Fast 15: Jackson Bates

Almost as an afterthought, Jackson Bates decided to study finance as a University of Arkansas freshman. He dabbled in graphic design as a teenager — he designed the original logo for Fayetteville restaurant Con Quesos — but his father had been a finance professional and thought he’d try that.

“Luckily for me, I loved it and was passionate about it,” he recalled. “I’ve never looked back.”

A Fayetteville native, Bates earned a finance degree from the UA in 2016. As an undergraduate, he interned with Tyson Foods. That led to a job with the Springdale company after college, beginning in the commodities risk management group.

While at Tyson Foods, Bates helped manage the risk assessment of a $3 billion derivative portfolio and closed multiple M&A deals worth hundreds of millions.

He said the experience there well-prepared him for a new opportunity with privately held Simmons Foods. The approximately $3 billion company supplies prepared foods (chicken), pet foods and animal nutrition products to customers globally. Bates went to work there in July 2021, and his career is rapidly advancing.

“The culture here is fantastic, which is important to me,” Bates said. “[CEO] Todd Simmons has a servant leadership mentality, permeating throughout every level of the organization.”

Colleagues say Bates has demonstrated a keen mastery of strategy and tactics regarding financial and operational analysis. But an “others-first” attitude has him on the fast track for additional leadership roles.

Underscoring that observation, the company recently gave Bates its highest possible performance rating, something less than 10% of its employees achieve.

“I like puzzles and new [ideas], and strategic finance has nothing but that coming through the door all the time,” Bates said. “Thinking about new problems and solving them has always been exciting.”

Simmons Foods promoted Bates to director this past October and to senior director this spring, reporting directly to the chief financial officer.

Long-term, Bates wants to be the CFO of a small company, but that’s “probably more of a 20-year goal,” he said. “This is kind of my dream job.”

Asked what his advice would be for young professionals, Bates said the people he wants to work with or hire are motivated.

“Bring a little extra passion to the job and care about your work and how you treat people when you do it,” he said.