Millie Ward, Andrew Clyde join St. Louis Fed’s Little Rock board of directors

The co-founder and president of Stone Ward Advertising in Little Rock and the president and CEO of Murphy USA Inc. in El Dorado will join the Little Rock branch board of directors for the St. Louis Federal Reserve on Jan. 1.

Millie A. Ward and Andrew Clyde have been appointed to three-year terms on the board. Clyde is replacing retiring board member Michael A. Cook, senior vice president and assistant treasurer for Wal-Mart Stores in Bentonville. Ward is replacing retiring board member Mark White, president and CEO of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Little Rock.

“I’m pleased about the appointment,” Ward said. She said monitoring the local economy is “exciting” along with keeping up with the policies developed at the federal level, and working with Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen.

Ward was approached about the appointment about two months ago and found out this week she’d been approved for the position. “It’s been a process,” she said.

Ray C. Dillon, former president and CEO of Deltic Timber Corp. in El Dorado, will be chairman of the St. Louis Fed’s Little Rock branch board of directors. Other members include, Keith Glover, president and CEO of Producers Rice Mill Inc. in Stuttgart; Robert Martinez, owner of Rancho La Esperanza in De Queen; Charles G. Morgan Jr., president and CEO of Relyance Bank N.A. in Pine Bluff; and Karama Neal, COO of Southern Bancorp Community Partners in Little Rock.

According to a news release, members of the St. Louis Fed’s board of directors and the advisory boards of its three branches in Little Rock, Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., are familiar with the economic and credit conditions of their respective regions. “Their observations — along with the economic data and information gathered and analyzed by St. Louis Fed staff — help ensure that conditions of Main Street America are represented in Federal Open Market Committee deliberations in Washington D.C.,” the release said.

The Little Rock branch board of directors has seven members who are not employed by the Fed. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System selects three of its members, based on recommendations from the St. Louis Fed. The St. Louis Fed’s board of directors chooses the other four members.