UA Business Success Stories Span Decades

Every year the University of Arkansas releases a mass of fresh minds to join the swirl of the business world. Each face in the pool of black pointed caps ventures into a different future, but a legacy of plentiful success guides the group.

Recently, the Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration published a list of nearly 1,000 alumni, each proficient in their fields. Ranging from real estate developers to restaurant owners, every name on the list illustrates the value of a UA business degree.

Of the people included on the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of chairmen and CEOs from the college — which includes all alums identified by Walton College as having attained those titles, whether retired or active, living or deceased — 25 percent remained in Northwest Arkansas after graduation. More than 70 percent of those listed chose to stay in the state.

No. 14 on the list, Harold Henson Jr. is a UA business college success because he thrived in his industry. Retired for seven years, Henson is the oldest living UA business administration college graduate to spend his career in Northwest Arkansas. Most recently Henson served as chairman, president and CEO of City National Bank of Fort Smith.

Originally, Henson enrolled in college to play football and avoid becoming a dairy farmer. He earned his bachelor’s degree for general business in 1950, but the Korean war postponed his chance to use the degree for a couple of years.

Trucking magnate and philanthropist Harvey Jones hired Henson to work for the First National Bank of Springdale as his first job in business after the war.

“Getting the business degree from Arkansas was very influential on my career from then on,” Henson said. “It put me in the business world.”

Aside from 42 years as a banker in five different cities, 22 of which were spent banking in Fort Smith, Henson also worked as the mayor of Little Rock for two years.

“Wherever I was, my business degree had an effect on my ability to work there,” Henson said.

One former business college student, John Cooper Jr., knows success can be made, even without a business degree.

After several years and 240 hours of classes through the university, mostly from the business school, Cooper gave up on graduating. More than 50 hours of “F’s” strangled his cumulative grade point average, and he chose instead to go to work. “The men in my family mature late,” Cooper said with a laugh.

Cooper joined the family-owned business, Cooper Communities Inc., in 1962 and took the role of president after just six years.

Cooper is now listed among Arkansas’ most wealthy residents. He continues to serve as a director for Entergy Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

The university also boasts some of the area’s highest paid executives.

Since graduating in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Robert Weaver advanced to the CEO’s desk at P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. in Tontitown. In 1999, Weaver’s total compensation package topped $413,000, listing him as the No. 36 highest paid executive in Northwest Arkansas.

“All of the people that I interviewed with out of college required a degree,” Weaver said. “It gave me the tools and the knowledge to handle the real world and make the best of it.”

P.A.M. made Forbes magazine’s 200 best Small Companies list ranking No. 142 in 1998 and No. 97 in 1999. Gross sales for the transport service reached more than $207 million in 1999.

Rising by degrees

Loyd Swope is another successful banker from the doors of the business administration college. President and chairman for the former Bank of Lincoln, Swope stayed with the bank when it was bought by Simmons First Bank of Northwest Arkansas. He now serves as community president.

Swope said his degree opened many doors in the business network.

“I wouldn’t have been made an officer in the bank at such an early age without my degree,” Swope said. At age 25, Swope served as vice president for First National Bank in Fayetteville, but it was his next promotion to senior vice president of a Dallas bank that really put his training to the test.

Although Swope had already established himself in Fayetteville banking circles, he said that he doesn’t believe the bank in Dallas would have called for an interview if he hadn’t had a degree.

“Four years with the university is better than four years of on-the-job training,” Swope said, adding that he remained in the position with Lakewood Bank and Trust in Dallas for more than three years.

Fortunately, Swope moved back into the area in 1974 and has remained a prominent banking figure in Lincoln ever since.

Arkansas National Bank also enjoys the benefits of the business college’s fruition.

John Rownak, president and CEO of Arkansas National Bank, said his education from the college of business administration helped him find his way in the business world.

“The overall knowledge that I received from the college … really helped me in lending,” Rownak said. A graduate of 1968, Rownak actually put his business career on hold while he served the Air Force in the Vietnam war. After about 16 months of piloting B-52s in Asia, Rownak returned to pursue the subjects of his schooling: banking and finance.

A bank in Tulsa enrolled Rownak in their management training program in 1973, and he continued his education by earning a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Tulsa.

Rownak said UA gave him a good base for his business education.

The Air Force led Rownak away from Northwest Arkansas after he graduated, but he returned to the area in 1994.

In 1999 Arkansas National Bank netted $2.6 million and had total assets valued at more than $448 million, according to Bauer Financial Reports Inc.