2014-02 Faulkner County Business Journal

FEBRUARY 2014

First Security Ranks First in Market Share in Faulkner County

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat2D — Sunday, February 16, 2014

An awards ceremony recognizing individuals and businesses that have made a difference in Con-way over the past year is one of the highlights of the Conway Area Cham-ber of Commerce’s Annu-al Meeting. The follow-ing award recipients will be recognized at the 2014 event, which is sched-uled for March 20 at the Conway Expo Center and Fairgrounds. Tickets and sponsorships are avail-able now at Conway-Chamber.org.

Bunny Adcock, Distinguished Service Award

Bunny Adcock, vice chairman of the board for Centennial Bank, is the 2014 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, the Chamber’s highest form of recogni-tion. Throughout his ca-reer in the banking and finance sector, Mr. Ad-cock has devoted himself to improving the overall business climate of Con-way and the state of Ar-kansas. He has headed two state agencies — the Arkansas Develop-ment Finance Authority and the Arkansas State

Bank Department — and has served in various ca-pacities at the University of Central Arkansas. Mr. Adcock is a current mem-ber of the UCA Board of Trustees and has served as vice president for ad-vancement as well as vice president for finance and administration at the in-stitution.

Established in 1957, the Distinguished Ser-vice Award is presented annually to an individu-al or group who has ren-dered special service for the benefit of the com-munity. Candidates have demonstrated an active leadership role for the betterment of the com-munity through their in-volvement in business, civic and social service organizations.

Quentin Washispack, Good Neighbor Award

Quentin Washis-pack is the 2014 recipi-ent of the Good Neighbor Award. As mission and outreach pastor for New Life Church, Mr. Washis-pack organizes hundreds of volunteers to tackle a number of community projects. His most recent

endeavors range from landscaping, painting and cleaning 12 schools in the Conway School District as part of the Big Event Volunteer Day, to deliver-ing a Thanksgiving meal provided by Centennial Bank to 1,150 people in Conway. Mr. Washispack serves on the boards for Conway Public Schools, Ministry Center and Hu-man Services Coalition. He is also a member of the Ministerial Alliance, a graduate and curric-ulum member of the Faulkner County Lead-ership Institute, and part of the Toad Suck Contin-uum of Care.

Established in 1973, the Good Neighbor Award is presented annually to an individual who has given of his or her time and talents. Candidates are known for going be-yond the call of duty to help others. The nominee shall exemplify outstand-ing public service to the Conway area.

Business of the YearThe Business of the

Year Award recognizes businesses for continued growth, innovation and community involvement. It is the premier honor to the best overall business-es in Conway and is pre-sented in five categories based on industry and number of employees.

Outstanding Nonprofit — Independent Living Services

Independent Living Services (ILS) is the 2014 recipient of the Business of the Year: Outstanding Nonprofit Award. The or-

ganization provides ser-vices for more than 250 developmental and intel-lectual disabled individ-uals in Faulkner County. These services — which include therapy, transpor-tation, residential servic-es, health and wellness, and an adult develop-ment day program — of-fer ILS consumers a more fulfilling life that may not have been possible oth-erwise. ILS was incorpo-rated in 1970 as a group home for eight men from the Conway Human De-velopment Center. It has since grown to operate three group homes, two residential homes, three apartment complexes and one intermediate care fa-cility. Along with increas-ing services and the num-ber of people receiving services, ILS employs 375 people in Faulkner County and has an annu-

al budget of $7.5 million, making it one of the larg-est nonprofit organiza-tions in central Arkansas.

Outstanding Hospitality — Kings Live Music

Kings Live Music is the 2014 recipient of the Business of the Year: Outstanding Hospitali-ty Award. The entertain-ment venue — located in a beautifully restored, historic, downtown build-

ing — offers live music in a trendy environment.

Co-owners Dustin Botsford and Marcus Bobbitt wanted to pro-vide a “cool, classy es-cape” for Conway resi-dents and breathe life into an underutilized part of downtown. In ad-dition to providing high-quality musical enter-tainment from local artists, Kings Live Music supports the community in other ways. The ven-ue has hosted numerous charity and community events for organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Faulkner County, United Way, Con-way Cares, Faulkner County Women’s Shel-ter, The Blue Crew Police Fund and Conway Insti-tute of Music.

