Car-Mart’s former CEO to receive $1.1 million retirement bonus, CFO joins St. Louis Fed’s Little Rock Branch board

America’s Car-Mart will give former CEO Hank Henderson a $1.1 million retirement bonus. Also, the company’s chief financial officer has joined the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ Little Rock Branch.

The Bentonville-based buy here, pay here used car dealer reported the bonus and that it appointed Joshua Welch to the company’s board of directors in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday (Jan. 11). Vickie Judy, chief financial officer for Car-Mart, has been appointed to a three-year term on the board of directors for Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

On Dec. 31, Henderson retired from Car-Mart but remains on its board and will serve as an adviser to senior management through Jan. 1, 2020, according to the filing. Car-Mart has agreed to pay Henderson a $1.1 million retirement bonus in a lump sum and a consulting fee of $48,000, or $2,000 monthly. Henderson is also eligible to receive the annual $40,000 retainer as a non-employee board member and will continue to receive the company’s health insurance coverage for two years. However, he’s not eligible to receive stock options or restricted shares given to non-employee directors for two years.

Welch will serve on the company’s board until the 2018 shareholders meeting and fills a vacant position on the board after Eddie Hight resigned from the board in November 2017. Welch, 53, is founder and managing partner of Vicuna Capital I, LP, an investment management partnership established in 1998. Between June 1990 and June 1998, Welch was a securities analyst with Tisch Family Interests and served on the board of Equimark Corp, a publicly-traded national bank. Welch graduated from Williams College and Columbia Business School.

RESERVE BOARD
Judy’s term for the Little Rock Branch board began Jan. 1, the same day she became chief financial officer for Car-Mart.

“I’m excited about it,” Judy said.

Her first meeting on the board was Jan. 5, and the next meeting will be in February. The board meets seven times annually, and Judy will be responsible for reporting to the board on the Northwest Arkansas economy.

In 2017, Senior Vice President Robert Hopkins, who leads the Little Rock Branch of the St. Louis Fed, asked if she would be interested in the position before she applied. She was notified toward the end of 2017 of the appointment after The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., approved Judy to serve in the position.

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

Judy said she will complete training for the board position in St. Louis and Washington, D.C. She replaced former board chair Ray Dillion, who serves on Car-Mart’s board of directors.

Before she was promoted to chief financial officer of Car-Mart, Judy was principal accounting officer and worked for the company for more than seven years. President and CEO Jeff Williams was formerly the chief financial officer but stepped out of that role when he became CEO on Jan. 1.

Shares of Car-Mart (NASDAQ: CRMT) closed Thursday at $47.40, up $2.05. In the past 52 week, the stock has traded between $49.40 and $30.20.