Arkansas Electric Cooperatives appoints chief commercial officer

Jason Allen, a long-time executive of die-casting company Pace Industries, has been named chief commercial officer of Little Rock-based utility services company Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (AECI). Allen will start Oct. 31.

Rob Roedel, director of corporate communications for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, said the previous chief commercial officer, Jonathan Oliver, accepted the role of chief operating officer for Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), the wholesale provider for the 17 distribution cooperatives in Arkansas. The move happened in May.

After that, Victoria Lamb was named interim chief commercial officer for AECI. With Allen filling the position, she will remain in a leadership role with the company.

“Victoria Lamb will continue to serve the cooperatives as she is a valued employee with more than 30 years of tenure,” Roedel said.

Allen, of Springdale, will relocate to central Arkansas for the position.

In the role, Allen will oversee the member-owned cooperative’s utility sales and services division. It has about 300 employees who provide services, including product sales, warehouse and logistics, safety construction, right-of-way, high voltage testing and energy efficiency services. These services are provided to the distribution cooperatives and utilities throughout the region.

“Jason has a proven track record of achieving goals by executing deliberate growth strategies,” said Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, president and CEO for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. “We welcome him to the electric cooperative family.”

Allen has worked nearly 27 years at Pace, starting in 1997 as a sales manager before becoming director. In 2013, he was promoted to executive vice president of sales. He was chief marketing officer from 2018 to 2022 when he was promoted to president of home and lighting amid a corporate restructuring.

In 2021, Pace relocated its headquarters from Fayetteville to a Detroit suburb. Later that year, the University of Arkansas acquired the former Pace headquarters for $3.7 million. Pace Industries, a major supplier to the auto industry, was established in 1970 in Harrison.

While attending the UA, Allen was a four-year letterman and team captain as a quarterback for the Razorbacks. He earned a bachelor’s degree in financial management from the UA and an MBA from John Brown University in Siloam Springs.

“As a resident of Arkansas, I look forward to contributing to the longtime success of Arkansas’ electric cooperatives,” Allen said. “As a service-driven organization, AECI will continue to grow and serve electric cooperative members and other utilities by offering world-class products and services.”

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas comprises the distribution cooperatives, AECI and AECC. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to about 600,000 homes, farms and businesses in Arkansas and surrounding states.