‘Pay it Forward’ Like John Lewis (Jeffery Wood Commentary)

John Lewis was the very first client who signed on to advertise in the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. That’s probably no surprise.
He was everyone’s first customer.
Since that spring of 1997, the former CEO of The Bank of Fayetteville enthusiastically supported countless other local ventures. If he wasn’t lending them money, he leant advice and patronage until he could do more.
It was what he did best — following through.
We were particularly saddened to hear of Lewis’ unexpected June 1 death not just because he was a good friend of the business community. Because Lewis, 67, made Northwest Arkansas better.
In business, there are dreamers and there are doers. Lewis was both.
The downtown Fayetteville square — among other things — exists in its viable form today because of that duplicity.
For those of us who worked from the original Business Journal office on the square, it is hard to separate Lewis from the rest of that city’s landmarks.
You could give directions like this: “Turn right off of College onto Center, go past Hoffbrau, the Old Post Office and past that guy on your left who will smile and wave from a fishbowl-like office. Yeah, that’s The Bank of Fayetteville.”
So many initiatives began from right there: at the corner of “Passion” and “Community.” That was John.
Dubbed “Mr. Fayetteville” by another great city leader, Hayden McIlroy, Lewis’ public service, volunteerism and entrepreneurial spirit are well documented.
He was one of the Business Journal’s original “Northwest Arkansas Rainmakers,” a series published in 2000 to honor the area’s political and economic kingmakers.
He represented Fayetteville while Walter Turnbow and Dick Trammel were chosen for Springdale and Rogers/Bentonville, respectively.
It would take pages to list the causes Lewis started or served, and twice as much for the small businesses he nurtured. That spirit was best capsulated by another friend and veteran lender who said:
“Most bankers turn cynical as they get older. They get bitten by a few things that don’t go right the first time around. Then they want to tell you why you can’t make it. John was always telling people reasons why they would succeed.”
I was lucky. I had the opportunity at a recent dinner party to tell John what I really thought of him. He and his wife, Helen, stood politely while I bumbled about his servant leadership and how much “we” appreciated his work.
Lewis smiled and shook my hand.
The light in the retired banker’s eyes was as fierce as ever, and he segued quickly and cunningly into a lobbying effort for coverage of several young entrepreneurs. He was wild about the next generation.
Helen Lewis said recently his mentoring spark had been rekindled by the CEO Forum of Arkansas. He was a partner/adviser with the Forum’s founder, Tim McFarland. The group provides a confidential and collaborative environment for business leaders to share solutions.
Helen said John had been to a kickoff on June 1 for the Forum’s second class. “He was so pumped up,” she said, “he didn’t want to leave that meeting. He came in so excited and talked for an hour about it.”
Both of the Lewises have made a life of bringing people together. Although the husband she described as a “techno geek with an infectious laugh” got the public credit, Helen holds a significant stake in the family’s legacy.
The ripples of John Lewis’ work will continue to be felt for decades. But it’s hard not to already wonder where the area’s next champions of fledgling entrepreneurs will come from.
If banking is truly about helping people reach their dreams, then tomorrow’s innovators deserve more than a pat on the head while their business plans are killed in committee.
They’re going to need coaching, planning and lenders with courage. They’re going to be looking for civic and professional leadership, and mentors who truly listen.
Surely, if he could be, John would be the first in line.
(Jeffery Wood, publisher, can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].)