Outstanding Retailer — The Kitchen Store

The Kitchen Store is the 2014 recipient of the Business of the Year: Out-standing Retailer Award. Since Jeanne and the late Mike Smyers purchased the store in 1999, its vol-ume has quadrupled, and the staff has grown from three part-time employ-ees to 12 who work up

Chamber announces Annual Meeting award recipients

Bunny Adcock, Centennial Bank

Quentin Washispack, New Life Church

Marcus Bobbitt and Dustin Botsford, Kings Live Music

Jackie Fliss, Lum Kramer, Jerome Riley and Bart McCuin, Independent Living Services

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, February 16, 2014 — 3D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

to full-time. The Kitchen Store is known through-out Conway and central Arkansas for its high-quality kitchen, gift and home décor merchandise and excellent custom-er service. In addition to operating a favorite Con-way retailer, the Smyers family made the first do-nation to establish the Conway Regional Peri-natal Bereavement Pro-gram to help families, like theirs, who have ex-perienced the loss of a pregnancy. They pledged continued support of the program through The Kitchen Store by host-ing the Annual Holi-day Preview event. Since 2009, the event has do-nated 100 percent of its gross proceeds to the pro-gram, totaling more than $72,500.

Outstanding Large Employer — CenterPoint Energy

CenterPoint Ener-gy Inc., a domestic en-ergy delivery company, is the 2014 recipient of the Business of the Year: Large Employer Award. CenterPoint Energy is the largest natural gas distribution company in Arkansas. It serves more

than five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississip-pi, Oklahoma and Tex-as. CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor com-panies have been in busi-ness for more than 135 years. The company fo-cuses on safety and edu-cation, community devel-opment, and health and human services in the places where its 8,700 employees live and work. CenterPoint Energy in-vests hundreds of mil-lions of dollars each year on system modernization and safety-related infra-structure and technolo-gy to ensure its system is safe and reliable.

Outstanding Small Business — Sonshine Academy

Sonshine Academy

is the 2014 recipient of the Business of the Year: Outstanding Small Busi-ness Award. Since 1991, the business has provid-ed quality instruction in gymnastics, dance, cheer, tumbling and related physical activities to chil-dren. Sonshine Acade-my’s recently expand-ed, 52,000-square-foot training facility features the latest equipment and training tools and is designed to maximize training in a fun and safe environment. Certified judges in gymnastics, dance, all-star cheerlead-ing, tumbling and tram-poline along with award-winning cheer and dance faculty are on staff. Not only do children enhance their athletic ability at Sonshine Academy, they also develop desirable character traits such as

confidence, discipline and sportsmanship. In addi-tion to its day-to-day op-erations, Sonshine Acad-emy hosts regional boys’ and girls’ gymnastics meets and cheer competi-tions each year.

Business Executive of the Year — Brad Hegeman

Brad Hegeman, pres-ident of south-central operations for Nabholz Construction, is the 2014 recipient of the Business Executive of the Year Award. As an executive for the accomplished, multi-service construc-tion company, Mr. Hege-man has demonstrated leadership in the build-ing industry and the community as a whole since he began working for Nabholz in 1996.

His community ser-vice ranges from the public sector to nonprof-its to industry-specific organizations. Mr. Hege-man served on the Con-way City Council for two terms and was chair-man of the finance com-mittee and the parks and recreation commit-tee. He currently serves as secretary of the Con-

way Corporation board of directors; president of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Coun-cil; and is a member of the board of directors for the Air Force Chief of Staff Civic Leader Group, ARVets and Con-way Development Corpo-ration.

The Business Execu-tive of the Year Award recognizes the owner, ex-ecutive or president of a business who has dis-played outstanding per-formance in either an in-dividual or collaborative endeavor.

The nominee is a driv-ing force behind the company and works to maintain an enriched business climate and an enhanced quality of life in Conway.

