Joe Ford, former chairman and CEO of Alltel Corp. and co-founder of Westrock Coffee Co., was honored for a lifetime of leadership in business and government at the 36th Arkansas Business of the Year Awards, and Conway Regional Health System was recognized as the Arkansas Business of the Year with more than 500 employees.
Arkansas Business Publishing Group of Little Rock presents the awards each year to honor businesses of all sizes and nonprofits. Readers of Arkansas Business nominate executives and organizations for the awards. An independent panel of judges determines the winners.
An event honoring nominees and award-winners took place Wednesday night at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
Ford received the Legacy of Leadership award in honor of a career spanning business and the highest levels of government, including five and a half years in the Clinton White House, first as the former president’s chief of staff and then as counselor to the president and special envoy for the Americas.
Previous Legacy of Leadership honorees were auto dealer and former White House Chief of Staff Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty; Little Rock businessman and community leader Sherman Tate; billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist Johnelle Hunt; former banker and restaurant franchise owner Wallace Fowler; and former Simmons Bank executive Tommy May.
Arkansas Business also honored these Business of the Year category winners:
Chris West Plumbing Inc. of Jonesboro in Category I (1-30 employees)
Nelson Intelligence Solutions of Little Rock in Category II (31-55 employees)
SupplyPike of Rogers in Category III (56-150 employees)
Eat My Catfish in Category IV (151-499 employees)
Conway Regional Health System in Category V (500+ employees)
ARCare of August was named Nonprofit Organization of the Year and CelluDot of Fayetteville received the second annual Innovation Pacesetter award.
More: Click here for video of the winners accepting their awards.
This year’s panel of judges represent previous winners in the Arkansas Business of the Year program: Carrie Stout, founder and CEO of Consolidated Admin Services of Cabot; Clay Hobbs, chief operating officer of Pafford Medical Services of Hope; David Peacock, President of Hytrol Conveyor Co. of Jonesboro; and Sara Adams-Moitoza, founder of The Shops at BrickCity of Fort Smith.
The 36th Arkansas Business of the Year Awards were presented by The Hatcher Agency and UnitedHealthcare.
The complete list of honorees is below.
Category I (1-30 Employees)
Chris West Plumbing Inc., Jonesboro — winner
The Conductor, Conway
Encore Technology Solutions, North Little Rock
Simporter Inc., Bentonville
Today’s Power Inc., North Little Rock
Category II (31-55 Employees)
AWP Wood Products, Little Rock
Nelson Intelligence Solutions, Little Rock — winner
WER Architects, Little Rock
Category III (56-150 Employees)
ARMI Contractors, Fayetteville
Edafio, North Little Rock
SupplyPike, Rogers — winner
Category IV (151-499 Employees)
Boston Mountain Rural Health Center, Marshall
Chenal Family Therapy, Little Rock
Eat My Catfish, Little Rock — winner
Southern Aluminum, Magnolia
Category V (500+ Employees)
Arkansas Children’s, Little Rock
Arkansas Heart Hospital, Little Rock
Conway Regional Health System — winner
Lexicon Inc., Little Rock
Nonprofit Organization of the Year
ARcare, Augusta — winner
Arkansas Foodbank, Little Rock
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock
Farm 2 Table Project, Holland
Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas, Little Rock
Youth Home Inc., Little Rock
Innovation Pacesetter
ArcBest Corp., Fort Smith
Celludot LLC, Fayetteville — winner
Cobb-Vantress Inc., Siloam Springs
HDrop Technologies Inc., Little Rock
Namida Lab Inc., Fayetteville
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