Wednesday Kudos: Collective Bias Gains New CEO

Changes are underway at a Bentonville-based social media firm, the Fort Smith Chamber announces a transition plan, and honors abound for several with Arkansas connections.

COLLECTIVE BIAS CEO CHANGE
John Andrews, one of the founders and CEO of Collective Bias, has exited the company. Bill Sussman has replaced Andrews as president and CEO of the social media marketing company based in Bentonville.

“John is an entrepreneur at heart and this will give him the opportunity to follow his passions to pursue other interests and create new businesses,” Mailena Urso, spokeswoman for Collective Bias, stated in an e-mail.

Sussman was formerly the vice president of retail development and marketing at Nickelodeon where he led the consumer products business for Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. He holds a MBA from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

EDUCATION BOARD PICKS 2 FORMER LEGISLATORS FOR LEADERS
The State Board of Education elected new officers at its monthly meeting this week. Brenda Gullett of Fayetteville was elected chairman and Sam Ledbetter of Little Rock, was elected vice chairman.

Their leadership terms will be in effect through June 2014.

Gullett succeeds Jim Cooper of Melbourne who has served on the State Board since October 2003 and as president since 2012.

Gullett, a former state senator, is owner and operator of Brenda Gullett Associates, a company that offers corporate training in customer service, communications and leadership development. She has been a member of the State Board since 2007. Before this week’s election, she had been serving as vice chairman.

Ledbetter, a former state representative, is an attorney and partner with the McMath Woods law firm. He has served on the State Board since 2008.

ALLEN TO SUCCEED HARVEL AT FORT SMITH CHAMBER
The Board of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday (June 11) announced a leadership transition plan that will see Paul Harvel, CEO of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, leave the chamber on Dec. 31, 2013, and Tim Allen become the chamber’s president and CEO.

Allen, who joined the chamber in November 2011 as chief operations officer, recently added the president title to reflect his growing role in economic development efforts and day-to-day chamber management. Prior to joining the chamber staff, Allen spent 11 years with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission as a project manager and 17 years with CenterPoint Energy in a variety of sales and marketing roles.

Harvel, a 45-year veteran of chamber work, joined the chamber in May 2009. Harvel has served as president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce for two years, and served more than 20 years as the president and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Read more here.

DELTA DENTAL CALL CENTER EARNS ACCOLADE
The Delta Dental of Arkansas call center received recognition in the 2013 Top 50 Call Center Contest through BenchmarkPortal at Purdue University Certified Center of Excellence.

The call center was recognized as a “Certified Center of Excellence,” which only ten percent of applicants achieve. The center successfully navigated a rigorous audit that benchmarked its call center against best practices of a peer group of comparable centers.

Auditors measured a variety of metrics including: the average speed of answer, percentage of calls satisfactorily handled on the first call, average length of call and the number of hours new customer service agents spend in training. In addition, they interviewed many employees regarding their work environment and the call center’s culture and philosophy.

JORDAN HALE NAMED HAMMERSCHMIDT FELLOW
Jordan Hale, a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, is the first fellow in the John Paul Hammerschmidt Fellowship program offered by the office of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers.

The fellowship is named for former U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt who was Arkansas’ 3rd District Congressman between 1966 and 1993.

Hale, who was a Chancellor’s Leadership Scholar at UAFS, graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in history and minor in political science. Hale, a native of Pocola, Okla., graduated from Roland High School in Roland, Okla. He is the son of Delores and Lenvel Hale.

FORMER ARKANSAS EDUCATION CHIEF HONORED
This year’s recipient of Education Commission of the States (ECS) James Bryant Conant Award is Gene Wilhoit, who formerly served as director of the Arkansas Department of Education.

The award, named for the former Harvard University president and co-founder of ECS, recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to American education. Wilhoit joins an esteemed list of past recipients, including E. D. Hirsch, Thurgood Marshall, Fred Rogers, John Goodlad, and Claiborne Pell.

Recently retired as executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, Wilhoit successfully brought together states to find common ground on critical education issues such as college- and career-ready assessments. He also worked with the National Governors Association to build consensus on the Common Core State Standards, which have been adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia.

In addition to his Arkansas service, Wilhoit served as Kentucky’s commissioner of education from 2000-06 and has served stints at the U.S. Department of Education and National Association of State Boards of Education.

Editor’s note: The City Wire contributed to this report.