A New Introduction (EDITORS NOTE)

Every year since 1997, the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal has been identifying outstanding business professionals through the Forty Under 40 program.

In previous years, we’ve held off on naming the members of each class until publishing the Forty Under 40 issue each August.

But if you’ll notice on Page 19 of this edition, you’ll see we are taking a different approach to making our introductions.

This year’s class was selected June 10, but with social media and instant news being what it is today, it’s become increasingly difficult to keep the cat in the bag, so to speak. To that end, we ultimately decided that publishing the names of the 2015 class in advance of the actual Forty Under 40 issue would be sensible.

We’re proud of our newest class, and confident these business professionals will be making an impact in the region for years to come. The recipients represent a wide variety of local businesses and industries, and were chosen based on nominations made by our readers.

While some received multiple nominations, the selection process is not based on the sheer number of votes, but rather the individual’s overall professional success.

So now that you know who they are, put Monday, Aug. 17, on your calendar. That’s when we’ll tell you more about them in our annual Forty Under 40 issue, in print and online.

This year’s class will also be celebrated at the annual Forty Under 40 luncheon, scheduled Tuesday, Aug. 18, at the Embassy Suites on Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers, one of the best networking events on the calendar.

And speaking of networks, with the selection of the 2015 class, there are now 460 honorees in the Forty Under 40 program.

As our most enduring recognition program, the list of previous recipients includes several familiar names, one of whom is Mercy Northwest CEO Eric Pianalto, who will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon to honor this year’s class.

We hope all of you can join us.