Ferrell?s Farewell is a Good Deal for Him

Bobby Ferrell, the veteran SBC Communications Inc. spokesman, said in early December that retirement is already agreeing with him. The former director of external affairs for Southwestern Bell in Northwest Arkansas retired on Nov. 15 and promptly took trip to Kansas to go pheasant hunting.

Ferrell took advantage of an incentive program that added five years of service and five years of age to his retirement formula. Normally, the magic number at Bell for full retirement benefits is 75 — a combination of the employee’s age and years of service.

But the company recently offered a voluntary early retirement to employees who qualified. No information was available on how many employees participated nationwide, but Bell executives said the number was significant.

Ferrell, 52, had 25 years in with Bell, so his number was already 77. But Bell sweetened the deal as part of a company-wide realignment. The result was better pension benefits for him.

“I loved my company, but this was a good deal for me,” Ferrell said. “I’ve seen incentives like this before with the company, but I never imagined I would be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of one.”

Both Bell’s Western Arkansas sales manager, Mick Maggi, and it’s statewide vice president of external affairs, Ed Drilling, said they hated to lose Ferrell.