Wheres Everyone Going? The Best & Worst of 2014

 

Call it an unusual year in many ways. For one reason, many business and community leaders seemed to be leaving. Either by taking a job elsewhere, or just switching gears here in Northwest Arkansas.

Whether it was veteran KNWA-TV anchor Neile Jones, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art president Don Bacigalupi, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas executive director Karen Kapella, Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon, or even our own boss Darin Gray, people had a tendency in 2014 to move on to other things.

But it wasn’t all about trading places, though. Here’s our recap of some of the best and worst from the past year.

 

Best Renovation

Harp’s Food Stores Inc. gave us a treat when it renovated the flagship store at 2894 W. Sunset Ave. in Springdale. The cost? Try $4.5 million. When customers went to the refurbished store for the first time they saw an enhanced pharmacy, improved deli and a shiny new case for premium meats and seafood. The updated store also featured a Dunkin Donuts, complete with a walkup counter and a drive through. 

The renovation was so thorough that the store was shut down so the work could be done.

“We don’t close stores very often to fix them up,” said J. Max Van Hoose, vice president of store planning.

We’re sure glad they did, though, because nothing beats the feeling of walking into a clean, well-lit, well-stocked grocery store.

 

Best Hire

The addition of neurosurgeons Mahan Ghiassi and Mayshan Ghiassi to the staff of Washington Regional Medical Center was a real coup for the hospital. Now, Washington Regional has the ability to treat acute stroke victims in Northwest Arkansas, rather than sending them to Oklahoma City or Little Rock.

The Ghiassi brothers are among the few who practice endovascular neurosurgery, an emerging field, and they are also trained in complex spinal procedures.

The brothers came to Washington Regional because the hospital had openings for two neurosurgeons, which allowed them to stay together. In addition to their spouses and children, the Ghiassi brothers were joined by their parents.

Now that’s keeping it in the family.

 

Best Real Estate Boom

Long considered the region’s ugly duckling, downtown Springdale looks to gussy up sooner or later, thanks to a handful of important Emma Avenue purchases by important buyers.

The Waltons bought the Ryan’s Clothing and adjoining San Jose Manor, Tyson Foods Inc. bought the Orscheln Farm and Home building, and the Apollo Theater sold to Restore Springdale LLC, a group formed by engineer Brian Moore and associate Tom Lundstrum. All this in addition to construction of the Razorback Greenway and an associated green space, Walter Turnbow Park.

Right now there’s no telling when or what will actually happen on Emma, but one thing’s for sure — it’s already begun.

 

Worst Lawsuit

Former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. big shot John Ryan sued his ex-wife, lawyer Doug Gramling, and his firm, Estes Gramling & Estes, for $20 million, claiming they conspired to wreck his international business deals after he left the world’s largest retailer for a career on his own.

Ryan’s suit in Benton County Circuit Court was filed in the aftermath of his $17 million bankruptcy in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

However, Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren dismissed the case with prejudice in July, saying Ryan failed to file his suit within three years of the alleged conspiracy between his ex-wife and Gramling.

Undeterred, Ryan is in the process of appealing his case to the Arkansas Supreme Court. 

 

Worst Exit

Abby Foster, former CEO of Mount Sequoyah Retreat and Conference Center, was ousted from her job in August after she was investigated by a panel of three retired Methodist bishops.

Mount Sequoyah is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, and that’s why the bishops were summoned to examine Foster’s behavior. It never came out as to exactly why she was terminated, but at some point before being fired, she was put on paid administrative leave and had her keys confiscated.

As the bishops determined her fate, she continued to live in the director’s house on top of the mountain. Foster came on as CEO in summer 2012. Her tenure was plagued by high turnover in the staff.

 

Best Opening of a Keynote Address

In October, Tyson Foods Inc. president and CEO Donnie Smith delivered the keynote address to the FFA National Convention & Expo in Louisville, Kentucky.

Smith began his address by challenging the audience to take back the story of agriculture on social media by using the Twitter hashtag #myAGstory.

Smith’s trademark enthusiasm and animation were in full form. If you have the time, search “Donnie Smith FFA” on YouTube and watch the first five minutes, and you will see what we mean.

“Let me see your phones, Louisville!”

 

Worst Layoffs

Superior Industries International Inc. of Van Nuys, California, announced in July it would close its manufacturing facility at 1301 N. Dixieland Road in Rogers at the end of the year.

The closure eliminated 500 jobs and routed most of them to Chihuahua, Mexico, along the U.S. border, where Superior has ramped up production. Superior said the move is expected to save as much as $15 million a year in payroll.

When the news broke, Ray Burns, president and CEO of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, said it was a sad day for Northwest Arkansas.

“Superior has been there for 25 years and there are employees who have been there since day one,” Burns said. “We’re sorry to see those folks lose their jobs.”

Indeed.

 

Worst Fakeout

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. vice president of corporate communications David Tovar sent out a “farewell” message to media Sept. 12, in which he announced the end of his eight-year career with the company.

The message struck an odd tone, but when the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal reached out to Walmart, we were assured the resignation was business as-usual, and Tovar was “just ready to move on to his next adventure.”

However, a few days later, Bloomberg News reported the company had discovered Tovar was not a college graduate, having lied about earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1996. 

It’s unclear how he was able to dupe the most powerful company in the world, but his story just proves the truth always comes out.

