Scott Ford Talks About ‘occupy Wall Street’

Former Alltel CEO Scott Ford was in Fort Smith on Thursday to share thoughts at a CEO Forum hosted by the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Since leaving Alltel after its sale to Verizon Wireless in 2009, Ford has been investing millions of dollars in a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors, including a coffee import/export business in Rwanda.

Aric Mitchell with our content partner, The City Wire, was there to cover Ford’s comments on the Occupy Wall Street movement that has been gaining momentum around the country.

“Feeling like you don’t have any opportunities means that you won’t have any opportunities,” Ford said.

“There’s a common denominator (with the Occupy Wall Street movement) that I understand. But what they could learn from Rwanda is this: if instead of being angry, they could figure out how the system works and have an economic impact within that system rather than just a political one, they could actually form the world they want to form,” Ford said.

Ford also commented on the Whirlpool closure announced Thursday, saying that the community could rebound, and he offered an opinion on the political turmoil that has seemingly paralyzed action in the nation’s capitol.

“We’re really not working on solutions right now. We’re working on our political positions. Until we get sick and tired of being sick and tired with our lack of progress, and we get a set of leaders in that will fix it, nothing will be solved. I don’t think we’re sick and tired of ourselves enough yet, but I think we’ll get there in the next five years. I hope we do,” Ford said.

You can read his full comments at this link.