Since then, under the watchful eyes of Miller’s sons, Bill and Carl Jr. (retired), R&E has established branches in Hot Springs, Russellville, Conway, Searcy and Fort Smith, and continues to be Arkansas’ leading wholesale source for the refrigeration, heating and air-conditioning service industries.

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR GARY HOUSTON ELECTRIC CO. For more than 35 years, Gary Houston Electric Co. has served Central Arkansas with affordable, quality and timely commercial and residential electrical contracting services with a strong emphasis on customer service. Constantly looking for opportunities to serve new customers, its areas of expertise include homes, retail spaces, restaurants, offices and warehouses among others. The company services both new construction and existing structures needing electrical repair or being remodeled. The majority of its work comes from repeat customers, whose relationships the company strives to build and maintain. In addition to commercial and residential electrical services, Gary Houston offers facility maintenance and emergency electrical services.

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Over a million reasons for a brighter Arkansas. At Entergy Arkansas, we’re committed to powering tomorrow. So last year we donated about $1.7 million to Arkansas community projects while our employees logged over 23,500 volunteer hours. From disaster relief to poverty solutions, we’re giving back to empower future generations and a brighter Arkansas. entergyarkansas.com

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FEARLESS IS TAKING OUR JOB SERIOUSLY. SERVING OUR CUSTOMERS ENTHUSIASTICALLY. PROTECTING YOUR HEALTH FERVENTLY. GIVING BACK GENEROUSLY. BEING GRATEFUL GENUINELY. THANK YOU! For trusting us for more than 70 years to bring you, your loved ones, your company, your community peace of mind. 00130 6/21

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MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES

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EMPLOYMENT STAFFING AGENCY PREMIER STAFFING Premier Staffing, a BelFlex company, recruits, places and manages workers for clerical and professional positions including call center, data entry, human resources and accounting in a range of industries. It also provides commercial staffing workforce solutions in the light industrial sector. Through its offices in Little Rock and Conway, Premier delivers deep industry knowledge, recruiting expertise, commitment to compliance and a partnering approach to improving productivity. It also has access to BelFlex’s network of resources and experts from the company’s 29 branches throughout the Midwest and Southeast. With its professional team and thorough procedures, Premier maintains a reputation as an honest, reliable and professional business partner. The company is driven by a passion for creating success for its employees, clients and communities — what it calls “succeeding together.”

ENGINEERING FIRM BERNHARD Bernhard is one of the largest privately owned engineering and contracting firms in America. Bernhard’s engineering division was established in Arkansas in 1995 and is dedicated to providing innovative solutions for its customers. Bernhard utilizes its 2,000 employees and 25 office locations to address the ever-

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present issue of aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance. The firm combines development, financing, design, construction, and operations to deliver turnkey Energy-as-a-Service solutions. With offices in Little Rock and Fayetteville, the company has several prominent clients throughout Arkansas including the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Baptist Health, the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Arkansas. Currently, the Bernhard team is involved in more than 900 active projects in the United States.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING SNYDER ENVIRONMENTAL Snyder Environmental is an environmental remediation firm that focuses on safety and accuracy for a quality job well done. The company specializes in asbestos abatement, lead paint removal/ stabilization, mold remediation, commercial duct cleaning and decontamination. Building trust with clients is a key element to everything Snyder Environmental does. “Trust has at least two components, honesty and competence,” said Snyder CEO Joe Carter. This commitment is demonstrated in the firm’s customer satisfaction results. Snyder earns 90 percent-plus satisfactory ratings in each of the following categories: meeting the project’s anticipated start date, completion of project within the expected time frame, leaving the work area clean and the performance and professionalism of the supervisor and crew. Headquartered in North Little Rock, Snyder has more than 750 employees and 24 offices across the United States.

FINANCIAL PLANNER IPSEN ADVISOR GROUP Ipsen Advisor Group is a Little Rockbased team of financial professionals believing it can accomplish more together than it can alone. Working as a team, Ipsen endeavors to provide solutions to the financial issues faced by its clients. This kind of work is deeply personal. But achieving what you truly hope to accomplish financially in life requires genuine communication, valued relationships and professional advice you can trust. For more than two decades, Ipsen Advisor Group has worked closely with individuals, families and businesses developing customized financial solutions to address their unique financial goals. It works diligently to build individualized financial plans, then continually manages and refines them to meet clients’ objectives without unnecessary risk. It uses the best in technology, coupled with the support of the team’s real-life experience to focus on clients’ best interests.

FINTECH FIRM SMILEY TECHNOLOGIES Little Rock’s Smiley Technologies Inc. is a core provider for community banks founded in 2002 out of the need for better software and superior customer service. Its two founders are Elizabeth Glasbrenner and Vance Smiley. Their father, Walter Smiley, founded Systematics in 1968. Systematics was the pioneer of outsourced data processing for banks and eventually merged with Alltel and FIS in the 1990s. In April, American Banker named Smiley the No. 2 “Best Place to Work” in the country for financial technology. Smiley is a service business focusing on

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continuous innovation and providing a quality of service that’s disappearing in this industry.

HVAC COMPANY POWERS OF ARKANSAS Powers is the premier commercial HVAC, controls and service company in Arkansas, offering a full range of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technologies to manage all aspects of customers’ HVAC needs. As an independent field office for Siemens Building Technologies, Powers specializes in building automation and controls systems, which manage energy costs while maintaining the right comfort level for occupants. Powers works with building owners, facility managers, engineers, contractors and architects, providing design assistance on equipment, installation of controls and service on the whole HVAC system of the building or campus. Powers’ expertise is delivered to health care, education, government, commercial buildings, laboratories and industry. Headquartered in North Little Rock, Powers covers all of Arkansas as well as Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana.

HEALTH INSURANCE ARKANSAS BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD

The company and its family of affiliates are leaders in health insurance innovation and provide a full spectrum of health and dental coverage plans for individuals and groups. Arkansas Blue Cross employs more than 3,200 people in about a dozen locations throughout Arkansas. The company serves nearly 800,000 people in Arkansas and another 1.2 million through national accounts. As a private, not-for-profit, mutual health insurance company, the company stands apart because its policyholders own the company entirely. Its commitment to the health of Arkansas and its people is unmatched.

HOSPITAL CONWAY REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM Conway Regional Health System demonstrates the value that it places on the community by empowering a medical staff of more than 200 physicians and an employee staff of 1,500 in crucial decision-making that impacts patients every day. These crucial stakeholders are energized through an Accountable Clinical Management Model for physicians and a Patient Care Governing Congress for the staff. As a result, Conway Regional’s patient experience, employee and physician engagement and physician engagement scores in the Press Ganey survey soared into the 95th percentile in 2020. Conway Regional has been recognized nationally, statewide and locally throughout Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Perry, Pope, Van Buren and Yell counties as a “Best Place to Work.”

As Arkansas’ oldest and largest health insurer, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has been helping improve the health, financial security and peace of mind of the people of Arkansas for more than 70 years.

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HOTEL THE CAPITAL HOTEL An icon of Central Arkansas, the Capital Hotel has been considered the “front porch” of Little Rock for more than 140 years. Since its debut in 1876, the Capital Hotel has served as business and political hub for the metropolitan city, attracting politicians, CEOs and celebrities alike. A series of renovations and restoration projects, completed in 2007, have allowed the Capital Hotel to maintain its historic character and charm without compromising its comfort and luxury. The hotel has earned a reputation as one of the South’s most elegant hotels. The staff at the Capital Hotel is dedicated to the personal attention of guests and their visitors through warm and personal greetings, conveying to all who enter the Southern charm and warm hospitality that the capital city has to offer.

IT CONSULTING NETWORK SERVICES GROUP Network Services Group provides IT support to thousands of customers in Arkansas. Starting in 1989 in North Little Rock, the company has delivered quality products and outstanding customer service. NSG founded Network Data Services, a managed service provider, administering support for banks, medical firms, car dealerships, lawyers, manufacturers, staffing agencies and service companies. Services may include installing a new phone system or setting up a computer network, while fostering the company’s award-winning support. The firm remains based in North Little Rock, but now has a second location in Fayetteville. As it grows, NSG strives to

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CYBER INNOVATION GROUNDBREAKING CYBER RANGE FOR HANDS-ON LEARNING

CA is home to the first cyber range in the region built for students – and we put it to good use. Our instructors go beyond simulations, introducing actual cyberattacks that teach students how to navigate viruses, system attacks, identity theft and more in the real world.

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YOUR ENERGY EXPERTS

With more than 45 MW of solar under development in Arkansas, Entegrity is proud to be a full turnkey solar provider. Bringing decades of energy experience to design, finance, build, and operate projects, our in-house team works to ensure each project creates savings for years to come.

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gnizing us as a Most Admired o c e r r o f u Comp yo Our clients have access to CSA’s network of the best national talent for any. Thank positions at every level. Let us help you find your perfect fit.

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“continue to focus on delivering incredible outcomes for you and your business.”

INSURANCE AGENCY/ PROPERTY AND CASUALTY RESOLUTE INSURANCE GROUP Based in Little Rock, Resolute Insurance Group has an incredible team of agents with expertise in everything from transportation insurance to personal home and auto insurance and everything in between. It was created by Kyle Duty, CEO; Josh Connor, COO; and Kevin Lamey, CFO, as a solution to the insurance needs faced every day. The high-energy team at Resolute is dedicated to providing value in every interaction and understands that providing value over price is key to protecting client’s assets. One way the team does this is by shopping with multiple A-rated insurance carriers and leveraging niche broker relationships to find the perfect fit for every client.

Jonesboro, Hot Springs and Mountain Home. The coronavirus pandemic that has wrecked so many companies has been a boon for DOW Janitorial. Revenue reached record levels this past year. Worsham said his company had its best year ever. “It has been an incredible year of learning and growing for all of us, with a lot more demand for what we normally do, plus the additional disinfecting and electrostatic spraying we’ve been doing because of COVID-19.”

LAW FIRM RAINWATER, HOLT & SEXTON Being the largest plaintiff personal injury firm in Arkansas with more than 30 lawyers and 100 staff members, Rainwater, Holt & Sexton is dedicated to serving the needs of clients across the state. The firm, established in January 2006, is ready to fight for clients no matter where they live with seven locations in Arkansas and Tennessee — Little Rock, Springdale, Jacksonville, Conway, Hot Springs, Bryant, and Memphis. Their firm excels in client service through numerous other practice areas that include social security disability, workers’ compensation, nursing home abuse and sex trafficking.

JANITORIAL SERVICES DOW JANITORIAL Dow Worsham, founder and CEO of DOW Janitorial, grew up in the cleaning business. He founded his company at age 21 without formal business training or college education. After 35 years, DOW Janitorial has just shy of 500 employees and is one of the largest commercial cleaning services in the state with 175 clients in 220 locations. Along with its North Little Rock headquarters, DOW has offices in Springdale,

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266 to 1200 nm and include laser diodes in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectrums. In addition to its staff of fully trained electronics specialists, PTI houses a full-service, machine-services department. The company’s ultimate goal is complete customer satisfaction. It is dedicated to meet that demand with product development and innovation to bring new solutions to the ever-evolving photonics industry.

MEDICAL CENTER CARTI Since its founding in Little Rock in 1976, CARTI has delivered the world’s most advanced forms of cancer care in a compassionate, patient-centered environment. Today, CARTI is the state’s leading cancer-care provider with 19 treatment locations in 16 communities across Arkansas. Through a collaborative approach, its team of renowned cancer experts treats all types of adult cancer and blood disorders with a full spectrum of treatment modalities, including medical, radiation and surgical oncology, as well as diagnostic and interventional radiology. CARTI’s vision is to be the premier cancer treatment destination, ensuring that patients in Arkansas and beyond have convenient access to leading-edge cancer treatment.

MANUFACTURER POWER TECHNOLOGY INC. Power Technology Inc. (PTI) of Alexander has been a leader in the photonics industry for more than 50 years. Since 1969, it has designed and manufactured laser products for analytical, industrial and biomedical applications. Available wavelengths range from

MONEY MANAGER/ INVESTMENTS GADBERRY FINANCIAL GROUP For more than three decades, Jay Gadberry and the Gadberry Financial

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Group have served the clients and communities of Arkansas by creating solutions to create, manage and protect wealth for clients and their families today and for the betterment of generations to come. The firm is built on lifelong relationships with a sole focus on success for its clients. Based in Little Rock, Gadberry Financial is a full-service investment firm and an independent branch of a large national firm. As such, it is able to provide resources and offer advice and insight that is completely free of bias and the conflict of proprietary interests often found in “big banking” and provide resources not usually available through regional or smaller firms.

MORTGAGE LENDER IBERIABANK MORTGAGE Founded in 1887 in New Iberia, La., IberiaBank Mortgage continues serving Arkansans across the state. Powered by a trustworthy team, the mortgage lender delivers better technology, broadening lending capabilities and expanding financial networks. IberiaBank entered the Arkansas market in 2009 when it acquired Little Rock’s Pulaski Bank & Trust. With 322 locations, IberiaBank meets the financial services of customers in retail and commercial, along with business and private banking, with housing mortgage representatives in 85 locations across 12 states. IberiaBank Mortgage offers three loan options: fixed-rate mortgage, adjustablerate mortgage, including affordable housing loans and rural development. The mortgage company offers industryleading competitive rates and continues to fit a variety of financial needs. As a local mortgage lender, it takes pride in the ability to approve and fund local loans.

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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION ARKANSAS ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION The Arkansas Zoological Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the growth and development of the Little Rock Zoo. The AZF raises funds for new zoo exhibits, education programs and other upgrades at the zoo. The AZF has raised funds for some of the Zoo’s most exciting new features, including the Laura P. Nichols Penguin Pointe habitat. The AZF also assists the Little Rock Zoo with its conservation efforts by providing support for Little Rock Zoo staff to travel abroad and work with conservation organizations worldwide who are saving animals in the wild. The AZF has also recently worked with Mayor Frank Scott Jr. on a Zoo Task Force for the Future and held public meetings to discuss new business plans and models for the success of the Zoo. This resulted in the development of new ideas for the renewal of the Zoo to make it a regional tourist attraction and to update outdated facilities.