 

Best Economic Booster

The Arkansas Research & Technology Park in Fayetteville celebrated its 10th anniversary Oct. 30 with the release of an eye-opening report.

The ARTP has had an economic impact of more than a half-billion dollars since construction on the park began in 2003, according to a new economic impact analysis conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas.

 

Best Quote

“Sometimes, they might say, ‘What the hell was [the artist] thinking?’ — but that’s still a thought.” — Emmanuel Gardinier, the general manager of the 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville, on his hopes that the art on display will make museum-goers think. 

 

Worst Telephone Etiquette

When the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal reached out to Kyriakos Vergiris, a New York-based Greek foods magnate who loaned money to debt-ridden former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive John Ryan, Vergiris made it clear he was not interested in commenting on the story, and he did it in a way that lacked what we consider to be requisite social graces.

The Journal was inquiring about $250,000 Vergiris loaned to one of Ryan’s companies, Luma Vue in 2011, and this was his response: “It has nothing to do with you — bye,” he said, shortly before hanging up the telephone.

 

Best Display of Resilience

When Juliane Pfeffer lost her years-long battle with cancer on Jan. 6, there was a possibility Pfeffer’s Gourmet Catering, of which she served as both the face and the heart for nearly two decades, would die with her.

However, Dwight Pfeffer and his two daughters, Shelby Pfeffer, 20, and Jordan Pfeffer, 22, immediately took the reins, catering an event just one week after the funeral.

They said they were taking a cue from Juliane’s unwavering work ethic and intend to carry on her legacy of impeccable gourmet cuisine and above-and-beyond service for years to come.

“It’s my obligation to my children and to the community,” Dwight said. “They deserve to have this company up and running. We have an excellent product, and we’re great at what we do.”

 

Best Skyline Addition

Hunt Ventures broke ground in August on the new Hunt Tower, a 10-story, Class A office building at the corner of Pinnacle Hills Parkway and J.B. Hunt Drive in Rogers, an area some are beginning to refer to as the future “Downtown Northwest Arkansas.”

The 230,000-SF building, valued at $42 million, is scheduled to open with its first tenant on Nov. 1, 2015.

The project will provide an employment boost of more than 315 jobs in the construction industry for the duration of the project and also will be a new answer to a trivia question: what’s the tallest building in Benton County?

The 150-foot structure is so tall, in fact, that before construction began, Hunt Ventures had to submit an aeronautical study to the Federal Aviation Administration to determine if the building and crane exceeded federal obstruction standards.

 

Best Charitable Attitude

In 2014 the Walmart Foundation continued to peter out its funding for organizations that don’t fall within its core initiatives, in an announced effort to bring greater change to key issues.

Libraries, scholarship programs, and organizations that address low-income housing, troubled youth counseling and special-needs care lost funding.

Rather than disparage the decision, nonprofit leaders expressed their understanding for the foundation’s position and their gratitude for aid they were given in the past.

Arkansas Support Network CEO Keith Vire said, “They, like all of us, are trying to change their little piece of the world. But do I agree with how they are doing it? No, but I’m OK with it.” 

 

Best New Talent-Retention Tool

This year marked the inaugural class of the Arkansas Fellowship program, a statewide initiative that aims to retain a larger portion of the talent graduating from Arkansas’ colleges and universities.

The program brokers two-year employment arrangements between recent graduates to Arkansas-based companies that agree to create new positions for the fellows with salaries of at least $40,000 a year.

In 2014, Fayetteville companies DataRank, Phactual and Acumen Brands and Rogers-based Collective Bias participated in the program.

Moxy Ox of Tontitown was initially involved, but its fellow moved on to another company.

Owner and CEO Randy Hurban said Moxy Ox continues to support the program.  

 

Best Mid-Summer PR Ploy

The University of Arkansas announced in July that the chant most associated with the Arkansas Razorbacks since the 1920s — “Wooo Pig Sooie” — is now sound trademarked with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

That seemed unusual, considering that registered trademarks generally consist of a word or design, not a sound.

We can see where owning the sound trademark could be of use to the UA if there were an isolated instance of unauthorized commercial use.

But we can also see the upside of a superfluous trademark to generate some national publicity in an otherwise quiet summer.

The UA said it was the first collegiate cheer to be trademarked, a claim published nationally — from The Washington Post to Forbes to Sports Illustrated — and even discussed on National Public Radio.

 

Worst Facebook Comment?

We watched Arkansas Razorback fans young and old engulf the field at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Nov. 15 after the Hogs defeated the LSU Tigers 17-0, snapping a 17-game losing streak against Southeastern Conference opponents.

The UA was later fined $25,000 by the league office for the field-rushing celebration, which will be remembered, at least by us, for the celebrating fans who commemorated the event with photos taken on the RRS field.

On social media, they were everywhere. One that caught our eye was from former Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mark Darr and one-time Congressional candidate, who was fined $11,000 last December by the state ethics commission for 11 separate violations, including making personal use of more than $30,000 of his campaign funds.

He resigned from office in February (see Top 10 Stories of 2014), yielding to mounting pressure from both parties who said his impeachment was inevitable.

Darr was one of many who posted a photo of himself to Facebook in the aftermath of the game. A friend of his left a tongue-in-cheek comment below the photo that Darr was part of the $25,000 fine-loving crowd, to which Darr replied, “I’m used to getting fined for idiotic reasons. Why not.”