Inductees: Arkansas Business Hall of Fame
Each year, four new members are inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. An event is held at the Statehouse Convention Center, honoring the new inductees.
2024 Inductees
John L. Conner Jr.
President
Holden-Conner Company
Gary C. George
Chairman
George's, Inc.
Eric Jackson
Senior Vice President
Oaklawn
Dhu C. Thompson
Owner
US Irrigation
Former Owner/President of Delta Plastics and Revolution Bag
2023 Inductees
Curt Bradbury
Chief Operating Officer
Stephens Inc.
E. Fletcher Lord Jr.
Chairman of the Board
Bumper to Bumper/Crow-Burlingame Co.
Judy R. McReynolds
Chairman, President and CEO
ArcBest
Ross M. Whipple
President and CEO, Horizon Capital Partners, LLLP;
President, Horizon Timber Services, Inc.
Chairman, Board of Trustees for The Ross Foundation
2022 Inductees
Peggy J. Clark
Owner and Managing General Partner
Clark Timberlands
Thomas E. Faust Jr.
Chairman, Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Former Chairman/CEO, Eaton Vance
George G. Gleason II
Chairman and CEO
Bank OZK
Ginger L. Graham
Founder/Owner, Ginger and Baker
Former President/CEO, Amylin Pharmaceuticals
2020 Inductees
Gerald Alley
President and CEO
Con-Real, LP
Olivia Farrell
Retired CEO
Arkansas Business Publishing Group
Charles Nabholz
Chairman Emeritus
Nabholz Corporation
Reynie Rutledge
Chairman and CEO
First Security Bancorp
2019 Inductees
Claiborne P. Deming
Chairman
Murphy Oil Corporation
Joe M. Steele
(1905 - 1976)
Co-Founder
Steele Canning Company & Springdale Canning Company
Founding Director
Beaver Water District
Warren A. Stephens
Chairman, President & CEO
Stephens Inc.
John W. Tyson
(1905 - 1967)
Founder
Tyson Foods, Inc.
2018 Inductees
James A. " Jim" Bottin
Founder & Chairman
ABC Financial
John D. Correnti
(1947 - 2015)
Former Chairman & CEO
Big River Steel
Herbert H. McAdams II
(1915 - 2001)
Former Chairman & CEO
Citizens Bank of Jonesboro
Union National Bank of Arkansas
James Kirk Thompson
Chairman
J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc.
2017 Inductees
Charles E. Scharlau
(1927 - 2021)
Retired Chairman, President & CEO
Southwestern Energy Co.
Thomas B. Schueck
(1941 - 2020)
Chairman
Lexicon, Inc.
Sherman E. Tate
President & CEO
Tate & Associates Management
Gus M. Vratsinas
Chairman
Bailey Construction and Consulting, LLC
2016 Inductees
William T. Dillard, II
Dillard's Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
George K. Mitchell
(1931 - 2024)
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Little Rock, Arkansas
Winthrop Rockefeller
(1912 - 1973)
Former Governor of Arkansas
Winrock Farms
Little Rock, Arkansas
Patricia P. Upton
(1938 - 2017)
Aromatique Inc.
Heber Springs, Arkansas
2015 Inductees
Al Bell
Stax Records
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Stephen L. LaFrance, Sr.
(1941 - 2013)
USA Drug
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Millie Ward
Stone Ward
Little Rock, Arkansas
Donald E. "Buddy" Wray
(1937 - 2016)
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Springdale, Arkansas
2014 Inductees
James H. Faulkner
(1932 - 2021)
Faulkner & Associates
Falcon Productions & Falcon Publications
Jimco, Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty
McLarty Associates
McLarty Companies
Arkla
Little Rock, Arkansas
Stanley E. Reed
(1951 - 2011)
Lawyer
Farmer
Arkansas Farm Bureau
Marianna, Arkansas
Mark C. Simmons
Simmons Foods, Inc. & Affiliates
Siloam Springs, Arkansas
2013 Inductees
Thomas E. "Tommy" Boyer
Micro Images
Amarillo, Texas
W. C. “Buddy” Coleman, Jr.
(1928 – 2011)
Coleman Dairy
Little Rock, Arkansas
William L. Cravens
(1934 - 2023)
Oaklawn Jockey Club
Little Rock, Arkansas
Frank Fletcher, Jr.
Frank Fletcher Companies
Little Rock, Arkansas
2012 Inductees
John Ed Anthony
Anthony Timberlands, Inc.
Bearden, Arkansas
Wayne Cranford
(1933 - 2020)
Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods
Little Rock, Arkansas
Walter E. Hussman, Jr.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
WEHCO Media, Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jack C. Shewmaker
(1938 - 2010)
Walmart
Bentonville, Arkansas
2011 Inductees
L. Dickson Flake
(1938 - 2020)
Colliers International | Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Wallace W. Fowler
(1935 - 2022)
Liberty Bank of Arkansas
Fowler Foods, Inc.