NURSING HOME SHERWOOD NURSING & REHABILITATION CENTER Sherwood Nursing and Rehabilitation is committed to providing the highest quality patient care. From the moment patients enter the facility, they will experience the difference the facility has to offer. Sherwood Nursing wants patients, as well as their families to feel comfortable and safe. While providing skilled nursing care, Sherwood Nursing offers short-term rehabilitation, long-term and respite care. 57

The qualified staff is ready to give support for the tasks of day-to-day living while enjoying carefree activities. The team is dedicated to providing a secure environment for its patients. Sherwood Nursing Home is devoted to providing high-quality care, which celebrates the dignity and grace of every person who enters their facility.

OFFICE DESIGN INNERPLAN Innerplan has been proudly serving Arkansas since 1979, now with a state-ofthe-art, 20,000-square-foot headquarters on Maumelle Boulevard and an additional office in Fayetteville. With a focus on furnishing and designing projects for corporate, educational and health care environments, Innerplan features a portfolio filled with decades of design work. With a full-service furniture dealership, an experienced design team, three dedicated project coordinators and certified in-house installation staff, it is Arkansas’ go-to spot for interior furnishing and design.

OFFICE SUPPLY COMPANY PETTUS OFFICE PRODUCTS Pettus Office Products of Little Rock is a family-owned-and-operated office solutions provider that offers contract office furniture, office products, janitorial supplies and technology solutions. It prides itself on providing exceptional customer service and being a one-stop solution for workplaces by providing “everything for the office.” After 32 years in business, Pettus has JUN E 2021

grown into one of the largest independently owned dealers in the region. After multiple acquisitions throughout Arkansas and Louisiana, Pettus provides local service and delivery across the entire state. Lynn Pettus founded the company in 1989 and remains CEO. Eric Pettus and Josh Pettus manage the sales and operations for the Pettus organization. In addition, Audra Pettus leads the team of interior designers for its contract office furniture division.

PAYROLL COMPANY COMPLETE PAYROLL Complete Payroll of Little Rock began as Combined Financial Services, founded by Guy Dillahunty in 1992. When he retiredin October of 2000, the company was purchased by Betty Jo King, who continued to grow the company with the same principles on which it was founded. Eventually, the company became Complete Payroll Services and moved forward by adding services such as online payroll, web-based timekeeping administration, biometric time clocks, pay cards and more. Staying on top of technological advancements in the industry, Complete Payroll is proud to offer the very best from HR services to 401k management.

tion of a board certification in plastic surgery, Spann completed a five-year stint in general surgery, two years in plastic surgery and 18 months of intensive testing and practice evaluation. He is now board-certified in both general surgery by the American Board of Surgery and plastic surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Both boards are recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. Located in Little Rock, Dr. Spann’s office offers a range of procedures, including facial rejuvenation, body contouring and breast surgery. In addition, his office also provides non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as BOTOX, dermal fillers, Fraxel laser resurfacing and Liposonix. Dr. Spann has been selected as a top plastic and cosmetic surgeon in Arkansas by multiple publications.

PRIVATE COMPANY ARKANSAS GRAPHICS INC. Arkansas Graphics Inc., a customer-focused, technology-led commercial printing company in Little Rock, has been in business for more than 45 years. AGI has built a proud heritage on the core skills of a traditional commercial printing company while staying on the cutting edge of new technologies and working practices. The company credits its success to hard work, perseverance and commitment to excellence – values that drive it today and will continue to do so. AGI provides a wide range of products and services from graphic design to printed forms, marketing materials and an-

Thanks for naming Power Technology as one of Arkansas Money and Politics’ Most Admired Companies!

PLASTIC SURGERY PRACTICE LITTLE ROCK PLASTIC SURGERY As a plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Spann has worked hard to get where he is today. In his recent pursuit and acquisi-

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nual reports. As one of the top offset and digital commercial printers in the region, AGI continues to expand its offerings to include digital storefronts, variable data printing, direct mail, laser die cutting, UV coating, promotional products and large format graphics and signage.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION ARKANSAS BAR ASSOCIATION

The Arkansas Bar Association (ArkBar) is a voluntary bar association that has served the legal profession since 1898. With roughly 5,000 members, ArkBar strives to represent its members by providing services that support the practice of law and promote the profession. As part of its mission, ArkBar focuses on improving the legal system in Arkansas, assisting in the enactment of laws and serving as members’ trusted and collective voice at the state capitol. ArkBar supports its members with tools such as free legal research, law practice management resources, weekly case summaries via podcasts and discounts on services to help their practice. Beginning in July, ArkBar is introducing a new affiliate membership for paralegals who are supervised by attorney members to increase law practice efficiency.

ship roles throughout the United States. Its team of dedicated, experienced consumer packaged goods (CPG) recruiters have devoted more than 25 years to finding and placing the best talent. Based in Northwest Arkansas, CSA has deep ties to the Bentonville community and a finger on the pulse of other CPG hubs surrounding retailer corporate headquarters in cities including Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Seattle. CSA works to find the right people for positions in those communities where consumer product leaders have made their homes. Because of its process and the relationships the company has built, CSA is a consistent leader among search firms in the consumer goods industry, with a solid reputation as a trusted advisor to companies and candidates alike.

PROMOTIONAL/MARKETING COMPANY CUSTOMXM CustomXM is a full-service marketing, print, sign, branded apparel and promotional product provider. Located in the heart of the Argenta Arts District in North Little Rock, this family-owned business has been serving Central Arkansas for more than 55 years. CustomXM uses a variety of colorful graphics, print, signs, banners, the internet, walls, floors, windows, creative thinking, lots of coffee, and sometimes even smoke signals, to help its clients market smarter. It is built on relationships first and revenues second and was founded with a heart for serving the community.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMPANY CAMERON SMITH & ASSOCIATES For more than 25 years, Cameron Smith & Associates has been the go-to talent resource for a wide range of leader-

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JUN E 2021

regional coalitions and statewide outreach efforts.

PUBLIC COMPANY WALMART

Walmart started as a single discount store in Rogers, founded on the idea of selling more for less. Over the last 50 years, the company has grown into the largest retailer in the world. Walmart’s mission remains the same: helping people save money and live better. Each week, approximately 220 million customers and members visit approximately 10,500 stores and clubs under 48 banners in 24 countries and ecommerce websites. With FY2021 revenue of $559 billion, Walmart employs more than 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart is committed to creating shared value for customers, communities, associates and suppliers around the world. The company aims to use its business strengths and spark collective action to transform systems through ambitious commitments within opportunity, sustainability, community and equity.

REAL ESTATE COMPANY/ COMMERCIAL LINDSEY AND ASSOCIATES Led by owner and previous Razorback and Minnesota Viking football player Jim Lindsey, the Lindsey team incorporates a strong work ethic, fair play, honesty, integrity and professionalism into a very successful game plan. Lindsey founded Lindsey & Associates in 1973 alongside J. W. Gabel. Their first office was in a little house on Highway 71 in Fayetteville with only a handful of people. Handling residential, commercial, investment and land properties, the real estate team has grown to more than 250 professionally trained agents working in two Northwest Arkansas offices. Day-to-day operations are led by Suzett Sparks, managing broker for the Rogers office, and Lindsey’s son, John David, also a former Hog who joined the firm as general manager in 1996. As a locally founded and based company, Lindsey & Associates has been the leader among Arkansas real estate companies in sold and closed listings for many years.

PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM THE PEACOCK GROUP The Peacock Group (TPG) understands the value of relationships and results. Every day, the award-winning team at TPG combines nearly 50 years of communications expertise with innovative thinking and creative storytelling to help its partners achieve success. Proudly based in Little Rock, TPG’s experience includes The White House, U.S. Congress, presidential campaigns, global summits,

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REAL ESTATE COMPANY/ LAND BROKER LILE REAL ESTATE

real estate broker in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas; an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC); and an Arkansas state Certified General Appraiser. With a team of sportsmen, outdoorsmen, and farmers, Lile Real Estate has the firsthand knowledge and experience needed to understand what Arkansans are looking for in a land agent. The company has sold $350 million worth of real estate in the last five years and $650 worth of real estate in the last decade. The passion and expertise at Lile Real Estate is unmatched, securing its position as one of AMP’s most admired businesses for 2021.

REAL ESTATE COMPANY/ RESIDENTIAL iREALTY ARKANSAS iRealty Arkansas is a full-service real estate company with more than 30 years of experience in the real estate field. iRealty is headquartered in Little Rock and services the entire state with the goal of equipping home buyers and sellers with the technology and tools needed to bring about their goals. iRealty makes this happen by hiring the best real estate agents in Central Arkansas and offering the most comprehensive and easy-to-use home search technology available. Some of the services offered by iRealty include commercial brokerage and leasing, residential brokerage, property management, development and investment. iReality puts great emphasis on honest communication with clients, laying the foundation for giving clients of iReality a competitive advantage. Agents at iReality are prepared with top-of-the-line professional skills and have the capability and know-how to help clients all across Central Arkansas.

Lile Real Estate was founded in February of 1993 by Gar Lile, a licensed

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RESTAURANT DAVID’S BURGERS David Alan Bubbus created David’s Burgers as a tribute to his father, David Bubbus Sr., who had become a master butcher at the age of 16. Bubbus Sr. grew up in Central Arkansas and began his career in the meat industry at the age of five. He managed his first restaurant at the age of 19 before opening his own restaurant in Pine Bluff in 1967. David’s Burgers is founded on the knowledge and principles of David Bubbus Sr., along with the traditions and craftsmanship found in master butcher shops. The black-and-white pictures that adorn the walls of David’s Burgers are Bubbus family pictures, welcoming customers into the Bubbus home. David’s Burgers is the only hamburger restaurant with beef that is hand cut from USDA Choice chuck and ground for that day’s use. There’s an incredible amount of passion and detail that goes into food at David’s Burgers, earning it a spot in AMP’s list of Most Admired Companies for 2021.

SOLAR COMPANY ENTEGRITY Founded in Little Rock in 2007 as a consulting firm focused on building sustainability, building performance, and energy efficiency, Entegrity has built itself into the largest energy services company in the region. Led by founders Chris Ladner and Matt Bell, Entegrity currently has more than 45 MW of solar under development in Arkansas and has earned the repeat business of the South’s largest entities,

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including state agencies, school districts, universities and Fortune 500 companies. Entegrity has brought a brand-new business model to the world of energy efficiency. With decades of energy and solar experience on their side, Entegrity is uniquely qualified to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to optimize building performance. Its diverse array of services includes energy efficiency improvements, solar energy, energy storage, lighting solutions, water conservation, commissioning, energy modeling, energy assessments, building testing, sustainability consulting and innovative financial measures.

TITLE COMPANY FIRST NATIONAL TITLE First National Title Co. of Little Rock is an independent, locally owned and operated company serving Arkansas with services that are professional, efficient and customized to clients’ needs. Founded in June of 1997, First National Title has since grown from two to nearly 200 employees in multiple locations across the state. First National Title is an agent for First American Title Insurance, Chicago Title Insurance, Commonwealth Land and Title Insurance, Fidelity National Title Insurance and Old Republic National Title Insurance. The team at First National Title has combined experience of hundreds of years in the title business. First National Title provides title examination and escrow closing services for all real estate transactions, including 1031 tax exchanges, and issues mortgagee’s and owner’s title insurance policies. First National Title is the choice for any complicated real estate transaction.

TRUCKING COMPANY MAVERICK TRANSPORTATION Maverick Chairman and CEO Steve Williams began a career in transportation in 1975 when he went to work for Steel Haulers Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. After President Jimmy Carter signed the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, deregulating the trucking industry, Williams seized the opportunity to pursue his dream and started Maverick with friend and coworker Larry Leahy in a one room office in Texarkana. In 1983, he purchased his partner’s interest in the company and became the sole owner of Maverick Transportation Inc. Today, the Williams family still owns 100 percent of the Maverick companies. Whether it is hauling steel, building materials, boats or flat glass, striving to be the best can be seen in everything Maverick does. Today, from its corporate campus in North Little Rock, Maverick operates approximately 1,600 units and provides services throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

TRUST DEPARTMENT FAB&T In 1949, a group of forward-thinking individuals saw a need for banking services in a community that had significant growth potential. Kenneth Pat Wilson was the leader of that group and was instrumental in establishing what became Jacksonville’s First Arkansas Bank & Trust.

JUN E 2021

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Since 1949, the bank, its board and staff have been involved in the economic development of the surrounding communities. Its renowned trust department was established in 1972. In addition to organizing the bank, Wilson played a big role in the effort that resulted in the location of Little Rock Air Force Base to town in the early 1950’s. Wilson was joined in 1971 by his youngest son, Larry T. Wilson, who now is the chairman of the board, president and CEO of FAB&T. Wilson’s son, Mark Wilson, joined the bank in 2001, and now serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

UTILITY, ELECTRIC ENTERGY Entergy Arkansas is a division of the Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, in addition to owning and operating one of the cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets as well as nuclear power options. Entergy has annual revenues of $10 billion and more than 13,000 employees. At Entergy, you’ll find a cor-

poration that consistently strives to create sustainable value for customers, employees, communities and owners. That concentrated focus drives the way Entergy thinks as an organization, allowing the company to effectively navigate through numerous transitions, both revolutionary and evolutionary, and still deliver on its commitments to their stakeholders.

