FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Business and community leaders throughout the state are invited to submit nominations for the 2009 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame by July 1, 2008.

The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas established the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 1999 to recognize Arkansans – by birth or by choice – who have been successful business leaders. The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame honors, preserves and perpetuates the names and outstanding accomplishments of business leaders who have brought lasting fame to Arkansas.

A selection committee of business and civic leaders from around the state will review the nominations and select the honorees. The criteria for selection are:

• No more than four individuals will be inducted annually.
• Nominations will remain on file for five years.
• It is encouraged that the nomination application be submitted in its entirety. The Selection Committee is most concerned with “why this person should be honored as a member of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.”
• Nominees can be living or deceased.
• All living inductees shall be at least 60 years of age at time of selection.
• Nominees are to be Arkansans by birth or by choice.

Consideration will be given to nominees who may have been born in Arkansas but whose business achievements have been outside of Arkansas and to nominees whose accomplishments are primarily in Arkansas. Nominations are not limited to University of Arkansas graduates.

The Selection Committee will consider the following when making their selection of honorees:

1. Business – the nominee has made a significant impact as a business leader.
   • Nominees are expected to have made a significant impact as a business leader and be recognized primarily as a business leader and for their managerial success.
   • The preponderance of weight will be given to such accomplishments as starting and building a business and leading an established business to significantly greater achievements.
   • Among the factors to be considered are industry recognitions, being an industry pioneer and/or leader, and recognition by others for achievements.
2. Community – the nominee has had concern for improving his/her community as a business leader; and
3. Ethics – the nominee has displayed the highest level of ethics in their business dealings.

The 2009 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Celebration will be held on Feb. 6, 2009, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame is permanently housed in the atrium of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus.

For a nomination form and more information, please contact the Office of External Relations at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Business Building 117, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark. 72701-1201, (479) 575-6146, by e-mail abhf@walton.uark.edu or on the Web at http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/halloffame/.

Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Inductees

 

1999 Inductees

William T. Dillard Sr., Dillard's Inc.
Charles R. Murphy Jr., Murphy Oil
Jackson T. Stephens, Stephens Inc.
Sam M. Walton, Wal-Mart Inc.

2000 Inductees

Joe T. Ford, Alltel Corp.
Harvey Jones, Jones Truck Lines
Donald W. Reynolds, Donrey Media
Don Tyson, Tyson Foods Inc.

2001 Inductees

Col. Thomas H. Barton, Lion Oil Co.
William E. Darby, National Old Line Insurance Co.
J.B. and Johnelle Hunt, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.
John H. Johnson, Johnson Publishing Co. Inc.

2002 Inductees

Roland S. Boreham Jr., Baldor Electric Co.
F. Sheridan Garrison, American Freightways Inc. (FedEx Freight)
Gene George, George's Inc.
Walter V. Smiley, Smiley Investment Co.

2003 Inductees

Richard E. Bell, Riceland Foods Inc.
David D. Glass, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Robert D. Nabholz Sr., Nabholz Construction Corp.
Louis L. Ramsay Jr., Simmons First National Corp.

2004 Inductees

John A. Cooper Sr., Cooper Communities Inc.
Frank Lyon Sr., Frank Lyon Co.
Charles D. Morgan, Acxiom Corp.
Robert A. Young Jr., Arkansas Best Corp.

2005 Inductees

Dave Grundfest Sr., Sterling Stores Co. Inc.
James T. “Red” Hudson, Hudson Foods Inc.
Donald Munro, Munro and Co. Inc.
Edward M. Penick, Worthen Banking Corp.

2006 Inductees

Frank Hickingbotham, TCBY Enterprises Inc.
William F. “Billy” Rector, Rector Phillips Morse Inc. (RPM)
Doyle W. Rogers Sr., Metropolitan National Bank and Doyle Rogers Co.
Forrest L. Wood, Wood Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Ranger Boats)

2007 Inductees

Delbert E. Allen, Sr., Allen Canning Co.
Thelma L. Joshua and Ernest P. “Josh” Joshua, J.M. Products Inc.
Kenneth Pat Wilson, First Arkansas Bancshares Inc.
Albert R. Yarnell, Yarnell Ice Cream Co.

2008 Inductees

Lee Bodenhamer, Meridian Management Co.
William H. Bowen, First Commercial Bank and First Commercial Corp.
Harvey C. Couch, Arkansas Power & Light Co. (now Entergy)
William H. Kennedy Jr., National Bank of Commerce