No Hard Feelings, by George

Former Northwest Arkansas Times publisher George Smith was among the 1,000 employees of Alltel Corp. nationwide who recently lost their jobs because of layoffs, attrition or early retirement.

Smith was laid off from his job as vice president of media services at Alltel at its Little Rock headquarters. But Smith said he doesn’t hold any grudges against Alltel.

“Alltel is a class company,” Smith said. “They not only provided severance pay but also out-placement services for those let go. And even more important was they left me with my self-esteem and dignity. It was not an easy decision for Alltel. But I totally believe as an employee and manager in the company that it was the right thing to do for the growth of this company at this incredibly competitive time in the telecommunications industry.”