WOMEN-OWNED COMPANY SEAL SOLAR Seal Solar was founded in 2012 by Heather Nelson and Josh Davenport to provide energy solutions. The Seal Solar team has more than 200 years of combined construction experience. The company has a staff of more than 40 and more than 425 completed projects since 2015. That year, 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. With educational backgrounds including architecture, energy, construction management and finance, the team at Seal Solar is equipped to find an energy-saving solution for each and every client.

50 FUTURE

Have you voted for the state’s business and political leaders poised to shape the future? AMP will recognize these future drivers of Arkansas’ economic, political and even cultural engines in its July issue.

It’s Still About Serving the Customers.

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SOUTHERN BANCORP IS HONORED TO BE THE MOST ADMIRED BANK IN ARKANSAS For more than 30 years, we’ve been on a mission to build communities and change lives in The Natural State, and as one of America’s oldest and largest Community Development Financial Institutions – as well as Arkansas’ only B-Corp certified company – we’re committed to being wealth builders for everyone. All Arkansans deserve the chance to put themselves on the path to opportunity, and we’re ready with the tools to get them there.

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HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK

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Hot Springs National Park is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. So, what better time to come make some history of your own in this truly unique destination? Featuring historic bathhouses, the park’s famous thermal waters and 26 miles of trails, all nestled in the heart of the city. It’s part national park and part national treasure. For more information about the park and to plan your trip, see nps.gov/hosp and Arkansas.com.

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JUN E 2021

SMALL BUSINESS

WORKIN’ FOR

A LIVIN’?

Arkansas business owners call labor situation worst ever By Dwain Hebda

n a recent weeknight, popular Little Rock-based burger restaurant Purple Cow is a hopping place, moreso behind the counter than in front of it. About a third of the tables are open, but there’s a 25-minute wait to be seated. COVID-19, you ask? The hostess, who’s doubling as cashier, grabbing phones, stocking ingredients and making milkshakes all at once, offers a tired smile. “There’s a wait because we don’t have enough people working to take care of too many tables at once,” she said politely. “Thank you for your patience.” According to business leaders and trade associations, American companies emerged from the fog of COVID restrictions only to plunge straight off a labor cliff. April’s jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor reported a sickly 278,000 new jobs created that month, a fraction of the 1 million that Wall Street predicted, which business analysts blame in part on scant available labor, enticed to stay home by fattened unemployment payments. May’s job figures, released June 4, were better but still fell short of estimates with 559,000 new jobs created, about 100,000 fewer than predicted. The national unemployment rate, per May’s report, is 5.8 percent on a labor force participation rate of just 61.6 percent, despite average hourly wages ticking upward to $30.33. The sluggish national numbers come as no surprise to Arkansas business owners, many of whom have had to resort to

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drastic measures to maintain headcount. “We’ve actually had to raise our starting wages, and we’ve taken a pretty good hit just doing that,” said Grant Hastings, vice president of Little Rock-based Arkansas Bolt Company. “For entry-level workers, warehouse workers, we’ve had to raise

Hank Browne calls the current labor situation the worst he’s seen.

our wages several times actually over the past few months. That’s what we’re going through right now.” Hastings, who said he’d easily add 10 more people if he could find them, had to look up his company’s current starting pay — $14/hour for general help, $15/hour for forklift drivers — so quickly and recently

it had changed. Arkansas Bolt operates six locations in five states and employs about 120, the bulk of them in-state. “We’re looking for some summer employees, like some high school and college talent, to come in and help us out,” he said. “Just some people trying to get some extra money, build some experience. So far, I think we probably have five or six, but we didn’t go looking for them; most are people who worked for us last summer too. That’s anywhere from entrylevel in warehouse to accounting. We’ve been pretty fortunate to have some good ones.” Tracy Gibby, a second-generation owner of cabinet maker Kimberly Enterprises in Cabot, counts her blessings for only being down a couple of workers. But she also knows the picture is skewed somewhat by her brother/co-owner and her eldest son working there too. “This is hard work; it’s made a lot easier because we have a CNC machine, but I’m not going to lie, it is hard work,” she said. “It is almost impossible to hire for those positions.” Gibby acknowledged being an anomaly, as most of her 15 employees are tenured and relatively young, providing a good hedge against the market’s current brisk demand. The positions she’s still trying to fill gives her a taste of what it would be like otherwise. “I need one unskilled and two skilled workers,” she said. “When it gets busy like this, all other cabinet and construction companies aren’t letting their guys go. So, it’s hard to find experienced workers or new hires to get in to train.

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“I don’t think COVID is helping. I don’t think unemployment checks are helping. I think there’s just much easier, more comfortable work for people to find.” The status of America’s labor market, like most everything else in discourse today, is steeped in the politics of the source. Conservative pundits blame in part or entirely the government stimulus and enhanced unemployment handouts of last year as giving too many people incentive to stay home instead of going back to work. In early May, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced he would refuse supplemental federal unemployment assistance payments of $300 a week after June 26, in the hopes of moving people back into the waiting arms of the state’s employers. “The programs were implemented to assist the unemployed during the pandemic when businesses were laying off employees, and jobs were scarce,” Hutchinson said. “The $300 federal supplement helped thousands of Arkansans make it through this tough time, so it served a good purpose. Now, we need Arkansans back on the job so that we can get our economy back to full speed.” Such moves by Hutchinson and chief executives in other states (about half of U.S. governors have taken similar measures) are music to the ears of pro-business and right-leaning groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which issued a dire warning about the direction of labor and unemployment with results of a new study, released June 1. In it, the Chamber noted labor as “the most critical and widespread challenge facing businesses right now” thanks to 8.1

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care and health issues are placing work lower on their list of priorities. Americans are also looking for better labor conditions after working from home sparked a society-wide reassessment.” Tim Fernholz, writing on Quartz.com on May 27, echoed the “it’s-the-wages-stupid” mantra, writing, “So, is there a labor shortage? The short answer is, not really... The labor market is a market, and that means buyers need to offer the right price. Industries that relied on cheap labor before the pandemic are finding it harder to do so for many reasons.” And The Atlantic put the least-fine point on the debate yet, positing on June 1 that a labor shortage might actually be a good thing. “The job of the government is not to ensure a supply of workers at whatever wage rates businesses set,” wrote Annie Lowery. “And workers’ having the power to say no is not a policy problem that the government needs to solve. For decades, though, Washington and America’s statehouses have helped rig the country’s policy infrastrucMcDonald’s franchise owner Darryl ture in employers’ Webb says it’s not about getting favor. people in line but keeping workers “The government on the line. has long encouraged low-wage jobs and forced people into them. This is what we are seeing when ation is more opportunity than anchor, a governors rush to slash unemployment chance to rebalance power between the insurance at the first sign of a real recovery executive suite and the production floor. and when policymakers describe workers’ “Work needs a rethink, but the coundemands as a ‘drag’ on the economy. Uncle try isn’t ready for it,” chimed Juliana Sam is acting in the interests of low-wage Kaplan and Ben Winck in a May 30 employers, not the economy as a whole.” Business Insider article. “Some jobless Such rhetoric rankles Hank Browne, Americans say it’s as simple as wanting founder of Hank’s Fine Furniture and an higher pay after years of declining buyemployer of 250. Browne blasted those in ing power. For others, expensive child

million vacant job openings nationwide in March, up 600,000 vacancies from the previous month. Moreover, there’s roughly half as many available workers (1.4) for every open job across the country as there have been on average over the past 20 years, per the report. “The worker shortage is real, and it’s getting worse by the day,” Suzanne Clark, president and CEO of the Chamber, said in a statement. “The worker shortage is a national economic emergency, and it poses an imminent threat to our fragile recovery and America’s great resurgence.” But for every such alarm sounded by pro-business groups, there’s equally vociferous opposition contending the situ-

JUN E 2021

the Washington echo chamber, calling the labor situation on Main Street the worst he’s ever seen since getting into the furniture business in 1966. “No, nothing like this,” he said. “I can’t imagine who put all this together, the economists in Washington or whoever, to throw all of that money to people with the stimulus and then to create a situation where you have nobody to work, to build the product and to spend that money. No, I didn’t think I’d ever see that in the United States of America.” Browne said he’s been fortunate to hold onto his employees through last year, although he did have to close a store in Texas and three in Alabama. He’s about to open a new store in Mountain Home, but said staffing was made easier by a longtime competitor closing up shop, enabling Hank’s to scoop up displaced employees. But even this relatively positive picture isn’t beyond the negative impact of the labor issue elsewhere in Browne’s supply chain. “It has had quite an effect on the availability of merchandise,” Browne said. “I was talking to a man that owns a pretty large factory in Mississippi who builds sofas, loveseats, chairs, that sort of furniture. He has had a terrible time getting people, between the ridiculous stimulus that’s come out of Washington and all of the extra money they’re giving on unemployment. It has created a huge demand, but it also created a hell of a lot of people that said they will not come back to work as long as they can get that extra unemployment. So, we’ve got this big demand, but nobody to build the merchandise.” The result, Browne said, is delivery times on domestic furniture ballooning from four to six weeks to three to four months or more. And imported furniture, which he buys from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, has spiked as foreign suppliers look to capitalize on the shortages here in the States. What used to cost $4,500 per shipping container now costs $12,000 to 15,000, increases that ultimately impact the consumer.

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“Believe me, Ms. Jones who’s waiting on her new sofa does not like that, even though it has been explained to her extensively at the time she bought it,” Browne said. The strain of the labor picture is particularly evident in the state’s service industry. Visit almost any Arkansas drivethru, and you’re likely to see a posting pleading for patience over menu shortages and speed of service, all due at some level to the lack of workers to process, package, ship and ultimately prepare and serve. Darryl Webb, who purchased five Central Arkansas McDonald’s restaurants in January, said it’s not about the people in line but getting enough people on the line.

The worker shortage is real, and it’s getting worse by the day. “The business is performing very well as the quick-service industry, and specifically McDonald’s, has thrived throughout the pandemic,” Webb said. “This is largely because our business was so well set up for carryout, drive-thru and in our delivery platforms, ordering on the McDonald’s app as well as through our third-party delivery partners. As we’ve seen our business grow, we’ve increased the need for our staff to grow. “Let me talk broadly: For McDonald’s in Arkansas, more specifically Central Arkansas, we see the opportunity to increase our hiring by somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 employees. I would say that in Little Rock specifically, that num-

ber is probably about 250 to 300 employees. Now take my restaurants specifically. I am looking to hire, over the next 30 to 60 days, 30 to 40 additional employees in my restaurants alone.” Filling these needs takes creativity in recruiting, Webb said, as well as communicating the full range of opportunity that comes with a role at the company. Specifically, he points to rapid advancement, flexible hours and benefits such as Archways for Opportunity, the McDonald’s tuition assistance program. It’s a perk available to employees working 15 hours per week after just 90 days on the job. “Almost every one of my employees qualifies, because most of my people average over 15 hours a week,” Webb said. “They have that opportunity without any restriction; all they need to do is apply. I approve them based upon their performance record, and they can qualify for up to $2,500 in upfront college tuition. These are things that are the core fundamentals of who McDonald’s is.” Webb admits nothing is a given with the labor pool being what it is right now, but if there’s one thing that experience in the industry has taught him, it’s how powerful a lure opportunity can be. “A long time ago, back in 1975, I started in the service restaurant industry,” he said. “I started with McDonald’s as a training manager in 1979, and I spent 25 years here. I stepped away and did some other things in the restaurant space, then was given the great opportunity to come back as a franchisee after being gone from McDonald’s for nearly 20 years. “So, while I will tell you I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m overly optimistic, I’m also not pessimistic about the labor situation. I am very hopeful that as the economy continues to get back on track and as workers find their way back into the workplace, my business specifically, and also the McDonald’s business broadly, is really well-positioned to be an employer of choice. I’m not just talking hyperbole.”

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SPORTS

CAN

KEVIN KELLEY ADAPT HIS

SUCCESSFUL SYSTEM TO COLLEGE BALL? GUS MALZAHN, FOR ONE, THINKS THE FORMER PA COACH CAN By Evin Demirel

private school? He thinks so. “My first goal is to make the playoffs next year and win the conference, and my second year, my goal’s going to be to win the national championship,” the 51-year-old recently said on the The Buzz 103.7 FM. “People say that’s crazy and that’s dumb, but I’m just a believer that you can’t reach a goal if you don’t put it out there.” Lofty goals, to be sure. Especially considering that the Presbyterian Blue Hose (yes, really) play in a conference where the student-athletes don’t receive scholarships to play sports and would likely need to knock off a powerhouse with a full-scholarship roster like North Dakota State to reach the summit. To achieve his goal of an FCS national championship

ver the course of 18 years at Pulaski Academy, Kevin Kelley coached numerous future Razorbacks like Hunter Henry, Hudson Henry and John David White. Kelley also strengthened ties to a few former Razorback assistants, connections that are now coming into play as he enters the next stage of his career: coaching Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. It’s the ultra-successful Arkansan’s first foray into Division I college football coaching, a move that the whole nation will be watching in the coming months. Can Kelley carry over into the FCS world the success that led to nine state championships, the 12 highest single-season yardage totals in Arkansas prep history and a 216-29-1 overall record while at the helm of the Little Rock

