Then & Now: Businessman Bruce Dunn is ‘just getting warmed up’

An entrepreneur at heart, Bruce Dunn “just keeps moving forward” at All Sports Productions, his sports event management company. That’s been his mantra throughout his career.

While attending the University of Arkansas, Dunn worked for Mister Guy, a specialty clothing store in Fayetteville, becoming part owner after graduating in 1986 with a finance and banking degree. In 1999 the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal named him to its Forty Under 40 class.

After selling the store, Dunn was development director for the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.

An avid cyclist and president of the local cycling club, Dunn was also promoting the annual Joe Martin Stage Race, the oldest amateur cycling race in the country. When a friend suggested he could make a career out of race planning, with wife Debra’s support, he jumped at the chance. All Sports Productions was born.

Needing one key marquee event, Dunn took the Joe Martin Stage Race to a new level, convincing USA Cycling, the national governing body for bicycle racing, to put the race on the national calendar in 2003. He also got it added to the international race calendar, and it attracted U.S. cyclists who’ve gone on to compete on the world stage.

All Sports Productions produces and promotes cycling, running, and triathlons across the state, including the Fayetteville Half Marathon, Highlands Gravel Classic, and the DeGray Lake Triathlon. Dunn owns 15 races and manages Little Rock’s Big Dam Bridge 100 and the Natural State Criterium series in Springdale.

Dunn enjoys event production because of “the uniqueness of doing something that not a lot of people do” and the thrill on event day “when people from all walks of life come across the finish line. I think the harder you work, the greater the joy is to see something come to fruition.”

Dunn’s most profitable years were 2005 to 2010 because sponsorships were plentiful and costs low with fire, police, and ambulance donating services. Permitting costs were nonexistent. Since then, “our costs have skyrocketed,” he said. “We had some really good growth early on, and then Northwest Arkansas became a victim of its own success,” with the number of charities vying for sponsorships.

“I’ve encountered some tough years. Revenue is supposed to be more than expenses, but there’s been a few where that’s not been the case. But my spirit has been the harder I work, and hopefully the better we are, the more successful we can be.”

To grow the business, Dunn added new events and invested in equipment from 2018 to 2021. In the past four years, he’s added soft assets of people, marketing and promotion. His goal is to “build an organization and grow people into having careers” at All Sports Productions.

In 2019 his company took over as executive director of the Big Dam Bridge 100 with 3,500 riders. That “was a game changer,” allowing Dunn to hire people and start expanding. This year he’s added The Skirmish, a gravel grinder cycling event in Jonesboro. Regretfully, Dunn had to cancel the Joe Martin Stage race the past two years.

“There’s only two (international races) in the United States. And so, we had something that was very unique, but the costs had just skyrocketed, and we weren’t getting the revenue, especially sponsorships.”

Dunn’s dream is to rebrand the race, renaming it the Tour of Arkansas, and race from town to town for five to seven days, a mini version of the Tour de France.

“We’re talking to anyone – from Arkansas-founded companies to tourism – about truly launching it and it being one of the largest bike races in the country,” he said. “I’ve just got to have the sponsorship because it’s a seven-figure event. We’re talking internationally televised and cycling celebrities.”

At 60 Dunn’s not slowing down.

“I feel like I have so much more runway in my life – physically, mentally, emotionally. I don’t like saying I’m 60 because I don’t want someone to believe that he’s only going to be here three or four more years in his event production. It’s like, ‘No,’ I’m just getting warmed up.”