HONOREE DR. ROB CONNER

Local Vet Invests in Students’ Success

Investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs has been the motivation for Dr. Rob Conner, owner of All Creatures veterinary clinic, committing substantial time and talent over the years to the students of Mountain Home Public Schools.

But to hear the longtime veterinarian and Mountain Home native, who was recognized by the Mountain Home Education Foundation with the Community Partner Award, you’d think he hardly played a role in their success at all.

“I grew up here, and it was a normal part of my life to have people involved.”

— DR. ROB CONNER

“I’m just following the blueprint of the people before me,” he said. “I grew up here, and it was a normal part of my life to have people involved. Every program they had at any level had a lot of parent, grandparent and community involvement.

“We had a lot of people who would move in, and retirees would take interest in the kids because their own kids and grandkids didn’t live here. A lot of hardworking folks have made this their home, and they want it to be as good as it can possibly be.”

Conner has served on the district’s business advisory board and mentored students one on one. He’s also been a volunteer coach and has done a lot of work with local 4-H and FFA clubs; in fact, he’s led the FFA’s vet science team to state titles in five out of eight tries. He’s also provided internships at his clinic for high schoolers — two or three of them every semester since the program started, in fact.

“My vision, and I think it’s a shared vision, is we’re trying to really foster entrepreneurship,” Conner said. “With the internet age, there are people who are successfully raising families and earning income and enjoying a quality of life from home or from jobs that work from home or remotely. Some of them are even doing business internationally, from right here in Mountain Home.

“To have an innovation center in the school system is really unique, and it’s important to continue that. We’re able to take kids’ ideas all the way from concept to a product on the market in a way that involves them all the way through research and development, CAD drawings, the patent process, marketing, sales, distribution, manufacturing, everything.”

Conner said he’s impressed at the creativity and depth that some of the projects display, and for this, he gives credit to the district’s superintendent, Dr. Jake Long, for thinking outside the box.

“We just started an engineering program; I met with the teacher for that, and he’s excited about projects surrounding recycling and the environment,” he said. “We also have a natural resources program that dovetails into the efforts of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We have aviators who want to start an aviation program not only for future pilots, because there will be a shortage, but also for future mechanics.

“These programs all happen because of leadership. Dr. Long has an opendoor policy for new ideas, and he even holds meet-and-greets within the community. He’s very involved and interested, and everyone else feeds off of that. It’s pretty special.”

As for being recognized for his service to his alma mater, Conner said he’s humbled by the honor.

“It’s amazing to me, because I know the people in the past who have been nominated, and I’ve put those people on a pedestal my whole life. I don’t know that I belong in that group,” he said. “I’m grateful that someone appreciates my desire to help the school system and the community, but there are many more behind me. There are certainly a lot of wonderful people in this community who are also very deserving of this kind of recognition.”