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by the end of 2022, Kelley knows he needs a good staff working for him. He said he’ll probably keep four to five coaches on the staff for continuity, bring over a couple of assisAt his introductory press conference, Kelley set the tants from Pulaski Academy (such FCS playoffs next year as his first goal. as his son, Zach Kelley) and make a couple of external hires. He’s already spoken to a few PA. Central Florida assistants like longtime co-defensive coordinator Jason “I’m extremely happy for my friend Kevin Kelley. I’m Wyatt, Kelley recently told HitThatLine.com. For advice on also very proud of him,” Malzahn recently said. “He will do how to put together a new staff for college football, Kelley a wonderful job at the college level, and this is a home-run has reached out to a couple of old friends. hire for Presbyterian College. Kevin and PC are a perfect “That’s where I’ve been relying on some other coaches match, and I look forward to seeing Kevin light it up in the too,” he said. “Two of my guys that I really like to talk to college football world.” about stuff like this — I talked to Gus Malzahn yesterday In an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Maland Tim Horton. They talked me through some things that zahn said of Kelley: “I’ve always had a lot of respect for how I might not have any idea about.” he went about his business. What always stood out to me Tim Horton is a former Razorback who was the running was that he had enough courage to do what he believed in. backs coach of Arkansas in 2007 to 2012, a stint which in“That says a lot about him.” cluded coaching Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. He’s the son of Harold Horton, who coached under Frank BroCan Kevin Kelley’s ‘Never Punt’ yles in the 1970s before taking over as head coach at UCA, Philosophy Work in the FCS? now one of the rising FCS powers that make Kelley’s goal If Kelley is ever to be seriously considered as an offensive of winning a national title an especially hard one. coordinator at a major college, he will first need to prove he Gus Malzahn on Kevin Kelley at Presbyterian can adapt his unique system to work at the FBS level. Kelley’s PA teams, for instance, onside kicked about 95 Gus Malzahn, of course, set the gold standard for Arpercent of the time and hardly ever punted. In fact, in the kansas high school coaches looking to break into the collast 18 seasons, the Bruins punted a grand total of eight lege big time. times. Kelley is a numbers cruncher who goes by data Some of the offensive records that Kelley’s teams that shows going for it on fourth down is almost always achieved were likely previously set by Gus Malzahn durwarranted. ing his time at Shiloh Christian and Springdale High in the He fully committed to this analytics-based approach in late 1990s and early 2000s. 2007 in a game against Pine Bluff Dollarway, he recounted Malzahn parlayed that high school success into an ofto the Democrat-Gazette’s Mitchell Gladstone. fensive coordinator position at Arkansas before later be“We were winning by five points with five minutes left coming the head coach at Arkansas State, Auburn and

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JUN E 2021

Kelley coached PA to a 216-29-1 record in his 18 years as head coach of the Bruins. (Photo by Sheldon Smith)

in the game,” he recalled. “I asked my defensive coordinator, ‘Hey, if I punt it here, can you stop them?’ And it was fourth and 7, we were on our own 30 — and I’d never punt now on that. “He goes, ‘Yeah, we’ll stop them.’ We punted and five plays later, they’re in the end zone, and we lose. I was just done with it.” The Bruins didn’t punt again the rest of that season. Adapting this system to the college game will be tough. Kelley knows that. He knows there are some systemic advantages he had at Pulaski Academy that he won’t have at Presbyterian. At PA, for instance, some of his high school players had been practicing in his system since they were in fourth grade. But his college players won’t have that same luxury of multiyear onboarding. “That’s for sure a worry,” he told Justin Acri and Wess Moore on The Buzz. “There’ll be a lot of mistakes made early. But again, trying to find the positive, by the end of the season we will be way, way, way better than we were at the beginning.” In his introductory press conference at Presbyterian,

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Kelley essentially conceded that he doesn’t expect Presbyterian will come out of the gates in 2021 at anything near the same efficiency of his Pulaski Academy teams. “One game, we might go five-for-six on fourth down; another game, we may go 0-for-six,” he said. But five for 12 isn’t a terrible percentage.” Kelley appreciates Presbyterian leaders telling him that he can pretty much go full bore with his strategy. In the past, other colleges had contacted Kelley but told him he would need to adjust his style for college. Not Presbyterian. “They’re like, ‘You know what, if we hire a coach, we don’t want to tell him how to play football or how to coach football.’” Kelley added, “Now, you’re kind of set in your own way. If it goes good, good for you. If it goes bad, it won’t work, and you won’t be able to stay here.” Evin Demirel has written about Arkansas sports for multiple national outlets. He is the founder of BestofArkansasSports.com, where this piece first was published, and the author of AfricanAmerican Athletes in Arkansas: Black Razorbacks, Muhammad Ali’s Tour and other Forgotten Stories.

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JUN E 2021

SMALL BUSINESS

A NEW ERA

Fayetteville’s iconic Williams Tractor changing name, location By Kayla McCall

ongtime residents of Northwest Arkansas have known it as the iconic Williams Tractor since 1973. But by the end of 2021, the name will change to W.T. Equipment, and the business will move up Interstate 49 to Springdale. This year, brothers Doug and Dwight Williams sold the company to their cousin, Gary Tollett, who will combine the old Williams Tractor and its sister companies, Freedom Powersports and Bobcat of Northwest Arkansas, into one true “destination” for tractors, farm equipment, construction equipment and powersports, the latter of which is a subset of motorsports and includes motorcycles, ATVs and side-by-sides. Tollett told Arkansas Money & Politics the move and expansion will enable the family to serve their customers better and more efficiently. Williams Tractor, long visible to interstate motorists on the west side of I-49 just

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Gary Tollett (left) is taking over ownership from his cousins, Dwight and Doug Williams. (Photo by Ebony Blevins)

north of Wedington Road, is a Fayetteville institution. Tollett is counting on the new location becoming something like a Bass Pro Shops, a superstore for tractor and outdoor recreation enthusiasts. “It should be one of the nicest tractor and powersports facilities in the state, if not the nicest,” Tollett said. “We hope it becomes a destination.” Currently, the Williams Tractor empire includes the original dealership, the Bobcat dealership in Rogers, Freedom Powersports in Rogers and Fayetteville, and South Arkansas Equipment in McGehee and Rayville, La. All but the South Arkansas Equipment locations will be consolidated into the new Springdale location, which will span 20 acres. It will include two buildings totaling 80,000-square feet that will front I-49 on the east side, just south of Don Tyson Parkway. The story of Williams Tractor goes back almost 50 years to the Williams brothers’

dad. As an agriculture instructor at Fayetteville High School, Don Williams always had an interest in farming. When he heard that the local business, Hailey Tractor Sales, was on the market, Williams went to the owner and proposed a deal. After some consideration, the owner agreed to finance the dealership to Williams. Thus began Williams Tractor in ’73. The Williams brothers worked for the company since Day One. They remember the school bus dropping them off at dad’s work. There, they would sweep the floors and take out the trash. Doug Williams explained how the Williams Tractor philosophy reflects his dad’s start in the business. “We do a lot of financing for people who don’t have the money to pay for whatever they need for their farm or their business themselves.” In 1991, the company opened a second location, in Berryville, but was still looking to grow. By the year 2000, Don Wil-

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“We’re proud to be associated with our customers as they feed the world.”

Tollett and his sons, Travis and Trent, are leading the dealership into a new era as WT Equipment. (Photo by Ebony Blevins)

liams was looking at retirement. Doug and Dwight were handed the keys and continued expanding the family business. In 2004 and 2006, they opened Freedom Powersports and Bobcat of Northwest Arkansas, both in Rogers. Freedom’s inventory includes ATVs, rangers and side-bysides. Bobcat sells equipment specializing in construction, agriculture and lawn care. In 2014, the Williams brothers were ready for another addition, this one in the firm of their cousin, Gary, who brought new ideas to the table. “We wanted to expand the company and make it grow. And we have since Gary has come in,” Doug said. Williams Tractor sales have doubled since Gary, now the CEO, joined the team. By 2016, a second Freedom Powersports was opened in Fayetteville, and the company launched South Arkansas Equipment in McGehee and Rayville, located just east of Monroe in northern Louisiana.

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Williams Tractor in its early 1970s. (Photo provided)

Through all this growth, Williams Tractor remained a dominant force in the NWA market. The group describes how throughout all the company’s dealerships, the NWA region sees the original Fayetteville Williams Tractor dealership as dominant. More specifically, in the New Holland brand. And COVID-19 didn’t slow things down. In mid-April of 2020, the demand spiked for outdoor equipment, especially powersports. Tollett said the dealership saw record sales during this time with strong sales in tractors for part-time farmers. Tollett’s sons, Travis and Trent, will step in to fill the management roles previously manned by the Williams brothers. The Tolletts now will carry the family baton as WT Equipment. And the new location will be hard to miss for drivers on I-49. Trulove Construction expects to finish construction by the end of the year. Doug Williams said the new site simply is a better location —

“more centrally located, more acreage and great frontage on the interstate.” The Tollett brothers, meanwhile, are focused on marketing, sales and getting the company’s full inventory, including used inventory, online. Online business, especially since the pandemic hit, has been brisk and led to overall increased sales, Tollett noted. “With COVID and the way everything is going, that’s huge for us.” But the personal relationships developed over decades with the company’s customer base — which stretches into Oklahoma and Missouri in addition to its Louisiana clientele — remain the driving factor for the Tolletts, just as they did with the Williams family. WT Equipment was so named to pay homage to Williams Tractor. Though the company name and location may be changing, one thing will always remain the same, Tollett said. “We’re proud to be associated with our customers as they feed the world.”

JUN E 2021

HEALTH CARE/POLITICS

MEDICAL

MARIJUANA: In Arkansas, it’s a hit DISPENSARIES HAVE BEEN LIGHTING UP SALES SINCE AMENDMENT’S PASSAGE

By David Conrads

n November 2016, voters approved Amendment 98, adding Arkansas to the growing list of states that allow the cultivation, processing, sale and possession of marijuana for medical purposes. Four and a half years later, dispensaries throughout the state are open and selling all manner of marijuana-based products; a handful of cultivators are growing cannabis; thousands of Arkansans have been issued medical marijuana cards; jobs have been created; and tax dollars are rolling in. By just about any measure, the state’s foray into medical marijuana has been a success. “It has exceeded our expectations on a variety of levels,” said Scott Hardin, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, which oversees medical marijuana operations in the state. “On any given day, Arkansans are spending roughly $890,000 on medical marijuana. It’s only a matter of time until that number hits $1 million a day.” It has not been easy getting to this point. For many years, the concept of legalizing marijuana for any type of use in Arkansas was controversial. By 2012, an initiative to legalize it for medical purposes made it to the November ballot, where it was narrowly defeated. In 2016, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016 passed with 53.2 percent of the vote. The program was beset by legal problems from the start, with lawsuits flying and even an injunction that brought the whole program to a stop for several months, while legal challenges to the way licences were being issued was sorted out. It wasn’t until May 2019, two and a half years after the amendment passed, that the first dispensary opened. “To say that there has been quite a bit of litigation surrounding medical marijuana would

HEALTH CARE/POLITICS

Legalizing medical marijuana has been a success for people suffering from any one of 17 qualifying medical conditions. Green Springs Medical in Hot Springs.

be a huge understatement,” Hardin said. “There have been lawsuits from Day One, and that continues today.” Despite the legal wrangling, the program is booming. “It’s been overwhelming,” said Matt Shansky, CEO of ReLeaf Center in Bentonville. “It has exceeded every expectation we ever had.” ReLeaf Center was one of the first dispensaries when it opened in August 2019 and has been one of the top sellers in the state for the past year. The amendment allows for up to 40 dispensaries. So far, 33 dispensaries are operating, with five more licensed and preparing to open.

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Two licenses have yet to be issued. Before COVID-19 ReLeaf was getting 200 to 300 patients in the door per day. Shansky said that figure had doubled by the peak of the pandemic. He attributes some of the growth to an increase in anxiety and stress brought on by the global health crisis, but also a general increase in people’s willingness to try natural alternatives to conventional medicine. According to Hardin, the state estimated that about 1 percent of the population, or 30,000 Arkansans, would obtain a medical marijuana card. Today some 76,000 cards have been issued, which is the number that was expected to be

reached when the market for medical marijuana was mature. Patients in the state have spent about $303 million to buy 45,200 pounds of medical marijuana products and in the process, have paid out about $31 million in taxes. Legalizing medical marijuana has been a success for people suffering from any one of 17 qualifying medical conditions. A patient doesn’t get a conventional prescription for medical marijuana but obtains a card from the Arkansas Department of Health, which allows the patient to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana every 14 days. “That’s the beauty of this system,” said

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Dana Woods, the consulting pharmacist at Fiddler’s Green Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Mountain View. “A lot of these patients are worn out. They have a problem, and it’s not being solved by conventional medicine, so they turn to medical marijuana. Once they get that card, they don’t have to go to the doctor to renew an opioid prescription. The patient is now in charge, and they feel better because they have some control. It’s control of your health care, and that’s what everybody needs at some level.” Dragan Vicentic is CEO of Green Springs Medical in Hot Springs, which opened in May 2019, the first medical-

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marijuana dispensary to open in Arkansas and one of the top sellers in the state. “It’s just amazing how many people come in and tell us their stories about how they’ve cut down on their opioids or weaned themselves off an opioid and replaced it with a more natural product, like CBD flower or THC,” he said. “They thank us for being able to supply it to them.” Probably the biggest challenge dispensaries face today is a general shortage of product, particularly of the more popular strains of buds. Many dispensaries hear complaints from patients about high prices, especially compared with other states, some of which have fewer restrictions than Arkansas. The amendment allows for five cultivators and three “substitutes,” to be licensed as needed. Vicentic was one of the first to notice a shortage of product as more dispensaries opened. He was one of several who testified before the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission, which licenses the dispensaries and cultivators, urging it to allow the three additional cultivators to be licensed. Those three have been licensed, and people in the industry are expecting to see a downturn in prices and wider availability of product when the new cultivators come online. The medical marijuana program is not without its critics. One of the biggest criticisms is the 4 percent “privilege” tax collected from patients in addition to the usual 6.5 percent sales tax. (The privilege tax goes to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock for the establishment of a national cancer institute.) The limited number of cultivators and other restrictions imposed on the industry by the amendment have resulted in relatively high prices. Critics question the wisdom of imposing an extra tax on an already pricey medical product. “It’s bad enough that we pay three times more than any other state in the

nation that has legal medical cannabis,” Melissa Fults, spokesperson for the Arkansas Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told Arkansas Money & Politics in April. “I am furious that the legislature is putting high taxes on top of that. Too many of our patients are on fixed incomes and are too sick to work.” Rhonda Scott, manager of Bloom Medicinals in Texarkana, was disappointed with the state’s decision to end telemedicine appointments, which enabled patients to remotely obtain the necessary referral letter from a physician so they can get medical marijuana cards. “That was a hard hit,” Scott said, noting that it was a convenience for patients, particularly in Texarkana, which does not have a lot of physicians who will write referral letters for medical marijuana. The cost of driving a long distance for a referral letter is a barrier to access for some patients, and others are housebound and unable to travel. The state allowed telemedicine appointments during the pandemic but did away with them on March 31, when the governor’s declaration of the public health emergency expired. “I know they’re fighting that battle now, hoping it will be put back in place,” she said. Scott sees good things in the future for the medical marijuana industry in Arkansas, especially as more cultivators come online. She also sees the general stigma of marijuana use fading, if slowly, as patients come from a wide range of ages and walks of life. Shansky is also optimistic about the future of the industry. “We’re just getting started,” he said. “The industry is so immature at this point, but it’s evolving every day. My outlook at this point is for growth. I think we’ve just scratched the surface of what’s to come. As more cultivators come online and more patients continue to get registered, I think we’re only going to see exponential growth over the next few years.”

