Forty Under 40: Clinton Bennett

After graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1996 with a degree in agriculture business, Clinton Bennett returned to his hometown of Pocahontas to work on the family’s rice farm.

He grew up farming and he was good at it.

“I loved it, I felt like that was what I was going to do,” he said.

But the risk and the expense associated with farming made it difficult to earn a steady income.

So Bennett decided to return to the University of Arkansas and get his master’s in business administration.

After earning that degree in 2004, he went to work for Dallas Real Estate Services for three years before joining with three other partners to form Solomon Partners, the Arkansas affiliate of Grub & Ellis.

In 2006, Bennett became a Certified Commercial Investment Member. He also has Series 22 and Series 63 Securities licenses, which allow him to offer private placement real estate offerings.

Bennett, 35, said building the company in a tough real estate environment is one of his greatest achievements.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve done,” he said. “I feel like we’re on track to have a solid company and to be able to provide services that haven’t been provided in the past.”
Bennett hopes to continue to grow the company, eventually opening offices in other parts of the state.