River Valley Execs See Big Pay Increases

Northwest Arkansas

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) November 8, 2004 12:00 am 64 views 

Seven of the 10 biggest public company executive pay increases from 2002 to 2003 happened for honchos from the Arkansas River Valley and Northwest Arkansas. Five of the biggest pay cuts for the same crowd also came for public company execs in the northwest corridor.

The two biggest gainers statewide were both from America’s Car Mart Inc. — Mark Slusser, the firm’s vice president and chief financial officer, and CEO Tilman Falgout III.

Slusser more than quintupled his total compensation package from $184,758 in 2002 to $1.09 million last year. Falgout’s pay leapt more than three-fold to $1.73 million.

Also among the big gainers were David Loeffler, vice president and CFO of Arkansas Best Corp., whose salary nearly doubled to $906,412; Beverly Enterprises Inc. Chairman William R. Floyd (up 170 percent to $2.36 million); J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Executive Vice President Paul Bergant (up 142 percent to $2.75 million); and Beverly Executive Vice President Douglas J. Babb (up 133 percent to $906,798).

Steve Martin, vice president and general manager of Delta Systems Inc., got a 150 percent increase but still only made $116,000.

Pay Cut

No public company executive in Arkansas had a bigger pay cut from 2002 to 2003 than J.B. Hunt Transport Chairman Wayne Garrison, whose total compensation fell about 95 percent from $11.74 million to $641,479.

It’s common for executive pay to vary dramatically based on perks such as bonuses and stock options, but that’s quite a swing even for a planned tapering off of pay.

Two Baldor Electric Co. executives, Chairman R. S. Boreham Jr. and Vice President Gene J. Hagedorn, were among the Top 10 pay cuts. Their total compensations fell 77 percent to $159,791 and 68 percent to $139,544, respectively.

USA Truck Inc. President Jerry Orler (down 57 percent to $150,559) and Arkansas Best senior vice president Jerry Yarbrough (down 53 percent to $500,239) were also among the 10 largest pay decreases.

Clothing chain Dillard’s Inc. got the stingiest with its brass. Four of its executives — Drue Corbusier, executive vice president; James Freeman, senior vice president and CFO; William Dillard II, CEO; and Mike Dillard, executive vice president — saw a combined 76 percent decrease in pay from about $11.6 million to $2.8 million.