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the sky literally is the limit

For Agrowponics,

Little Rock startup Agrowponics has embraced the concept of vertical farming, a controlledenvironment alternative to traditional farming.

By Tyler Hale

By Tyler Hale Photos by Jamison Mosley

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“Vertical farming technology has been around for a couple of decades but has become much more advanced and efficient in recent years, especially with LED lighting systems, allowing vertical farming to be a more economical and commercially viable enterprise,” he said. Dickson cited high energy and initial capital costs as some of the factors that have held back the vertical farming industry in the past; however, this is changing as technologies improve and consumer demand increases for safe, locally grown, and pesticide-free food. Vertical farming is well-suited for urban areas, where it is traditionally more difficult to farm and supply local fresh food. “Vertical farming will not replace traditional field farming but can offer opportunity for urban growers Vertical farming producing certain types of high-valmoves the ue or specialty crops such as leafy growing greens, herbs and transplants,” he space said. upward. While vertical farming has a limited foothold on the agricultural market, it has been slowly growing, pardon the pun, and analysts predict that vertical farming will grow explosively over the next decade. Going back to 2018, Allied Market Research estimated that the global vertical farming market was worth $2.23 billion and will be worth $12.77 billion by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate of 24.6 percent. Global Market Insights estimates that the vertical farming market was valued at $4.41 billion in 2020 and expects the market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23.2 percent from 2021 to 2027. By 2027, the firm estimates that the vertical farm market will have a value of more than $19 billion. Right now, Shaffer and Burns are keeping their eyes on the product rather than the rising market value. But there is no denying the possibilities for the company. For Agrowponics, it all started in 2013 when Shaffer, then a student at John Brown University, had the chance to work on a research project for a solar battery-powered, off-grid farming system. As part of the system, Shaffer developed the vertical farming towers. “In 2013 when I started, there were almost no options, right? It wasn’t like I could go find resources. So, I had to come up with my own idea. I just said

acing back and forth, seven 3D printers lined up on a shelf in a Little Rock garage cut out small, curved cups that will play a major role in a rising new Arkansas company. Plastic pipes are stacked up in the garage, while tools sit waiting for use, giving the space the feel of a rough-hewn laboratory, a workstation for experimenting and innovation. Standing in the middle of the workspace is a vertical tower with green leafy plants sprouting off of it. Not a simple plant hanger, this tower is a full-fledged agricultural system, capable of growing vegetables and more with its unique hydroponics setup. Amid the seeming chaos of their work area, Gunnar Shaffer and Thomas Burns, the co-founders of Agrowponics, are hard at work perfecting their product, as they endeavor to bring these systems to a bigger market. Both engineers, Shaffer and Burns are attempting to revolutionize the vertical farming industry with their startup and its unique modular systems. Vertical farming is a system of agriculture that focuses on growing crops vertically, rather than traditional horizontal growing in the ground. Using vertical farming, producers grow their crops in controlled environments using hydroponics, aeroponics or aquaponics systems. Instead of sticking to the ground, vertical farming moves the growing space upwards. Using a traditional greenhouse setup as an example, Shaffer pointed out that most of the structure’s space is wasted if growers only plant crops on a horizontal axis. “When you think about a greenhouse, if you just grow on the ground, the X and Y plane, you’re just using the bottom of the greenhouse. It’s basically like growing something in the ground. You have all this volume that you’re heating, that you’re collecting sunlight,” Shaffer said. “It’s a safe environment, so why not use the entire volume of the greenhouse, not just the floor? That’s really where the idea of vertical farming came up.” According to Ryan Dickson, an assistant professor of horticulture at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, vertical farming is not a new concept but has only recently emerged as a viable agricultural method.

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JUN E 2021

AGRI/STARTUPS

posite each other at 180 degrees, that curved cups can fit into and in which the plants will sit. According to Burns, these towers can be custom built to exacting specifications, with most towers being 5 to 10 feet in length, and most of the tower diameters being 2 to 4 inches. Burns said the tower systems are ideal for families, with the single tower better for small families and the dual towers for medium- to large-size families, who want to grow fresh food. These systems, he said, can fit easily on a back porch or inside a sunroom. The single tower has a total of 21 growing spaces, while the double tower has 42 growing spaces. Shaffer and Burns have developed curved cups that are machined to fit the curvature of the pipe, and the plants sit inside the cups in a growing medium. Both systems come with a large water reservoir, which provides the nutrients, and a pump to circulate the water. Because these are hydroponics systems, no soil is used in Agrowponics’ systems. Instead, inside the cups, there is a growing medium that helps start the plants off. “The medium is just there to hold the roots so it can get started. After a while, the roots are going to grow and secure themselves. Initially, you’re going to have just small roots, and you need that foundation,” Burns said. Agrowponics systems can use either hydroponics or aquaponics, which involves using fish. Having a hydroponics/aquaponics system makes sense for Shaffer, who said that these water-based systems allow the plants to endure more and also cuts down on root rot. “Most plants, they die because they get too much water in the ground, and it pushes out the oxygen, and the bad bacteria eats the roots and rots them,” Shaffer said. At the more advanced end, Agrowponics offers a rack system, which is a modular system that can support up to 15 towers with 24 growing spaces per tower. Custom greenhouse systems allow owners to retrofit their structures until they reach their yield goal. The greenhouse systems are custom designs for greenhouses, which allow owners to retrofit their structures for Agrowponics’ systems. With both the rack and greenhouse systems, the company can add LED lighting packages and a monitoring

‘OK, I’ve got a problem. I can figure out a way to solve it,’” Shaffer said. He put several “making-of ” videos for the towers on YouTube, attracting 1 million hits to date. The attention, and the requests for where to buy the towers, spurred Shaffer to think that the idea had commercial possibilities. But life intervened for several years, as Shaffer headed to Germany for a master’s degree in engineering. While he was preoccupied with his studies, the idea for a vertical-farming manufacturing company kept percolating in his head. In 2017, he launched Agrowponics. He began the company with other business partners initially, but Burns was the one who sparked with Shaffer the best. Their business relationship was a serendipitous case of meeting over the water cooler at work. Both employees at Southwest Power Pool, Shaffer and Burns began working in nearby spots, where they struck up conversations about Shaffer’s nascent venture. “I was working there, and Gunnar shows up. He’s over there next to me, and I say, ‘Let’s go out for a beer!’ Well, he doesn’t drink. I said, ‘Let’s go out for a cheeseburger.’ Well, he’s busy because he does a lot of volunteer work. Finally, I overheard him talking one day about having problems with his product. I can help him — I’ve got this. He came over, and within a week, we had a proof of product,” Burns said. A seventh-generation farmer, Shaffer brings a solid agricultural background along with his engineering background with him as he serves as the company’s chief executive. Burns has a background in computer and electrical engineering, as well as management — all critical for his role as president of Agrowponics. Since partnering up, Shaffer and Burns have been steadily working on Agrowponics’ offerings, both refining what they have and growing their capabilities. Now, they offer a single tower-bucket system, a dual towerbucket system, a rack system and a greenhouse system. These “Agrowtowers,” made using custom-made, foodgrade plastic pipes, have growing spaces cut into them at customizable angles, whether that is at 120 degrees or op-

Already, the company has sold products to customers in more than 40 states and in 10 countries.

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“Lots of time, I’m here spending the evening, and I’ve got an idea and within an hour, I can have something printed,” Burns said. Shaffer added, “We don’t need engineers to figure it out. We’ve already done it before you’ve thought about it on paper. And fail? We’ve failed more times than people may have even tried. That’s our main success is that we’ve failed more times. But we have learned and learned and learned. We can tackle all kinds of problems. Give me a problem. I’ll figure out a way to solve it.”

package, increasing the range of control that growers have in cultivating their crops. Not content with developing the vertical farming hardware, Agrowponics has developed software, building its own monitoring package with the help of Maximilian Holzmueller. The monitoring system measures temperature, humidity, pH and nutrients in the system, as well as uses cameras to detect pests or disease. The software has an interface that allows users to compile the system’s data into graphs and charts and even receive phone alerts if there are issues with the plants or system. The Agrowponics partners are working to ramp up production for their systems. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a temporary hiccup for them, as they had used the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub for all their manufacturing needs. With the Hub closed due to COVID precautions, the pair went in and purchased seven 3D printers and a CNC machine for rapid prototyping. They are taking the next step, though, and moving toward injection molding for some parts to speed up their processes. His mind like a Tilt-A-Whirl, Burns outlines an ambitious plan for keeping the company’s production cycle constantly moving and improving. “Once we ramp up production, we can cut 10, 12 pipes at a time, rotate it and cut 120-degrees, 180-degrees. We are working on a rotational axis that will automatically rotate it and cut it,” he said. The workshop provides all the evidence needed to show that Burns and Shaffer are not ones to sit on their laurels, with a mini-graveyard of old prototypes and models that they have tinkered with, discarded or continue to cobble from and learn from. As they both said, it’s the benefit of having two engineers directing the ship.

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Gunnar Shaffer and Thomas Burns.

Since its beginning, Agrowponics has been a constantly evolving company, with the engineers working to determine the best ideas for their company. While they show the restless energy of inveterate tinkerers, Burns and Shaffer said that they are ready to take their products to the next market level. Already, the company has sold products to customers in more than 40 states and in 10 countries. But their first big product test will be at a local nursery, where they will install their Agrowponics systems in greenhouses. From there, it’s only up for Burns and Shaffer. Along with the vertical farming industry, Agrowponics is growing strong.

JUN E 2021

TECHNOLOGY/MEDIA

CONWAY A MODEL FOR CITIES IN PROVIDING RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE BROADBAND By Becky Gillette

ccess to reliable, high-speed internet is essential in today’s world. If people can’t afford broadband, or access is unreliable, it can have profound impacts on personal finances, education, health care, business productivity, even an informed electorate. Many newspapers now deliver the news online only, and subscribers need internet access to read the news. While the most recent U.S. Census data indicates 73 percent of households in Arkansas have an internet subscription, that doesn’t tell the entire story. People across the state, from rural to high population areas like Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas, report frequent

Bret Carroll

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Sen. Ricky Hill

outages and poor service. While some of that was linked to the additional demand during the pandemic and damage from the extreme winter storms in February, months after the storms, some customers have reported that service has become even more unreliable. Disgruntled customers often can’t switch to a different provider because of the lack of competition. State Sen. Ricky Hill (R-Cabot) hears almost daily from people frustrated by unreliable internet service. He knows where they are coming from. “Broadband is the electricity of the 21st century,” Hill said. “We have to get broadband out to the people because it may determine whether a community survives or not. Everything revolves around it, including the education kids get and the ability to attract new residents and economic development. It is a major issue.” Hill, who lives two miles from Cabot, pays for two internet services at his house, subscribing to Sudden Link and CenturyTel. He says he must do that because one of the two is down nearly all the time.

In April 1997, Conway became the third city in the country to offer broadband.

The Arkansas Legislature recently passed Act 67, sponsored by Hill, designed to increase broadband competitiveness by significantly reducing barriers to municipal broadband. Act 67 allows cities, counties, utilities and other government entities to provide broadband services. Previously this was primarily reserved for cable and telephone companies. Hill hopes the act will help cities provide less expensive and more reliable service. “We don’t have any way to go but up,” Hill said. “In Central Arkansas, one of the first places people and businesses look to relocate is Conway. One of the reasons is because they have municipal broadband

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Clint Cook at work in the Conway Corp. data center.

Conway Corp.’s Corey Free prepares for an installation.

that is better than the surrounding areas. You can’t work without the internet. That is the world we live in now. If our broadband companies worked as hard as their lobbyists do to keep competitors out of the market, we would have not have a problem in Arkansas.” Conway has municipalowned systems for electricity, telephone, water and wastewater, security services, cable television, video streaming and broadband. Conway Corp. operates the broadband system. By being nonprofit and taking advantages of the synergies of shared infrastructure such as telephone poles, offices and billing, some custom-

ers in Conway report that their entire bill for all those essential services is only as much as they were paying for broadband in other cities. In April 1997, Conway became the

it was forward-thinking and innovative of the city to provide broadband. “There are 15 municipal power companies in the state, and only three offer internet service — Conway, Paragould and Clarksville. We are a private, nonprofit corporation, and I report to a board of directors. Our rate increases, rate decreases and bond issues are approved by the city. We are able to make decisions in the best interest of our customers.” A dense customer base makes the economics of broadband work better. And now, many rural electric cooperatives are stepping in — often helped by gener

“Broadband is the electricity of the 21st century.”

