Two Northwest Arkansas Business Leaders Die

In January, Northwest Arkansas lost two prominent businessmen, each a pioneer in his own industry.

Thomas Alan Jacoway, 53, CEO of Artran Inc., died Jan. 9, following a long illness. Jacoway was a lawyer and served as Springdale’s city attorney from 1974 through 1979.

In recent years, however, he had turned his attention to steering Artran Inc. to success. Jacoway had joined the fledgling company’s board of directors in 1983 and helped lead Artran through two major redirections that essentially meant remaking the company from scratch.

Through the years, Artran has designed general automation custom machines for customers including General Electric Co. and specialized automation equipment for the poultry industry. Additionally, Artran designed satellite receivers for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

More recently, the Springdale company purchased Vector, a small company that was pioneering work on personal computers to control machine tool machines. The company hopes to introduce a revolutionary five-axis contouring machining center this year.

Harlon L. Phillips, who founded one of Northwest Arkansas’ leading grocery chains, died Jan. 13 at the age of 73.

Phillips, a native Texan who spent most of his life in Benton County, opened his first grocery business, Phillips Grocery Store, in Bentonville.

The business eventually grew into Phillips Companies Inc., which, at its peak, included 17 Food 4 Less stores in Northwest and central Arkansas and three Phillips Food Centers.

It was Harlon Phillips’ son, John, who expanded the company into the warehouse grocery business in the early 1980s with Food 4 Less Stores.

Walton Enterprises Inc., the company that represents the interests of the Sam Walton family, eventually became an investor in the company, but in 1990, management bought out the Walton interest. The following year, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. bought the company. It sold the chain in 1995 to Harps Food Stores, another Northwest Arkansas-based company.