Gary C. George: Arkansas Business Hall of Fame

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Gary C. George

Chairman
George's, Inc.


Gary Charles George was born in 1950 in Springdale, Arkansas. After graduating from Springdale High School, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1972 at the University of Arkansas and joined his father Gene and Uncle Luther in the family business. In 1980, he succeeded his father as president of George’s, Inc. and its subsidiaries. He became chairman in 2011. 

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The business began in the 1920s with his grandfather C.L. George hauling live chickens to Kansas City, Chicago and St. Louis. Having joined the business in the 1940s, his father and uncle transformed the company into a fully integrated operation and changed its name to George’s Feed and Supply. It was renamed George’s, Inc. in the 1970s.

By 2012, George’s was the 12th largest chicken producer in the nation. Today it processes about 6,250,000 chickens a week, making it the seventh largest for heads and eighth largest for pounds processed. It employs more than 7,000 associates.

In 1982, George became president of Arkansas Poultry Federation (now The Poultry Federation) to promote and protect the poultry and egg industry.

Later, he was founding president of Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute, commissioner for Springdale Water & Sewer Department and Arkansas Industrial Development Commission and director for National Chicken Council.

He was on the boards of Arkansas Poultry Federation, American Egg, Southeastern Poultry & Egg Association, J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. and University of Arkansas, serving as chairman for Springdale Water & Sewer, First National Bank of Springdale and University of Arkansas Trustees.

George founded Legacy National Bank in 2004 and is currently chairman. In 2015, he and his wife Robin donated land for the Arkansas Children’s Hospital campus in Northwest Arkansas. He also serves on its board.

In 2013, Gary George stepped down as president of George’s, handing over the reins to sons Carl and Charles. 

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