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third city in the country to offer broadband. That grew out of the city obtaining an exclusive cable franchise that started operating in 1981. Conway Corp. rates and bond issues are regulated by the city. Conway Corp. CEO Bret Carroll said

JUN E 2021

ous government subsidies — to provide broadband even in the sparsely populated areas they serve. It is considered essential for economic development, particularly since post pandemic, many people are leaving crowded, expensive cities to relocate in rural areas with a more affordable cost of living. But those new residents often work and study from home, and reliable broadband is essential. The big hurdle to municipal or rural broadband is the initial capital outlay. “If you have some help from the federal government or others to build some of that infrastructure, the economics work out better,” Carroll said. “Government programs are coming out that are specifically geared to rural broadband.” President Joe Biden has advocated spending $100 billion to provide broadband throughout rural America in the next eight years. Conway Corp. is not a monopoly.

There are other broadband providers that serve the city. But with such attractive rates and reliable service, Conway Corp. provides internet to 22,000 homes out of about the city’s 28,000 residential electric meters. That represents about 80 percent market penetration. Carroll said by keeping ahead with investments in their infrastructure, Con-

“It is really hard for a city these days to municipalize.” way Corp. was in a position to meet the demand during the pandemic that increased 24 percent between February and April of 2020. “If we had any customers not having access to internet during the pandemic, I’m not aware of it,” Carroll said. “We do

get questions frequently from customers who live just outside of the city limits where land is more affordable. Those residents want what they have been accustomed to when they lived in the city. Our franchise allows us to serve up to 2 miles outside of city limits. Where density is broad enough, we are looking at those opportunities right now.” In addition to lower costs, people appreciate getting just one bill. And if a community doesn’t have reliable broadband, people decide to live where it is available. Conway Corp. also has a local call center, which customers seem to prefer. Carroll said what Conway has is unique and may not be easily duplicated. “We’re blessed with having had people with so much foresight,” Carroll said. “It is really hard for a city these days to municipalize. They have to buy out the electrical assets of the provider. It is just a big lift. It is not easy.”

WILL SPACEX DISRUPT THE GLOBAL ISP MODEL? By Becky Gillette

Overall, though, he doesn’t expect that SpaceX or similar competitors will have a material impact for people who have wired broadband access. Instead, SpaceX will be more of a competitor to the fixed wireless space and the mobile RV-type markets. “While fixed wireless certainly has the ability to expand the market, the density in which it has to be deployed is still a quesJason Hansen tion,” Hansen said. “Also, data caps remain an impediment to adoption. If fixed wireless carriers are going to competitively offer home/business broadband, they’ll need to let go of consumption-based monetization and adopt something similar to the ‘unlimited long distance’ model.” Some consumer advocates are pushing for internet services to be regulated like other essential services, such as electricity and telephone service. But Hansen said the current regulatory environment made it possible for operators to pivot and provide services in creative ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think it would have been difficult for operators had there been significant regulations to deal with,” Hansen said. “Given how critical broadband became during the pandemic, there may very well be a push to add regulations and to viewing it as critical infrastructure. An overly regulated approach could have a stifling effect on innovation, however.”

eople frustrated by lack of reliable, cost-effective broadband could be looking to the skies for help. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is just one of several companies seeking to provide broadband services from space with satellites. Conway Corp. Chief Technology Officer Jason Hansen believes SpaceX will revolutionize access to broadband, particularly in rural America and other parts of the globe where internet access is not pervasive and eventually places where competition doesn’t exist, he said. “There aren’t a lot of companies, in my opinion, that have the means, methods, and technology to achieve the goal of global broadband coverage, but SpaceX seems to have all the right components to achieve this.” SpaceX has already launched more than 600 Starlink satellites in the first half of 2021. Hansen said at that pace, they are still about eight years from full constellation, which will consist of about 12,000 Starlinks. “Because their means, methods and technologies are continually innovating, it would not surprise me to see that timeline cut down to closer to five years as they can launch new Starlinks at an increased rate,” Hansen said. “Of all the operators attempting to serve internet with low earth orbit satellites, I believe he has the best chance to be successful. Early trials are showing very good speeds with low latency and no data caps. The real challenge is scaling. Time will tell.” J U N E 2 02 1

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JUN E 2021

FINANCE

Ash Flat Bank expanding its footprint in northeast Arkansas By Kenneth Heard FNBC’s new Jonesboro location opened earlier this year.

hile offering state-of-the-art technology at its new bank branch in Jonesboro, FNBC Bank is also employing some of the traditional amenities first used when it was chartered more than a century ago. The 5,800-square-foot branch building, located at Race Street and Fair Park Boulevard in the center of Jonesboro, celebrated its grand opening last month. FNBC Bank opened a “limited production office” in Jonesboro in August 2018 and then converted it to a full-service branch bank in January 2019. Ten months

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later, bank officials bought a 14-acre tract of land for its new banking center and construction began in May 2020. Work was completed on the building in January 2021. Brad Snider, FNBC’s Jonesboro community president, said the bank had plans to build the branch for the future. “We wanted to take advantage of technology and make it different than anything else in Jonesboro.” The branch is equipped with an interactive teller machine, or ITM, that is referred to as a “branch in a

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may think that’s excessive, the Craighead County seat of 76,000 can support them, Snider said. “Jonesboro is a vibrant community,” he said. “It’s growing. It’s really where everybody wants to be. It’s the hub of northeast Arkansas.” There are three major elements that drive the area’s economy, Snider said. Arkansas State University is home to almost 14,000 students and is the largest employer in the county. Several industries are based in Jonesboro, including many food producers, and the medical community is thriving with St. Bernards Medical and NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital. “It translates to customers,” Snider added. “People work in Jonesboro and send their kids to school here,” Sellars added. “It makes sense we merge into Jonesboro with a banking office.” The bank’s one-story structure stands apart from other banks in town. During the past two decades, new banks built in Jonesboro towered over the town like four- and five-story monoliths, perBrad Snider haps as implied symbols of economic strength. Sellars acknowledges the other banks’ large sizes — one is directly across the street from the FNBC’s Jonesboro branch. But size isn’t everything, he said. “We’re about relationships with people, not buildings,” he said. “We have smaller offices in the branch. Our concept speaks for itself.” Both bankers have years of Arkansas experience. Sellars began working at the Bank of Franklin in Horseshoe Bend immediately after he graduated high school. He’s worked with FNBC for 38 years and was named the president and chief executive officer in 2016 after longtime CEO Martin Carpenter retired. Snider is a 30-year veteran of banking in Jonesboro and Jackson County. A native of Jonesboro, he joined FNBC in 2018. The bank looks for long-term stability in its hiring practices, too, Snider said. “We look at integrity, relationships and accountability when hiring,” he said. “We really are people focused. “Other banks may be process oriented and deal with people with the core values we do,” he added. “FNBC has been around for more than 100 years. We’re still talking to people.”

box.” It allows customers to communicate with customer service representatives stationed at the bank’s headquarters in Ash Flat when dealing with more complex issues than what a standard ATM can do. The bank is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and is open on Saturdays. “It works out well for our customers,” Snider said. The one-story bank also features large windows that provide adequate natural lighting and serves as a metaphor for the bank’s desire to be transparent, said Marty Sellars, president and chief executive officer of FNBC. “When we talked with the design firm, part of our request was to make an extension of who we are,” Sellars said. “We are a very open bank. The glass and openness speak to who we are. It speaks to the community.” The building was designed by Adrenaline Agency of Atlanta. Ramson Inc. of Jonesboro served as the general contractor on the Marty Sellars project. FNBC Bank is a community bank that supports commercial loans and personal accounts. In the past few years, the bank has focused strongly on supporting businesses, said FNBC spokesman Molly Day. It also expanded the bank’s Small Business Administration loan program, providing increased opportunities for small business owners to start and to grow their businesses. It opened in 1912 as the Bank of Ash Flat in Sharp County and has 11 offices serving Ash Flat, Batesville, Cherokee Village, Hardy, Highland, Horseshoe Bend, Mammoth Spring, Melbourne, Mountain Home, Salem and Jonesboro. The bank’s assets total $62 million. It’s issued $59.5 million loans and has $21.6 million into total deposits. Overall, the FNBC system has $604 in total assets, $391.5 million in loans and $460.8 million in deposits. The branch is on large enough land for any future expansions, Snider said. There’s a large lobby and waiting area, but there’s no wasted space, he said. “It’s a great community bank,” he said. “It’s not processdriven. Here, we deal with you as a customer. Our style is, ‘pull up a chair, and let’s talk.’” Jonesboro is currently home to 21 banks and while some

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JUN E 2021

TOURISM

FOR LR, A POST-PANDEMIC TOURISM PICK-ME-UP? LRCVB’s Gretchen Hall hopes capital city can ride board-chair coattails By Mark Carter

Gretchen Hall

Don Welsh

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he pandemic “rain delay” seemingly behind us, organizations like the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) are back on the field, warming up and preparing to resume the game of promoting their cities as tourism and meeting destinations. Pre-pandemic, the Little Rock metro accounted for roughly 22 percent of the tourists and out-of-state visitors to Arkansas, roughly 6.4 million people generating just shy of $2 billion annually in travelrelated spending. Beginning in the first quarter of 2020, those numbers began declining. Revenue from the state’s 2 percent hospitality tax was down almost 35 percent in 2020 in Central Arkansas. Of course, such numbers were down everywhere. But the global hospitality industry is ready to click resume, and Little Rock stands to benefit from a little extra exposure courtesy of Gretchen Hall, LRCVB’s president and CEO. On July 1, Hall will ascend to the board chairmanship of the prestigious global-travel organization, Destinations International. The first Arkansan to serve on the board, Hall represents just the sixth woman to assume the board leadership role since the organization was founded in 1914. While humbled by the opportunity to help further blaze such a trail, Hall is equally as excited for the opportunity her chairmanship represents for Little Rock. “This is a really good thing for Little

Rock,” she emphasized. “Having Little Rock tied to me in this role will provide extra recognition and also open doors through more speaking engagements. I’ll be able to highlight Little Rock as a viable tourism destination and introduce Little Rock and its assets to a global audience.” As the “face” of Destinations International at numerous conferences, summits and other events across the country and even the globe, Hall’s profile is about to expand. And every time she speaks on behalf of DI, another opportunity arises to brag on Little Rock and Central Arkansas. As Hall noted, it amounts to a lot of free advertising and exposure. “A lot of individuals who otherwise may not have looked at Little Rock as a destination will now be exposed to the possibility,” she said. Hall hopes to bring at least one Destinations International event to Little Rock during her tenure, which runs through June of 2022. She was elected to the organization’s executive committee three years ago and has served as finance committee chair, secretary/treasurer and chair elect. Other board members represent majormarket destinations such as Nashville, Dallas, Palm Springs and even Banff, Canada, placing Little Rock in some hefty company. Essentially, Little Rock will be moving up in the industry’s lunch-table hierarchy, at least for a year. Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International, believes the city

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The Farmers’ Market in Little Rock’s River Market opened back up in May as visitors started to head downtown again in greater numbers. (Photo provided)

stands to benefit from Hall’s tenure as board chair. “Not only is Gretchen a leader in her local community, but she is also a strong, passionate and forward-thinking leader for the entire destination organization sector,” he said. “She has the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) credential, which is the tourism industry’s highest individual achievement. A strong leader is even more important now than ever before as our industry recovers from the global pandemic.” In addition to promoting Little Rock from a global soapbox, Hall is eager to learn from her colleagues and implement their own successful practices back home. And she’s grateful for the opportunity to further blaze that trail. “There are women CEOs in the industry but in smaller markets,” Hall said. “Women are still part of the minority in mid-size and larger markets. It’s a very diverse industry until you get to the C-suite levels and leadership positions.” As the world emerges from COVID-19, Hall said LRCVB is beginning to field more calls and host more site visits from officials considering destinations for their company event. Hall said new tenants are

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moving downtown, people are starting to return to their offices, and visiting groups are becoming much more visible. May felt like the beginning of a slow return to normal, she added. “We were able to book a few more concerts, schedule our future Broadway series and re-open Ottenheimer Market Hall and the Farmers’ Market,” she said. “Every weekend, the restaurants are filling back up, and patios are full. If the weather cooperates, we anticipate a really good summer leisure season. There’s a lot of pent-up demand.” Concerts indeed are returning to downtown Little Rock. Upcoming shows scheduled for the historic Robinson Performance Hall or the First Security Amphitheater in the River Market include ZZ Top, Jason Isbell, Ashley McBryde and Jamey Johnson/Whiskey Myers. Plus, The Price is Right Live! game show is returning to Little Rock later this year. But even with vaccinations up and the COVID-19 cloud dissipating, challenges remain. Small businesses and especially restaurants are finding it hard to attract workers back to their old jobs. Hall said many workers either found new jobs in other industries, are working remotely

or took early retirements. And, yes, the federal stimulus motivated some to stay home and not work, she noted. “By and large, there are just less people in the job market,” she said. “Being able to bring back staff and find new staff is a real issue.” It’s an issue impacting the hospitality industry nationwide. Hall believes local CVBs and similar organizations can act as community resources and help local businesses get back to work. Last month, LRCVB hosted the Big On Little Rock Recovery Job Fair for hospitality and tourism workers at the Statehouse Convention Center. Welsh cited Little Rock’s hospitality job fair as another example of Hall’s leadership, which he believes bodes well for Destinations International. “That experience will be invaluable as our organization builds upon our equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives,” he said. Meanwhile, with visitors and locals alike starting to fill downtown Little Rock once again, Hall stressed that the industry needs workers to do the same. “Especially on weekends, it’s starting to look a lot more like it did pre-pandemic.”