Young Business Leader of the Year — Umang Patel

Umang Patel, owner of Conway Management Inc., is the 2014 recipi-ent of the Young Busi-ness Leader of the Year Award. Four local hotels — Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Comfort Suites, Candlewood Suites, and Comfort Inn & Suites —

comprise Conway Man-agement Inc. Mr. Patel will soon add restaurant proprietor to his list of accomplishments.

He plans to open a new establishment in the Village at Hendrix, where he will also re-locate his corporate of-fice.

Mr. Patel has been in-volved in the community since he was a child; his family owned and man-aged hotels in Conway for several years.

Now that he has tak-en on the main role in the family business, he continues to invest time and money into the local economy.

The Young Business Leader Award recogniz-es a community business leader, age 40 or young-er, who has helped create a more vibrant business and social environment for all of Conway’s resi-dents.

About Annual MeetingIn addition to the

awards, Annual Meet-ing features a CEO-lev-el speaker. This year’s speaker is Steve Muel-ler, president and CEO of Southwestern Energy Company.

Mueller serves on the boards of America’s Nat-ural Gas Alliance, the American Exploration and Production Council, and the Independent Pe-troleum Association of America.

Individual tickets are $75, and tables and spon-sorships begin at $600.

Reserve a space by contacting Mary Marga-ret Satterfield at [email protected] or 501-932-5412.

Jeanne Smyers, The Kitchen Store

Brad Hegeman, Nabholz Con-struction

Umang Patel, Conway Manage-ment Inc.

Scott and Elsie Rose Wright, Sonshine Academy

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat4D — Sunday, February 16, 2014

First Security Bank ranks first in market share in Faulkner CountyFirst Security Bank re-

cently moved to first place in market share in Faulkner County. Market share data is collected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora-tion (FDIC) and measured by deposits an FDIC-in-sured institution has within a defined geographic mar-ket. The most recent data collected was from June 30, 2013 and reported by the FDIC nationally in October.

This is not the first No. 1 ranking the First Security –Conway has received. First Security Mortgage has been ranked first in Faulkner County, filing more mort-gages than any other finan-cial institution in the coun-ty for 13 years.

First Security’s commit-ment to their customers and community is evident, earning the bank recogni-tion as “Faulkner County’s Best Bank” by the Log Cab-in Democrat “Reader’s Poll” consistently for the past 5 years.

With approximately 27,000 personal and busi-ness customers, the Con-way market has continu-ally grown in assets since its charter in 1991 as First Community Bank, which joined First Security Ban-corp in 1997. Today, the bank locally has more than $645 million in assets and $550 million in total depos-its.

“We believe this data is a result of our emphasis on relationships and a better banking experience,” said Johnny Adams, president and CEO of First Security Bank Conway. “Also, while other Arkansas-based lend-ers are investing outside

the state, First Security Bank remains committed to investing in growing in Ar-kansas to meet the needs of fellow Arkansans. We have a local advisory board of di-rector’s, an experienced lo-cal based lending team and the financial and capital backing to really be a part-ner in growth for Conway and Faulkner County. We understand the communi-ty its businesses and people and strive to make the best

decisions always with Con-way’s and Arkansas’s best interest in mind. It’s our main focus here.”

Some of a number of re-cent Conway projects the bank is proud to provide local community based fi-nancing for include the new Faulkner County Justice Building and the new Con-way Senior Citizens Center.

The $10.6 million Faulkner County Justice Building will house pre-

viously scattered circuit courts and related offices under one roof and replace the 1936 courthouse. The 17,500 SF building will in-clude seven courtrooms, of-fices for judges, prosecut-ing attorneys, county clerks and circuit clerks, as well as victim services offices. The construction plan includes improved security features, such as a secure entrance for the public and secure parking for judges.

First Security – Con-way is a partner in provid-ing financing for the new $2 million Conway Senior Citizens Center. The pro-gram has operated out of their current locations for 34 years. In 2013 they pro-vided over 92,000 meals to homebound seniors; 39,000 meals and activities at the center; 20,000 transpor-tation trips for medical & dental, and assisted needs trips.

