Food Industry Leads Region?s Largest Private Firms

Top 30 generate $4 billion in revenue

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s first ranking of the Top 30 private companies features companies that generated nearly $4 billion in revenue last year.

The rankings include locally owned companies that are based in the greater Northwest Arkansas region. Twenty-three of the firms are among the state’s 75 largest private companies, which are compiled by Arkansas Business.

Private companies don’t have the same reporting requirements as public companies. For most of the companies listed, the annual revenue numbers used were released by the company for publication in this list. However, numbers for several companies were not available. In these cases, the revenue has been estimated using various sources. Those estimates are indicated with asterisks and have not been confirmed by the companies.

The region’s five largest companies are involved in the food industry: O.K. Industries of Fort Smith, Simmons Foods Inc. of Siloam Springs, Harps Food Stores Inc. of Springdale, Peterson Industries Inc. of Decatur and Allen Canning Co. of Siloam Springs.

Car and truck dealerships account for six firms in the region’s rankings. They include Superior Automotive Group of Fayetteville, Carco Transportation Systems Inc. of Fort Smith, Northwest Arkansas Truck & Equipment Inc. of Springdale, Nelms Auto Stores of Fayetteville, Lewis Ford Sales of Fayetteville and Bob Maloney Ford Mercury Inc. of Rogers.

Statewide rankings included

The Northwest list is derived in part from the Arkansas Business’ annual ranking of the 75 largest companies in the state.

Collectively, the top 75 private companies in Arkansas accounted for some $14.25 billion in revenue during 1996 and employed about 70,000 people.

Two companies in the region were newcomers to the Arkansas Business statewide ranking:

~ Northwest Arkansas Truck and Equipment, a Springdale-based truck dealer, ranks No. 64 statewide and No. 17 regionally with an estimated $72 million in revenue.

~ Air Systems Inc. of Fort Smith, a manufacturer of commercial fixtures and cabinets, entered the state list at No. 74 and the regional rankings at No. 22 with an estimated $56 million in sales.

Off the List

Two companies in the region dropped off the 1997 list:

~ Pace Industries of Fayetteville, which merged with out-of-state Leggett & Platt Inc. in May 1996.

~ SSI Inc. of Fort Smith, a contractor that was ranked 75th statewide last year, indicated its revenue fell below $50 million in 1996.

On the Radar

Here are a few companies the Business Journal and Arkansas Business are keeping an eye on for future lists.

~ Parker Cadillac in Little Rock, the nationally renowned “Cadillac of Cadillac Dealers,” is a near miss with an estimated $34 million in annual sales. That number doesn’t include about $20 million combined revenue for its subsidiaries: two Saturn dealerships in Little Rock and Fayetteville and a Lexus dealership in Little Rock.

~ Winrock Enterprises of Little Rock is a 42-year-old company no longer owned by the Winthrop Rockefeller family. It is involved in manufacturing, wholesale and real estate development and is the parent of Jet Stream Pipe Co. in Siloam Springs. The company had estimated 1996 revenue of about $50 million.

k~ Bell International, a truck wholesaler in Springdale, had estimated annual sales of about $40 million.