Goodbye to The Boss

I first met Darin Gray in 2002 when I was sports editor of the Benton County Daily Record.

Darin and I, along with other media types, had been invited by developers of the just-opened Big Sugar Golf Club in Pea Ridge to participate in a media tournament.

We are both Saline County boys, but I had never met Darin until playing golf together that day. As a golfer, I recall he was quite a magazine publisher.

Golf skills aside, he made quite an impression. And apparently, he felt the same. Just a few weeks passed before Darin got in touch to gauge my interest in joining the editorial staff of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

I was flattered, but politely declined. Over the next several years, job offers were extended, and declined, two additional times.

I finally smartened up three years ago — working for Darin Gray would be a great idea.

The Business Journal, I think, is the Wall Street Journal of Northwest Arkansas. That doesn’t happen unless readers trust you to give them timely, legitimate and uncompromised editorial content they can’t find anywhere else. Such a high profile can be attributed to Darin’s leadership.

In April, the Business Journal will begin its 18th year of continuous publication. Through all of those years, Gray — publisher of the Business Journal when it launched in 1997, a majority owner since 2004 and the sole owner since August — has been the one constant.

This issue, however, will be the final one he is associated with.

Darin recently told us of his plans to leave the company and explore other business interests (see Page 16).

We’ll see him here and there, of course, but I can speak for the staff when I say we will miss Darin as a leader and a colleague.

I wish him as much success in his next endeavor as he’s enjoyed at the Business Journal.