“Both of these proj-ects have been particular-ly meaningful, as we’ve been able to play a part in meeting a need in Faulkner County, said Adams. “When we have the opportunity to partner with groups that are impacting lives and ul-timately making Conway a better place to live, we want to help them succeed.”

First Security Bank Ad-visory Board Member Lin-da Linn served as co-chair of an impressive fund rais-ing drive that helped this dream for the Conway Se-nior Citizens Center be-come a reality. Joe White, who also serves on the bank’s advisory board and at the center helped greatly in the planning for the new

building. Other members of the

bank’s Advisory Board of Directors include: Richie Arnold, CEO of Conway Corporation, Jack Bell, As-sistant to the Mayor – City of Conway, George Cov-ington, Covington Compa-nies, Hal Crafton, Rush-Hal Companies, Bill Hannah, Chairman of Nabholz Cor-poration, Dr. Bob Rook, Physician, Mike Baldwin, Mark Ferguson and Reynie Rutledge with First Securi-ty Bancorp.

Adams who is on the board leads First Security-Conway’s senior manage-ment team, which collec-tively has over 160 years of banking experience. These seasoned banking profes-sionals also share a com-mitment to the community they call home.

“It’s always a privilege when business projects bring about community im-provements, but our team doesn’t stop there,” said Ad-ams. “We are committed to giving back to Conway, and our bank’s community focus fosters our desire to do so.”

First Security has proud-ly sponsored the First Secu-rity Conway Kids Triathlon, one of the country’s premier youth triathlons, for 10 years and the Conway Sym-phony Orchestra Children’s Concert, an annual perfor-mance supporting the Or-chestra’s Feeding America program through donations to local food banks for the past 10 years.

The company has also served up thousands of hot dogs and hamburgers on its signature Teal Grill at local events, ranging from fund-

raisers to groundbreaking ceremonies.

This community-cen-tric outlook translates nat-urally into taking care of their customers. While of-fering traditional per-sonal and business bank-ing products and services, the bank also supports lo-cal schools by offering mas-cot debit cards. Mobile and on-line banking allows cus-tomers convenient access to their accounts. The bank’s new SecurityPlus product features identity theft pro-tection and includes cred-it file monitoring, identi-ty theft resolution services, discounts on gas and gifts cards, free custom checks and more. “Offering our customers the opportuni-ty to BANK BETTER is not only a First Security prom-ise, it’s a service culture our employees have adopt-ed and live everyday”, says Margaret Smith, marketing officer for the Conway mar-ket.

First Security has also connected with customers and the community through the social media, something that is innovative for the banking industry. The First Security Facebook page has over 14,000 fans, is 38th most liked bank in the United States and in the top 100 most liked banks in the world. The bank also even has followers on Twit-ter and Pinterest.

First Security Bank – Conway is a part of First Security Bancorp, an Ar-kansas-based financial ser-vices holding company with more than 900 employees and 70 locations across the state.

Lenders Mark Lollar and Mike Randy at the Faulkner County Justice Building.

Linda Linn, Johnny Adams, Debra Robinson at the Conway Senior Citi-zens Center.

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat6D — Sunday, February 16, 2014

Information provided by pulseofconway.com

Conway Economy at a Glance

Unemployment Rate*December

US 6.7%Arkansas 7.4%Faulkner County 7.0%Conway 7.2%*Faulkner County & Conway not Seasonally Adjusted

Sales Tax CollectionsConway*November

2013 $1,868,0632012 $1,853,144Percent Change 0.81%

Year to date (November)2013 $20,940,2952012 $20,779,269Percent Change 0.77

Annual2012 $22,944,1632011 $22,366,464Percent Change 2.6%*Tax Rate 1.75%

Faulkner County*November

2013 $687,6862012 $660,842Percent Change 4.06%

Year to Date (November)2013 $7,770,2432012 $7,700,145Percent Change 0.91%

Annual*2012 $8,465,6862011 $8,279,301Percent Change 2.3%*Tax Rate 0.5%

Restaurant Sales*December

2013 $13,867,5242012 $13,497,777Percent Change 2.4%

Annual Sales 2013 $165,124,8072012 $161,318,5632011 $147,820,786Percent Change 2013-2012 2.6%*Including mixed drink sales

