Year in Review: The top 10 NWA stories of 2023

Construction started on a transformative medical school. A national tourism destination opened its doors, and two of the region’s longest-running restaurants closed their doors.

Those were some of the top business stories of 2023. In the year’s first issue, the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal looks back at some of those headlines in our annual top 10 list, highlighting the news that had the most impact on the region’s business community last year.

1. MEDICAL MILESTONES
A groundbreaking in March was one of several milestone moments last year for the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) in Bentonville, which will offer a four-year medical degree-granting program that integrates conventional medicine with holistic principles and self-care practices. The campus is taking shape north of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on approximately 20 acres.

At the ceremonial event, Walton jokingly expressed her dislike for the school’s name; however, she holds a genuine affection for the acronym “AWSOM.”

“I have attended many groundbreakings in my 73 years, but this one is the most emotional for me by far,” she said that day.

Sharmila Makhija started as the medical school’s founding dean and CEO in May. An oncologist by training, she previously was the department chair of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System in Bronx, N.Y.

In October, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the M.D. degree in the U.S., granted candidate status to AWSOM.

It’s a critical step in the lengthy accreditation process, a requirement the school must have in hand to graduate its inaugural class in 2029. The college hopes to be approved to recruit students by the summer of 2024 and welcome its first class in the fall of 2025.

2. TYSON TURBULENCE
Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. ended fiscal 2023 with a $648 million loss and about 3,000 fewer employees than last fiscal year. The company also closed or slated to close eight U.S. meat plants.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, revenue fell by 0.7% to $52.88 billion. The company posted losses of $97 million, $417 million and $450 million in the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively.

Tyson Foods’ closures of the older, less efficient plants were expected to reduce costs and improve capacity use. Five of the six poultry plants have closed, including two in Arkansas. The sixth is expected to close in March.

In mid-November, CEO Donnie King noted plans to close “two value-added, case-ready plants in our beef and pork business…These are typically older, less efficient, certainly not modern, and require a lot of capital expenditure to try to either expand or make efficient. So, we’re choosing to move that capacity to another plant.”

On Nov. 28, Tyson announced opening a $300 million poultry plant in Virginia that will employ about 400 people when it ramps to full capacity this year. The plant picked up production from the two Arkansas plants before they closed.

3. GAME ON
In July, professional soccer organizations United Soccer League and USL Arkansas announced plans to establish men’s and women’s soccer teams and build a 5,000-seat stadium in Rogers.

The teams are expected to start playing in their respective leagues in 2026, and the stadium is expected to be completed early that year. Initial cost estimates ranged from $15 million to $20 million for the stadium and land.

The stadium will be built on 11.5 acres at the southwest corner of Lazy L Street and Bellview Road, north of Pinnacle Hills Promenade. USL Arkansas secured the land through an agreement with Rogers philanthropist Johnelle Hunt, the landowner. The soccer club is expected to buy the land.

In October, the club released initial renderings for the stadium. It sought fan feedback on the renderings and its brand identity, including names and colors for the men’s and women’s teams. In November, the club tapped ad agency Stone Ward to lead the brand identity development.

Warren Smith and Chris Martinovic are the co-founders of USL Arkansas. Wes Harris, managing director of USL Arkansas, was its first employee and has been tasked with building the club from the ground up.

4. LONG-AWAITED OPENING
After more than 16 years of fundraising struggles and leadership changes, the U.S. Marshals Museum opened in downtown Fort Smith on June 29. Just under 10,000 people would visit the museum in its first month.

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. The Robbie Westphal family, led by Bennie Westphal and Robin Westphal Clegg, donated the riverfront land for the museum. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in September 2015.

Museum officials initially hoped to have the facility open by late 2017, but struggles to raise money delayed the opening. Construction of the approximately 53,000-square-foot U.S. Marshals Museum was completed — except for exhibits — in early 2020.

The museum is designed to tell the story of the United States’ oldest federal law enforcement agency, which President George Washington established.

According to a 2018 study, the museum could see around 125,000 visitors annually. The Arkansas Economic Development Institute, using information from the survey, estimated that the museum and related tourist expenditures would have a total annual impact on Sebastian County of $13 million to $22 million.

5. AIRPORT POWER PLAY
A new state law allowing Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) in Highfill to detach from the city was expected to provide XNA with leverage on how it allocates its sales tax revenue.

In 2023, state legislators approved Senate Bill 414, which became Act 769 after Gov. Sarah Sanders signed it into law.

XNA general counsel Brian Burke previously said the ability to detach from Highfill would give XNA leverage when negotiating how the city’s sales tax revenue is allocated. He attributed about $600,000 of the annual revenue to transactions that happened at XNA.

After negotiations between XNA and Highfill ended without an agreement, the XNA Board of Directors voted to detach from Highfill in September. Burke previously said that would provide XNA with autonomy and reduce the sales tax by 2% for transactions taking place at the airport. XNA also would retain nearly $200,000 annually it spends on the sales tax for parking.

