Forty Under 40: Katherine Armentrout Deck

In a Venn diagram of skydivers and economists, the intersection is most likely just a sliver. But Kathy Deck, 32, occupies that area. Though jumping out of airplanes didn’t prove addictive, she was hooked on economics from the beginning.

Prior to moving to Northwest Arkansas in 2001, Deck worked for the Arizona attorney general, examining mergers and acquisitions to determine what their effects would be on the marketplace and on consumers.

Deck has been in her current position since spring 2007, and it has given her many great opportunities to pursue one of her passions: Gathering data and assembling it in a cohesive way to help people make informed decisions.

One of her recent career highlights was addressing more than 1,200 people at the Walton College annual Business Forecast luncheon in Rogers in January. That experience was a culmination of all of the work Deck had done researching the economy of Arkansas.

“Being able to share that information with so many people in a direct way was really thrilling for me,” she said.

In addition to working at the UA, Deck has served on the board of the Fayetteville Economic Development Council.

She advised other young professionals to latch onto mentors and other leaders.

“Talk to as many people as you can,” she said. “The secret is knowing who to ask.”