Hotel SalesDecember

2013 $1,056,6922012 $1,156,995Percent Change -8.7%%

Annual Sales2013 $18,559,3082012 $18,683,6762011 $18,662,136Percent Change 2013-2012 0.7%

Conway Building PermitsSingle Family Homes

January2013 4

2012 7Percent Change -43%

Annual2013 147 Permits2012 186 Permits 2011 153 PermitsPercent Change 2012-13 -21.0%

Average Construction Cost*Annual

2013 $228,2752012 $207,5372011 $204,387Percent Change 2012-13 10.0%*Not including land or lot improvements

Average Square Footage*Annual

2013 3,0022012 2,9102011 2,814Percent Change 2012-13 3.2%

Average Construction Cost Per Square Foot*

Annual2013 $76.042012 $71.332011 $72.64Percent Change 8i2012-13 6.6%%* Total under roof

Lottery SalesFaulkner County

Annual2013 $17,038,2772012 $16,943,9092011 $16,768,678Percent Change 2012-13 .06%

Total StateAnnual

2013 $432,932,7992012 $452,245,2152011 $474,879,701Percent Change 2012-13 -4.3%

Natural GasSeverance TaxDistribution

ConwayAnnual

2013 $276,5232012 $162,4572011 $254,822Percent Change 2012-13 70.2%

Faulkner CountyAnnual

2013 $224,4552012 $131,4182011 $204,052Percent Change 2012-13 70.8%

By RogeR Lewis

Even in the beginning Conway had places where you could go out to eat. Al-though Gatewood’s 1880 map shows no cafés or res-taurants among about 35 businesses, there are two hotels and one rooming house. Today’s very long-time residents might re-call Mrs. Ross’s (where Dayer Jewelry is now) or Goads Café at the corner of Oak Street and Parkway (which was Railroad Ave-nue then). And just plain long-time residents will re-member places to eat on Harkrider Street; American Grill, Southern Café, Frank Brannan’s Drive Inn and Tommy’s. Many college stu-dents of the 70’s and 80’s remember Ma Tucker’s on Hariston street for a good, plentiful, cheap meal – no selection, only what Ma cooked that day. Today’s choices, however, can be de-scribed as a different kettle of fish: In 2013 the number of establishments selling food to eat at the point of sale was 235.

Any establishment that sells prepared food ready to eat at the point of sale is re-quired to collect a two per-cent Advertising and Pro-motion tax (A&P), which is often referred to as “the hamburger tax.” According-ly, the term restaurant in-cludes coffee shops, grocery store delis, gas stations’ “convenience” sections, and specialty shops such as those selling frozen yogurt, donuts and bakery items. The tax falls on locals and travelers alike.

Of the 235 businesses that paid A&P taxes last

year, some were seasonal businesses (think shaved ice and Toad Suck Daze concessions). For others, food sales were ancillary (gas stations, grocery store delis, and movie theatres). However, using as a crite-rion that an establishment mainly sells prepared food– whether it’s ice cream, piz-za, donuts, or a full meal, the number of restaurants and cafes in Conway is about 150. Using this cri-terion, Cinemark Theatre is not counted as a restau-rant, even though their concession sales rank them at 23rd for 2013.

The top 20 restaurants in Conway for 2013 are shown in the table. Rank-ings are based on annual revenue (in millions of dol-lars) and do not include al-cohol sales.

Several interesting items about these 20 restaurants:

• Only Mike’s Placeand Stoby’s are indepen-dent restaurants (not part of a national chain or fran-chise)

• The oldest res-taurant is McDonald’s on Oak Street, which opened in 1975; second is Stoby’s (1980)

• Only seven of thetop 20 and two of the top 10 sell alcoholic beverages

• Chick-fil-A, the topgrossing restaurant, does

not sell alcoholic beverages and is not open on Sundays

The most remarkable restaurant of these 20, in my opinion, is Stoby’s. Sto-by’s is an independent res-taurant that has been con-tinuously operated by its founder and sole owner since 1980. It is not open on Sunday, does not serve alco-holic beverages, and has a small seating capacity but ranks eleventh in sales. No wonder the Conway Cham-ber of Commerce honored Stoby’s in 2013 as its out-standing small business of the year.