XNA has yet to file for detachment as it awaits the outcome of a suit filed by Highfill, claiming the new law is unconstitutional. A hearing on XNA’s motion to dismiss is set for Jan. 8 in Benton County Circuit Court.

6. BUFFALO BACKLASH
The Buffalo National River is an anchor of Arkansas’ substantial tourism industry. Established in 1972 as the nation’s first national river, it flows freely for 135 miles through parts of four northern Arkansas counties and is popular for camping, hiking, canoeing and fishing.

Redesignating the river as a National Park Preserve could dramatically increase the revenue needed to maintain the river region and improve amenities. That was the message from Bentonville-based Runway Group, a privately-held company owned by brothers Tom and Steuart Walton that invests in outdoor recreation, initiatives and conservation, as well as hospitality and other businesses in the region. Tom Walton is also a Natural State Advisory Council member, which was established to strategize and promote the outdoor economy.

But the public response was swift and disapproving when the redesignation conversation arose this past fall. State and government officials and the Runway Group immediately backed away from promoting the idea after many in the watershed had their hackles raised, particularly in Newton County — where folks prize isolation, a slow pace and unadulterated beauty.

7. READY FOR TAKEOFF
The plan to locate a foreign military pilot training center in Fort Smith was made in June 2021, but the final “record of decision” from the U.S. Air Force was made in March 2023. That decision released funding to create the center.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall signed the final “record of decision” to place the operation at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, adjacent to the Fort Smith Regional Airport. Ebbing will be the next home for the 425th Fighter Squadron, a Republic of Singapore F-16 training unit now based at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

The pilot training center is planned to support F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

According to initial estimates, the new facility will cost at least $765 million to become fully operational.

Air Force officials say the earliest planes and pilots from foreign nations could arrive at Ebbing would be in late 2024. The full complement of 12 F-16s and 24 F-35s from various countries could arrive in fiscal year 2026 at the earliest.

8. ASA FOR AMERICA
It’s not every day a presidential candidate launches a campaign in Bentonville. But that’s where Asa Hutchinson announced his run for the White House in April.

On an overcast weekday morning, the former Arkansas governor spoke for 23 minutes in front of the Benton County Courthouse. Several hundred people attended the rally with plenty of red, white and blue marching bands and cheerleaders.

Hutchinson’s choice of venue was not a surprise. He was born in Bentonville and raised in Gravette. His first law office was across the square from where he spoke.

During his remarks, Hutchinson recalled that he’d previously tried jury trials in the courthouse behind where he stood, built Bentonville’s first FM radio station and was Bentonville’s city attorney.

“And this is where Susan [his wife] and I started our family and spent some of our happiest years living on 15 acres of rocks and hills west of town in a double-wide mobile home,” he said.

Though there was no physical campaign headquarters, Asa for America Inc. did list a Bentonville address — a UPS store on Southeast J Street — for its correspondence.

9. DEAN DEPARTURE
In March, Matt Waller revealed he would resign as dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business to become professor of supply chain management, a department he founded.

In August, Waller transitioned from dean to professor, and senior associate dean Brent Williams became interim dean of the University of Arkansas’ business school.

Over the past three decades, Waller has been a college teacher, researcher and administrator in Fayetteville. He joined the UA as a visiting assistant professor in 1994 and became a professor in August 2007. He’s served in multiple roles at the college, including as director of the Executive MBA-China program and as chair of the supply chain management department. He was interim associate dean for executive education before he became interim dean of the business college in July 2015.

Waller was appointed dean in 2016. He started his second five-year term as dean on July 1, 2021.

The UA is conducting a nationwide search for the next dean. A UA spokesman said that the finalists are expected to be announced early this year.

10. SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED
Two restaurants that’d been operating a combined 107 years closed in 2023 — with a plot twist.

Powerhouse Seafood & Grill, a Dickson Street staple in downtown Fayetteville, closed on July 1, capping a three-decade run that started on Sept. 9, 1992. Over the years, Powerhouse became synonymous with two main attractions: a frozen drink that delighted patrons, called the Kilowatt, and the ever-popular “Party on the Patio,” featuring live music in the vibrant atmosphere behind the restaurant, limited to the warmer months.

In Springdale, 76-year-old restaurant landmark AQ Chicken House —whose patrons included U.S. presidents — served its final meal on March 18. But in a surprise twist, a Springdale family plans to revive the business at a new location.

Catalyst Capital, a single-family office (SFO) organized this year by Springdale’s Lundstrum family, closed a deal in September to buy the rights to the restaurant’s name, recipes and branding.

An AQ rebuild — reimagined to a certain degree — is planned on the city’s west side along North 48th Street at the Elm Springs Road exit west of Interstate 49.

Plans are in the preliminary stage. The target opening date is 2025.