JUN E 2021

Anchor Down: Planning Your Cove Time By Dustin Jayroe

o be a state so locked by land, Arkansas has quite a share of liquid dividends. Freshwater flows in superfluity across our lands — from the highs of the Ozarks to the lows of the Delta — cutting and carving the very fabric of what makes the Natural State. That’s a romantic way of looking at it, at least. For most of us Joes, a state so strewn with lakes, rivers, ponds, creeks and spillways provides an almost endless supply of recreational opportunities for ourselves and our loved ones. We can float and boat, fish and swim, or simply sit “on the dock of the bay, watchin’ the tide roll away.” This month, as the season of summer officially descends, a safe wager would be that most Arkansans have some form of water-related plans already on the agenda. An even safer bet is that most of that will be time spent on one of our great lakes — skiing behind a speedboat or unwinding on a pontoon. On your way, pack plenty of tubes and floaties, but don’t leave behind the rod and reel.

Test Line for Cove Time

One of the keys to a successful day on the lake is mapping out your time on the water. Naturally, some of it will be spent cruising through channels and open spaces, but at some point you’ll settle into one of the lake’s dead ends and drop anchor. (Tip: If there’s a specific cove you’re after, get there early. As the day wears on, many folks will dock into the same idea.) The best part about cove time is that, well, there’s no time. Seconds can aimlessly drift into minutes and hours, just as you casually float along the surface. But we land-dwellers don’t necessarily need to be in the water the whole time. Some might take the opportunity to sunbathe topside, but this is also the perfect time to engage in America’s real favorite pastime — fishing. Not only is cove fishing good fun for the whole family in between dips in the water, it can be rewarding. Absent the speeding boats of the busier parts of the lake, coves are peaceful and quiet — above the surface, at least. Below, coves are bustling with all kinds of aquatic life. Whether it’s Bassmaster, Field & Stream, American Angler or any other fishing-related source worth its salt, you’ll likely find similar advice wherever you look — fish the coves. Some go so far as to refer to coves as “fish pockets.” That’s because, in addition to the solitude, baitfish begin to school en masse in shallow water once spring rolls around; by summer, it’s an off-the-bank buffet. Once that occurs, the other dominos follow suit — baitfish, small fish, medium fish and big fish, each playing its role in the circle of life. No matter which of those varieties you’re after, your luck couldn’t be much better at catching some than in a cove. Slip on a bobber to delicately dangle a hook baited with a worm or cricket, and a cove is almost sure to deliver some bream for your haul. Secure a minnow to that hook and you might interest a rock bass or smallmouth. Or you can get busy with a jig, spoon or spinnerbait to try your hand at a largemouth. Sink a bait to the bottom (depending on the depth of the cove) and you might even snag a catfish or two. No matter what kind of luck you run into, making the time to cast a few lines during your time in a cove is sure to take anyone’s day on the lake to the next level. No matter how big or small your family, making memories is what it’s all about. And it doesn’t get much better than quality time in one of nature’s cul-de-sacs. Sponsored Content

The “New Capital” Hotel, circa 1910. (UALR archives)

THE DIGS OF THE DEAL THE CAPITAL HOTEL A living history in downtown Little Rock By Katie Zakrzewski Photography by Jamison Mosley

cians and travelers alike. It should come as no surprise, then, that the walls of the Capital Hotel have witnessed the presence of presidents and governors, shootouts and fires, and of course, a host of renovations. The political history of the Capital Hotel is unmatched, as is the impact it has had on the Natural State even today. The story of the Capital Hotel, currently owned by Little Rock financier Warren Stephens, begins during

n 1908, an article about the Capital Hotel from The Arkansaw Traveler stated, “More of the state’s history has probably been made in the seclusion of the Capital Hotel rooms than in the legislative halls of the state house.” That assessment stands true more than 100 years later. The Capital Hotel has acted as “the front porch” of Little Rock since its start in 1877, welcoming CEOs, politi-

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The Capital lobby.

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JUN E 2021

THE DIGS OF THE DEAL

It should come as no surprise, then, that the walls of the Capital Hotel have witnessed the presence of presidents and governors, shootouts and fires, and of course, a host of renovations. The political history of the Capital Hotel is unmatched, as is the impact it has had on the Natural State even today. Reconstruction when a carpetbagger named William P. Denckla and Arkansas Supreme Court Justice George C. Watkins had an idea to boost the post-Civil War economic development of downtown Little Rock. A railroad tycoon, Denckla had moved from New York to Little Rock and brought with him a well-known reputation along with considerable wealth. He wasn’t interested in building a hotel — Little Rock already had a state-of-the-art hotel at that time called the Metropolitan. What he did want, though, was a place to do business. The land on which the Capital Hotel

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currently sits was then owned by Watkins, who sold the property to Denckla. (As construction of the building was completed, Watkins died, and Denckla sold the property to the Watkins heirs.) In 1872, Denckla erected a three-story building, an architectural marvel of its time with an American-made, cast-iron facade (a structural design usually found only in the most politically important buildings of that time). The Denckla block, as the construction site would be known, would serve three purposes: shops would fill the spaces on the ground floor, offices would be housed on the second floor, and the third floor would serve as a gentlemen’s living

quarters. Before it even housed the Capital Hotel, the Denckla building found itself at the center of a unique war. Following the contested political victory and inauguration of Gov. Elisha Baxter on Jan. 6, 1873, Arkansas became the scene of political bloodshed. Baxter had won a contentious gubernatorial race against Joseph Brooks in which his supporters were accused of rigging the election. Following a year of legal challenges to the election, a dozen armed Brooks supporters rushed to the governor’s office in the Old State House (across the street from the Denckla building), and forced Baxter out of his office. In the month that followed, there were four

The Capital is considered one of the South’s most elegant hotels.

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violent clashes between groups of Baxter and Brooks supporters, one of which took place in front of the old Denckla building. Two hundred men were killed or injured, and the state was deeply divided over the issue. President Ulysses S. Grant eventually intervened to settle the political controversy. Though Brooks did temporarily occupy the governor’s office, Grant ultimately sided with Baxter. This incident became known as the BrooksBaxter War. The destiny of the future Capital Hotel, though, was solidified when the fate of the Metropolitan was sealed in flames. On the evening of Thursday, Dec. 14, 1876, a terrible fire swept across the capital city.

The Capital Bar & Grill is popular among visitors and local business executives.

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THE DIGS OF THE DEAL The Arkansas Gazette reported the next morning: “Fearful Fire! Little Rock Receives Another Visit from the Devouring and Consuming Element. The Magnificent Metropolitan Hotel with All the Buildings on the West to City Hall Burned to the Ground. Loss Estimated at Fully $150,000, with Insurance at Less than One-Sixth the Amount. Only by the Heroic Efforts of the Fire Department that the Flames were Prevented from Sweeping Main Street.” The fire was reported to have started at the city’s ice house and in the back portion of the Metropolitan Hotel. The fire was further amplified by the lack of city cisterns, as well as poor water-pumping machines and rotten fire hoses. The fire was stopped just across the street from the Denckla block. But Little Rock was left without a hotel, and its citizens feared that the city would become obsolete. The manager of the Metropolitan, Colonel A. G. DeShon, was able to secure a new location for a new hotel just a week after the fire: that location was none other than the Denckla block. DeShon found a business partner in Major John D. Adams, and the two turned to Mrs. Morehead Wright, who was given the honor of naming the new hotel. On Dec. 26, 1876, Wright wrote back to Adams: “Appreciating the compliments of being asked to name your hotel, I can think of no name more appropriate than ‘Capital Hotel,’ as it is a capital enterprise located in a capital building, which will do honor to the capital of the state, and I trust prove a capital success to yourself and the Major DeShon.” Construction was a massive event, involving some of the finest renovators, decorators, designers and chefs from

across the country to assist in the transformation of the Denckla building into the Capital Hotel. By the end of 1878, the Capital Hotel was a magnificent sight to behold, and just in time for Grant’s visit in 1880. The president stopped into the Capital Hotel while smoothing over some of the tensions caused during the Brooks-Baxter War. Unsurprisingly, his visit received mixed reviews, with many of the female spectators turning their backs to the president as he processed through town. The hotel traded hands, and in 1890, a fourth floor was added to the top of the building. The Capital Hotel would again serve as a political landmark when it was bought by successful attorney Henry Franklin

Capital Hotel to Auten provides some insight on the important political history of the location: “Passing of a Famous Hotel: With the Closing of the Capital in This City, History Hostelry Will Pass Out of Existence. Scene of Political Battles: For Nearly Half a Century, The Capital Was the Political Headquarters of the State.” One of those great political battles the article references was the U.S. senatorial race of 1879. J. D. Walker and R.W. Johnson had established their headquarters at the opposite ends of the hotel as the two sought to succeed Republican incumbent Stephen W. Dorsey. Shortly after his purchase of the hotel, Auten debated converting it back into the office building that it had been previously, but decided to reopen the Capital Hotel. Things were relatively peaceful in the hotel’s history with the exception of the first world war. During this time, many dances and balls were held at the Capital Hotel by the companies stationed at Camp Pike (present day Camp Robinson in North Little Rock). The history of the hotel remains politically quiet until a few decades later. Pauline Hoetzel, a Little Rock resident interviewed by Steven Weintz, was the head of the Women’s Division for the gubernatorial campaign of Sid McMath in the 1949 election year. The campaign was headquartered in the Capital Hotel, where Hoetzel noted that the rooms were alive with political activity. Weintz, the author of A Capital Idea: An Illustrated History of the Capital Hotel, has a background in publishing and attended Vanderbilt University. He was contacted by Steve Patterson about meeting with the Stephens family to publish a book about the history of the Capital Hotel. Jackson T. “Steve” Stephens Jr. wanted to give his father a unique gift for Christmas, and

The Capital Hotel was awarded the National Historic Preservation Award under President Ronald Reagan.

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Auten, who moved to Little Rock from Michigan in 1890 and opened a law practice. Auten became so involved in the state’s politics that he ran for governor on the Republican Party ticket. Auten’s platform encouraged the cash-poor postbellum state to embrace the industrialism and free enterprise of the north. Auten suffered overwhelming defeat in the 1898 election and turned his focus to business, where he would practice what he preached. First, he helped build the streetcar service extending to Pulaski Heights, its own incorporated town from 1905 to 1916 when it was annexed by Little Rock, and now better known as the Heights and Hillcrest neighborhoods. The Arkansaw Traveler’s article regarding the July 25, 1908, sale of the

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had originally selected Ned Shank, husband of Eureka Springs author Crescent Dragonwagon, a talented preservationist and writer, for the task. Sadly, Shank was killed in a bicycle accident a year before Weintz would take up the project in his place. Weintz worked closely with Edwin Boykin Cromwell, the architect, pouring over notes, design sketches and engineering project manuals before finalizing the illustrated history of the Capital Hotel. Weintz spoke with Arkansas Money & Politics about the impact of the Capital Hotel and of the Stephens Family. “The most prestigious events at the Capital Hotel are all private, in private dining rooms in the back rooms of the hotel. There’s no telling what kinds of billion dollar deals have been done in the

private rooms of that hotel,” Weintz said. “More of the state’s history has probably been made in the seclusion of the Capital Hotel rooms than in the legislative halls of the State House. And the same can be said about business.” In 1947, the Cassinelli sisters, Amelia and Elizabeth, purchased the Capital Hotel, and would keep it from 1947 to 1977. The hotel would soon experience further political and business recognition under the sisters. The two were personal friends with Sen. William Fulbright, who ran his first campaign out of an office located in the Capital Hotel, where he also had an office for his later reelection bid. Unfortunately, though, as the sisters declined in health, the hotel declined with them, becoming a billiard hall with unsavory

activities. Many of the state’s legislators began to lament the state of the lodging at the once magnificent hotel. Amelia Cassinelli died in 1974, allowing Elizabeth to finalize the sale to Ed Cromwell, the founder of the Cromwell architecture firm. Cromwell had been leading a campaign to reestablish the Capital Hotel alongside prominent Arkansans such as Sen. David Pryor and reporter Harryette Hodges. The sale to Cromwell was the turn of a new leaf for the Capital. After years of hard work, research and collaboration, restorations were completed in 1983. Elizabeth was led into a lobby utterly restored to magnificence. The Capital was ready to host well-known politicians and leaders once more, such

Despite its more humble origins, the hotel has come to represent the pinnacle of Arkansas hospitality.

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The Capital bills itself as Little Rock’s “front porch.”

as then-Sen. and Mrs. Dan Quayle, Sen. Robert Dole, Gov. Michael Dukakis, President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Even Vice President George Bush left a note stating that the Capital Hotel was “a great place to stay.” But it soon became apparent that repairing and restoring the hotel had been easier than making a profit. The Capital Hotel suffered from low occupancy and cheap room rates. The Lincoln Hotel Group struggled to make payments from 1983 to 1986. However, Jack Stephens took an interest in the hotel, and appointed Scott Ford, the former president and CEO of ALLTEL, to buy the hotel. After loans and partnerships and financial haggling with the Lincoln Hotel Group, the Stephens family finally bought the faltering group out and took possession of the hotel. During this time, the Capi-

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tal Hotel was awarded the National Historic Preservation Award under President Ronald Reagan. The Stephens family spent the next decade getting the hotel’s finances straight, as well as settling who would take which staff positions. From 1996 to 2001, the Stephens family renovated the interior of the hotel, with another restoration project five years later. Though it was closed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Capital Hotel reopened in May, much to the delight of politicians, CEOs and citizens alike. Further, the hotel has received numerous awards for various organizations and publications such as Southern Living for its influence in Southern history and hospitality. However, this wouldn’t have been possible without the direction of the Stephens family.

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“The continual care of the building and the hotel by the Stephens family, from 1996 to 2001, as well as continued care and renovations were instrumental,” Weintz said. “The Capital Hotel really is a jewel, thanks to the preservation and upgrading of the building.” Joe Rantisi, the former general manager at the Capital Hotel, once told Weintz, “If it wasn’t for the Stephens family, this hotel would be a dilapidated old building. But because of their faith in the people of this state, they have turned it into a living piece of history for everyone to enjoy.” The Capital Hotel has served as the “front porch” of Little Rock for more than a century, hosting political and economic showdowns and deals. And with its history and the backing of Arkansans and the Stephens family, the Capital Hotel is likely to continue to serve the city for another century or more.