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Donald G. Soderquist
(1934 - 2016)
Walmart
Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics
Rogers, Arkansas
Leland E. Tollett
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Springdale, Arkansas
2010 Inductees
William E. "Bill" Clark
(1943 - 2007)
CDI Contractors
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jerral Wayne "Jerry" Jones
Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Inc.
Arlington, Texas
James E. "Jim" Lindsey
Lindsey Management, Inc.
Lindsey & Associates, Inc.
Fayetteville, Arkansas
J. Thomas "Tommy" May
Simmons First National Bank and Simmons First National Corp.,
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
2009 Inductees
Chesley Pruet
(1915 - 2001)
Pruet Drilling Co.
El Dorado, Arkansas
Raymond Rebsamen
(1898 - 1975)
Rebsamen Companies, Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Willis Shaw
(1918 - 2014)
Willis Shaw Express, Inc.
Elm Springs, Arkansas
Jim E. Yates
(1941 - 1998)
E-Z Mart Stores, Inc.
Texarkana, Texas
2008 Inductees
Lee Bodenhamer
Meridian Management Company
Little Rock, Arkansas
William H. Bowen
(1923 - 2014)
First Commercial Bank and First Commercial Corporation
Little Rock, Arkansas
Harvey C. Couch
(1877 - 1941)
Arkansas Power & Light Company (now Entergy)
Pine Bluff/Little Rock, Arkansas
William H. Kennedy, Jr.
(1917 - 1991)
National Bank of Commerce
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
2007 Inductees
Delbert E. Allen, Sr.
(1919 - 1988)
Allen Canning Company
Siloam Springs, Arkansas
Thelma L. Joshua and the late Ernest P. "Josh" Joshua, Sr.
J.M. Products Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Kenneth Pat Wilson
(1919 - 2002)
First Arkansas BancShares, Inc.
Jacksonville, Arkansas
Albert R. Yarnell
(1923 - 2018)
Yarnell Ice Cream Co.
Searcy, Arkansas
2006 Inductees
Frank D. Hickingbotham
TCBY Enterprises, Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
William F. "Billy" Rector
(1913 - 1975)
Rector Phillips Morse Inc. (RPM)
Little Rock, Arkansas
Doyle Rogers, Sr.
(1918 - 2013)
Metropolitan National Bank
Little Rock, Arkansas
Forrest L. Wood
(1932 - 2020)
Wood Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Flippin, Arkansas
2005 Inductees
Dave Grundfest, Sr.
(1901 - 1974)
Sterling Stores Company, Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
James T. "Red" Hudson
(1924 - 2003)
Hudson Foods, Inc.
Rogers, Arkansas
Donald Munro
(1927 - 2022)
Munro & Company, Inc.
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Edward M. Penick, Sr.
(1922 - 2014)
Worthen Banking Corporation
Little Rock, Arkansas
2004 Inductees
John A. Cooper, Sr.
(1906 - 1998)
Cooper Communities, Inc.
Rogers, Arkansas
Frank Lyon, Sr.
(1910 - 1998)
Frank Lyon Company
Little Rock, Arkansas
Charles D. Morgan
Acxiom Corporation
Little Rock, Arkansas
Robert A. Young, Jr.
(1908 - 1973)
Arkansas Best Corporation
Fort Smith, Arkansas
2003 Inductees
Richard E. Bell
(1934 - 2015)
Riceland Foods, Inc.
Stuttgart, Arkansas
David D. Glass
(1935 - 2020)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Bentonville, Arkansas
Robert D. Nabholz, Sr.
(1924 - 2002)
Nabholz Construction Corporation
Conway, Arkansas
Louis L. Ramsay, Jr.
(1918 - 2004)
Simmons First National Corporation
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
2002 Inductees
Roland S. Boreham, Jr.
(1924 - 2006)
Baldor Electric Company
Fort Smith, Arkansas
F. Sheridan Garrison
(1934 - 2004)
American Freightways, Inc.
Harrison, Arkansas
Gene George
(1922 - 2010)
George's, Inc.
Springdale, Arkansas
Walter V. Smiley
Smiley Investment Company
Little Rock, Arkansas
2001 Inductees
Colonel Thomas H. Barton
(1881 - 1960)
Lion Oil Company
El Dorado, Arkansas
William E. Darby
(1904 - 1979)
National Old Line Insurance Company
Little Rock, Arkansas
Johnelle and the late J.B. Hunt
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.
Lowell, Arkansas
John H. Johnson
(1918 - 2005)
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois
2000 Inductees
Joe T. Ford
ALLTEL Corporation
Little Rock, Arkansas
Harvey Jones
(1900 - 1989)
Jones Truck Lines
Springdale, Arkansas
Donald W. Reynolds
(1906 - 1993)
Donrey Media Group
Las Vegas, Nevada
Don J. Tyson
(1930 - 2011)
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Springdale, Arkansas
1999 Inductees
William T. Dillard
(1914 - 2002)
Dillard's, Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Charles H. Murphy, Jr.
(1920 - 2002)
Murphy Oil Corporation
El Dorado, Arkansas
Jackson T. Stephens
(1923 - 2005)
Stephens Inc.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Sam M. Walton
(1918 - 1992)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Bentonville, Arkansas