The food sales for these 20 restaurants total $57 million a little over a third of all prepared food sales. Looking at these figures of gross revenue might lead to a conclusion that the res-taurant business is boom-ing. Also, 2013 saw eleven new establishments open including Brick Oven Pizza (Oak Street Bistro location) Dunkin Donuts, Kobe, Table Mesa and Toppers Pizza. Except for Kobe’s these res-taurants replaced restau-rants at existing locations. The Kum & Go station and the Walmart neighborhood market are among the new restaurants.

On the other hand, fif-teen restaurants closed during 2013. We bid goodbye to Agora, Beef

O’Grady’s, Michelangelo’s, Oak Street Bistro, Strom-boli’s, Something Brewing, and Wimpy’s among others.

To get a better picture of this industry we need a broader sweep of time. Al-though restaurant sales for 2013 were up $3.8 million over last year, a 2.4 percent increase, the previous three years had an average an-nual growth rate of 7.3 per-cent.

The total restaurant rev-enue for Conway for 2013 was $165 million, which in-cludes mixed drink sales. At almost $14 million a month, this represents ap-proximately 11 percent of the total retail sales in the city.

So what does this all mean for 2014? Although our local economy is stag-nant in many areas, there are several restaurants un-der construction including, Chick-fil-A (Prince St.) Pur-ple Cow, Taco’s for Life and How Do You Roll. There are others in the planning stage and rumors of more. Most likely we will have ten to fifteen new restau-rants open and about a doz-en will close. This has been the trend the past several years and is likely to con-tinue. With the economy in slow recovery, total res-taurant sales will likely in-crease by five or more per-cent and set a new sales record of approximately $175 million in 2014.

I thank my friend Chris Spatz for editing and help-ing me with this article.

You can obtain more informa-tion on the economy of Conway and Faulkner County by going to the Pulse of Conway website (www.pulseofconway.com).

Going out to eat in Conway

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, February 16, 2014 — 7D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

On Wednesday, Feb. 26, representatives from Advantage Capital Part-ners will give a presen-tation about Arkansas’s New Markets Jobs Act. The seminar is part of the Conway Area Cham-ber of Commerce’s Small Business Lunch & Learn series and is free to em-ployees of Chamber-member businesses. It will take place from 11:30

a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Chamber building, locat-ed at 900 Oak Street.

Arkansas became the 12th state to enact a state-level, new markets policy after the Arkansas legislature overwhelming passed the New Markets Job Act. This legislation — modeled after the suc-cessful, federal New Mar-kets Tax Credit program — is an economic devel-

opment program that en-courages private sector investments in promis-ing small businesses lo-cated in distressed com-munities throughout the state.

The legislation pro-vides small businesses with new and flexible fi-nancing for growth, cap-ital expenditures and jobs. A number of areas in Conway and Faulkner

County are eligible for this incentive.

Seating is limited to the first 40 participants so reservations are re-quired. To reserve a seat at the Small Busi-ness Lunch & Learn, vis-it ConwayChamber.org/events or contact the Chamber at 501-327-7788 or [email protected].

Advantage Capi-

tal Partners is a lead-ing venture capital and small business finance firm focused on providing growth capital and other investments supporting state and local economic development efforts. The firm’s typical forms of in-vestment include ven-ture, expansion equity, mezzanine financing, se-nior and subordinated loans, and government-

guaranteed lending. With offices and partners in New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago and other U.S. cities, Advantage Cap-ital has invested more than $1.4 billion since 1992. The firm invests in small businesses located in geographic areas un-derserved by traditional capital and in companies in a wide range of indus-tries.

Lunch & Learn focuses on small business financing

To meet growing or-ganizational needs, the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce has added a part-time graphic design-er and a full-time attor-ney to its staff.

Kara Darling, Graphic Designer

Kara Darling be-gan her new position as graphic designer on Jan. 21. A Florida native, Dar-ling is a graduate of Full Sail University and has more than 10 years of ad-vertising-agency experi-ence. She has also served as creative director for the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute.