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(L to R) Nick Merriweather, Associate Financial Advisor; Alaina Breaux, Administrative Assistant; Miles Johnson, Associate Financial Advisor; Amy Ipsen, Operations Manager; Loren Marshall Ipsen, CFP®

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TOURISM

A Model

Community IN THE DELTA, AN OLD COMPANY TOWN REEMERGES AS A TOURISM DRAW By Dwain Hebda | Photos courtesy of The Lawrence Group Wilson is known for its Tudor-inspired town square.

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ecton Bell is as plainspoken a mayor as you’re ever likely to meet. From his Mississippi County rice farm, where he raises the crop that feeds the world, he fields questions on things related to street maintenance and ways to keep kids like his from growing up and straying too far from their hometown. You’d never guess you are talking to a living piece of Arkansas political history, but that’s just what the 41-year-old mayor of Wilson, Arkansas, is; the first mayor not one of, or employed by, the Wilson family which founded the town in 1886 and owned it for many years after. Asked what made him want to step into such a momentous role, he shoots you straight.

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“I didn’t really want to,” he said. “Some people in town thought I’d be a good mayor for some reason, and I kind of felt led to do it. Being a mayor of a small town doesn’t pay anything; I’m a farmer for a living. Being mayor, I felt like, would help things along.” Whether or not he previously envisioned himself as the city’s chief executive, Bell is in many ways the perfect man to lead the former company town into a new and exciting chapter. After all, as the fifth-generation to farm land around Wilson, his family tree is as firmly rooted as the town’s namesake clan. And growing up around here gives him a born-in appreciation both for the challenges that face small Delta communities and how Wilson’s fortunes are playing out differ-

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TOURISM ently.. The Wilson family had a huge presence in Wilson; they helped keep the town in really good shape,” he said. “First of all, it’s safe and, again, going back to the Wilson family, has been kept very clean. Residents have always been encouraged to keep their property clean. People here take pride in their town, and that’s something visitors notice. “When [the Wilson family] sold, things were slowly on a decline but not nearly as fast as the rest of the Delta because they had really tried to keep things looking nice and functional. When they passed the torch to The Lawrence Group, they had a good place to start.” Residents didn’t have long to wait to find out what the town’s new benefactors’ intentions were. Improvements made by The Lawrence Group investment have been immediate, sustained and nothing short of remarkable. Physical improvements and community events headlined by food, wine and cultural happenings have cre- White’s ated a tourism buzz un- Mercantile like anything to be found in the Arkansas Delta, while the founding of a private school and improved Internet connectivity has benefited (and grown) permanent residents. It’s the kind of rebirth that has landed Wilson’s story on the pages of Garden & Gun and The New York Times while attracting new blood such as hospitality-and-tourism lifer Norbert Mede, who landed the job of VP of operations for The Lawrence Group a year ago. “To me, this project is the best job that I’ve ever had and will have,” said Mede, who relocated from the San Francisco Bay area last month. “Wilson had its heyday and fell into disrepair, so to speak, and now to be a part of a true renaissance revitalization is very exciting. “I’ve always been a huge proponent of small-town America and bringing back that feel of community. Economic vitality needs to be a part of that, and that is very difficult to do in a lot of places The Delta School without some sort of backing. I see a lot of regional potential in this

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WILSON area. There’s a lot of unsung, unmarketed assets we can really leverage and bring to people’s forefront to make this a very sought-after area to live, work and visit.” It stands to reason that this most unlikely of comebacks should happen in Wilson. Founded with a sawmill and company store by Lee Wilson & Company, a diversified agribusiness concern that effectively owned the town for roughly 125 years, the community’s history has always been steeped in the unusual and unique. Take the family (and town) patriarch, for instance. Robert Edward Lee Wilson was born in Mississippi County to a solidly successful plantation owner, according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Orphaned by his mid-teens, he developed an uncanny sense for land values. Where others saw untillable woodlands, for instance, he saw business opportunity, once even trading productive farmland he’d

Wilson Mayor Becton Bell.(Farm Progress)

“For years, people didn’t know the difference between Lee Wilson & Company and the city of Wilson...”

inherited for ground covered by timber. He also went against the grain of logging practices by converting cut-over land to farming, rather than abandoning it as was common at the time. Wilson’s tactics paid off; at the time of his death in 1933, the company tilled 65,000 acres and had expanded into banking, mercantile, cotton gins, manufacturing and even built or bought portions of railroad to tie everything together. Boss Wilson, as he was commonly known, also left behind various company towns, which he founded as model communities to

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Wilson was created as a company town for the old Lee Wilson & Company.

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TOURISM house and provide amenities for his workers. Wilson, the headquarters town, and nearby Marie, Victoria and Armorel all came to be under the same concept, first in timber and then as the land was cleared and drained, for sharecroppers. The ventures weren’t without controversy. History now regards sharecropping as a short step from indentured servitude, and Boss Wilson at times paid his employees in company script, which critics say assured their staying poor and in place. But by all accounts, he also treated his employees better than other land barons, providing health care at a time when such fringe benefits were scarce, especially for Black workers. Through changing time and evolving labor practices, the towns remained wholly owned subsidiaries of Lee Wilson & Company until after Wilson Cafe World War II. Even after incorporatsurprises ing “independently,” the family’s infirst-time visitors with its fluence loomed large in all aspects of upscale fare operations and governance. and laid-back “When I became mayor, we didn’t atmosphere. even have our own city hall,” Bell said. “For years, people didn’t know the difference between Lee Wilson & Company and the city of Wilson. You paid your water bill at the Lee Wilson & Company office. We never had a city clerk before I became mayor; the Wilsons handled that all in-house. So, there was a lot of confusion there about who was what.” Given that, you could forgive any resident who regarded The Lawrence Group’s 2010 arrival as “meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” but they would be sadly mistaken. The company already owned 165,000 acres in multiple states, as well as numerous other businesses, so Wilson was as much a passion project as business play. “[The late] Gaylon Lawrence Sr. grew up working alongside his sister, mother and father on the family farm north of Pollard in Clay County,” wrote the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Rex Nelson in an April 2020 column. “He later purchased and worked on farms in southeast Missouri. Gaylon Lawrence Jr. worked on those farms as a boy. The younger Lawrence … wanted the thousands of acres of rich farmland owned by Lee Wilson & Co. He wasn’t sure what to do with the town. “Lawrence Jr. at first considered keeping the farmland that came with the purchase while divesting himself of the commercial property at Wilson. But he became fascinated with the history of the town and decided instead to pour millions of dollars into Wilson.” So began the counter-intuitive adventure of selling visitors on a community not on the strength of any one major attraction, but a hundred smaller, quieter ones; in essence, selling real-life “small town” to those who’d never seen it or who pined to return to it. And

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while that vision is admittedly idealized, with a calendar of events and improvements made substantially easier by The Lawrence Group’s deep pockets, it’s all being done without a roller coaster, garish casino or even a single fast-food drive-thru in sight.

“We’re not looking to bring in a convention center here locally. We’re really not apt to host thousands of people for some type of convention,” said Cyndi Detty, The Lawrence Group’s director of marketing. “One thing you notice here is we do not have any type of chain business. Everything is locally owned. Our niche is really for people who are looking for an experience. “What attracts the majority of our tourists right now is the café, the wine experiences, the wine dinners. Once they experience that, they fall in love with the town, as well. We’re not cookie-cutter. We don’t look like anybody else. All of our buildings are in the English Tudor architecture, which right there, sets us apart. We don’t look like a typical small town.” Detty, who was so taken with the opportunity here she commutes two hours from Memphis daily, said people are also intrigued by the town’s comeback story and want to be a part of it. “People can feel the growth that is happening here,” she said. “We’ve recently opened up a new outdoor center this past spring, and we’ll have bike trails and bike rentals available. We are in the process of building a boutique hotel, the Hotel Louis, which will be opening up in December. There’s a whole slew of businesses that will be popping up over the next two or three years. “Really, I think people enjoy coming here, getting fabulous food and having a little bit of an education on history or farming or wine or the whole culinary aspect. I think they appreciate the more laidback atmosphere and community spirit.” Plenty of challenges lie ahead — city leaders and Lawrence Group officials would like to see controlled population growth to

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WILSON The Grange Marketplace, hosted by Whitton Farms every Wednesday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

go with the tourists and visitors, but to do that requires addressing things like career opportunities, expanding services and housing. The growth of high-paying jobs in the steel mills nearby satisfies part of that equation, but other things are harder to solve without disrupting the small-town atmosphere that’s such a potent tourist draw. One thing is for certain: everyone, be they newly-relocated or rooted five generations deep, is committed to seeing things through. “You know, I’m not a big spotlight guy, I’d rather keep my head down and make sure everybody’s happy and there’s no problems and fix the potholes,” said Bell. “One thing [Galen] Lawrence really wanted was, he wanted to help the town but not to run the town; he wanted the citizens to have their own mayor and work together, but not under his thumb. “So, I let The Lawrence Group do their thing and help when I can. They’ve brought a lot of revitalization to town while I try to keep my head down and keep the town functioning, making sure it remains a good place to raise a family, which it is.”

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City leaders and Lawrence Group officials aim to attract more visitors to Wilson’s corner of the Delta.

Norbert Mede added, “One of the things people ask is, ‘Why Wilson? Why is this town unique? Why is it a favorable spot?’ I think it’s that combination of the past and the future. Not so much about the present yet, but really the idea of growth and potential. It’s not a false promise when we say we’re going to build this town out and it’s going to be great, beautiful, livable. “We’re here to get the job done, but I also think it’s important that those promises be delivered. There’s a few of these towns in the United States where they’ve been company towns, and something has changed with that status, and they’ve gone to the wayside. This one will not.”

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THE LAST WORD

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEALTHY AND RICH

ome mentors you inherit, some you seek, some are placed in your path just when you need them, whether you realize or not. I have been blessed to know such people in my life, one of the most impactful having been called to mind recently. While working on a piece about aviation in Arkansas, I had the pleasure to chat with the good people at Central Flying Service in Little Rock, and it rekindled a memory of early on in my corporate days. I’d arrived in Little Rock thanks to ALLTEL, to this day one of the greatest companies that ever existed. I’d always marveled at how the “ALLTEL Way” made you feel like you were the key ingredient to overall success, and I was soon to find out from whence that environment emanated. Shortly after I got settled, my boss sent me on a quick jaunt out west for reasons that escape me now. My traveling companion and I were told to report to Central Flying Service where we’d take the company plane for the out-and-back. The thought of flying like a boss had me fairly strutting into the lounge area, as if every inch the Gordon Gecko of Wall Street. What I really felt, however, was abject terror of saying or doing something stupid enough to betray me as the green corporate slap I really was. As we sipped Cokes and tried to act like flying on a private jet was just another day at the office, time for departure came and went. Our pilot told us the delay was due to a last-minute addition. “Joe’s going to join us,” was all he said. My co-worker, who’d been with the company longer than I, got this strange look on his face. When I asked who Joe was, he looked at me like I’d just inquired whether we’d get to parachute out of this bird over Flagstaff. “Joe Ford,” he said, audibly shocked I hadn’t put two and two together about

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BY DWAIN HEBDA

the company CEO soon joining us. It wasn’t that I didn’t know who Joe Ford was — before joining ALLTEL, I was a business reporter who had the pleasure of interviewing him. I just didn’t think people called the man at the top of the corporate org chart by his first name. I also, suddenly, didn’t feel quite the high roller that I did a few seconds ago. A minute later the door swings open and here comes Joe Ford, again defying my image of how a guy of his stature would roll. There was no retinue surrounding him, no clutch of fawning subordinates, no smartly dressed executive assistant with a book open to jot down every command. He greeted us warmly, apologized for holding us up, and we got on the plane. Right on cue, I said the first stupid thing, calling him Mr. Ford. “It’s just Joe,” he gently corrected me. And so there we were — Just Joe, a pair of nobodies and two hours to fill, which he did with stories about the early days of Arkansas telecommunications, the onset of wireless and how ALLTEL's simple premise of treating people better than the other guy. With each corporate war story, we asked questions and became more engrossed, hanging on his every word. The most remarkable thing about it was how completely devoid of ego Joe was, even as he told stories about big dreams and grand corporate accomplishments. In fact, if you didn’t know better, you’d have thought he had had nothing to do with the company’s origins and success, so generously did he shovel the credit to the people around and, most notably, below him. Simply this, he said, give people the chance to develop into who they were meant to be, then watch what happens. I was genuinely sad when at last we touched down. From there, my career at ALLTEL

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would come up just shy of a decade, during which time I discovered a great deal about myself. I learned how to trust my instincts, recognize opportunity and what makes people tick. In time, I would get my own team and the great responsibility of holding their futures in my hands. During times I didn’t know what I was doing, I’d fall back on what Joe preached that night, to put others’ success first. Doing that, our team climbed to number one in the nation, and when I moved on, I left knowing those people and experiences were some of the most important in my development as a human being. Though he’d be loath to admit it, Joe Ford laid the foundation for things to come that were and are still monumentally important to me, things far beyond cellphones and quarterly numbers. And while from that night to now Joe is several multiples more affluent than me, what he shared on that airplane revealed the difference between wealthy and truly rich. That is, to live and lead with humanity, ethics and grace. The plane at a stop, we gathered our things, and I tried to make up for my earlier snafu, thanking him for allowing me the opportunity to be part of his remarkable company. He looked me dead in the eye and again, gave a half smile. “It’s not my company,” he said, memorably. “It’s ours.” A Dwain Hebda, president of Ya!Mule Wordsmiths of Little Rock, is an awardwinning journalist, writer and survivor of the corporate rat race. Reach him at dwain@ ya-mule.com.

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