Forty Under 40: Steven Brooks

Steven Brooks was born in Springdale but grew up at various naval bases around the country. He attended the University of Arkansas where he earned a degree in accounting in 1995.

After passing his certified public accountants exam, Brooks went to work for Moore Stephens Frost in Little Rock. After three years in that job, he joined the accounting team at Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, where he worked until 2000.

Brooks then decided to go to the UA law school. He earned his law degree and passed the bar exam in 2003, then began as an associate partner with Friday Eldredge & Clarks Fayetteville office, where he had been clerking part time for about two years. Brooks focuses on corporate tax law within the firms mergers and acqusitions group.

I view myself as a business consultant, he said. I look at every deal as if I were in the shoes of my client and I were the entreprenuer.

In the three years since he started his practice, Brooks has built relationships with 275 clients. He now heads up Fridays Rogers office.

His goals are to help develop the financial services industry in the area.

We cannot grow our young entrepreneurs unless we have a financial services foundation here, he said.