Throughout her ca-reer, Darling has de-signed projects for local and national clients from various industries, par-ticularly nonprofit orga-nizations and small busi-nesses. She has received five ADDY® Awards from the Central Arkansas chapter of the American Advertising Federation and a Service Industry Advertising Award.

“Kara’s creativity, ex-

perience and at-tention to detail have al-ready made her an asset to our team,”

said Jamie Gates, senior vice president. “Having a skilled graphic designer on staff will ensure that materials from the Cham-ber and our partner orga-nizations are high-quali-ty and professional.”

Darling is the owner of Kara Darling Creative, a virtual, marketing ser-vices firm. She resides in Little Rock with her hus-band, Justin, and daugh-ter, Bowen.

Luke Ferguson, Senior Vice President/General Counsel

Luke Ferguson joined the Chamber and Con-way Development Corpo-ration on Feb. 3 as senior vice president/gener-al counsel. The Faulkner County native attended high school in Greenbri-

er and obtained a bache-lor’s de-gree in Span-ish and history from the Univer-

sity of Central Arkansas. Ferguson went on to

earn his Juris Doctor from the William H. Bo-wen School of Law in May 2008 and became li-censed to practice law in Arkansas later that year. He worked at a private law practice in Conway and most recently served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Twen-tieth Judicial District, which includes Faulkner County.

Ferguson will be re-sponsible for contract re-view and negotiation, risk management, and human resources. He will also as-sist with economic devel-opment activities, includ-ing the development of Central Landing. Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Chamber and Con-

way Development Cor-poration, said having an attorney on staff will be beneficial as the organi-zations continue to grow.

“Luke is a strategic addition to our team. As events like Toad Suck Daze continue to grow and as we become in-volved in complex proj-ects like Central Land-ing, it is helpful to have legal knowledge on staff,” Lacy said. “We also have the opportunity to gain efficiencies as we move all human resource re-sponsibilities to him. We are excited to have Luke on board.”

Ferguson resides in Springhill with his wife, Jessica. He said it has been exciting to witness the economic growth and increased opportunities in Conway and the sur-rounding area.

“I’m honored to be working with the Cham-ber and CDC and hope to personally contribute to the progress these or-ganizations will contin-ue to foster in Conway,” he said.

Chamber adds attorney, graphic designer

Darling Ferguson

The Arkansas Legis-lature is back in session. As in all even-numbered years, they are convening for a “fiscal session.” These sessions are reserved for appropriation matters and the usual “political” issues will wait until 2015. This year, however, Arkansas’s largest political issue is an appropriation matter. The issue is whether or not to renew the one-year-old “Private Option” method of Medicaid expansion.

Without going into too much detail, the Private Option extends subsidized private insurance to Ar-kansans making between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The federal government will pay 100 percent of the in-crease in costs for the first three years of the program. Eventually, the federal por-tion will drop down to 90 percent.

That brings us squarely to the politics of this appro-priation. In Arkansas, a full three quarters of the legis-lature must vote to contin-ue this program. Currently, there are a handful of leg-islators who think this pro-gram is too close to “Obam-acare” for their comfort.

Sadly, that hand-ful of legislators is using Faulkner County employ-ers, employees and fami-lies as cannon fodder in a “proxy war” on Obamacare. Three of Faulkner County’s four largest employers, rep-resenting 4,100 employees, will be directly impacted if the Private Option isn’t re-newed.

Conway Regional stands to lose $750,000 per year in reimbursements for uncompensated care. UCA and the Conway Hu-man Development Cen-ter will be fighting to avoid the inevitable cuts that come from a state budget with an $89 million dol-lar hole in it. And it would be awfully hard-hearted to not mention the more than 3,000 Faulkner Coun-ty households (mainly the working poor) who would lose their newly gained in-surance.

The question at hand is not whether or not you agree or disagree with health care reform at the federal level. The only question is whether or not Arkansas is better off with the extension of the Pri-vate Option. It certainly is. Faulkner County too.

EDITORIAL

At what cost?