The 15 and 40 (Opinion)

We’ve only published a few issues since I wrote about our awards season here at the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, but a lot has happened between then and now.

For starters, our inaugural A-List event was a sold-out success. In fact, we’ve already begun talks about how to incorporate even more of those associated with the real estate industry and make next year’s festivities bigger and better.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to extend a belated but sincere public thank-you to Bruce and Joan Johnson, owners of Dromborg Castle. That’s where the A-List event was held, and the Johnsons couldn’t have been more gracious hosts.

This year’s Fast 15 honorees, meanwhile, have been selected and the notification process is under way. This year’s class of remarkable 20-somethings will be revealed in our May 13 issue, and we once again will celebrate them at Fayetteville’s Pratt Place Inn the next evening.

That brings us to the official push for nominations for this year’s Forty Under 40 class. A nomination form is available on the inside back cover of this issue, or you can visit www.nwabusinessjournal.com to make an online nomination.

This will be the 17th time we’ve recognized and honored the area’s best and brightest businesspeople. And while we’ve just launched the official push for nominations, we already have received dozens of early entrants.

At first glance, the pool looks as strong as any time in recent memory. Equally encouraging is the fact the nominations are coming from a wide range of industries and from companies both new and familiar.

And while it’s more of a hunch than an opinion based on any sort of hard evidence, the variety of nominations seems to be yet another indicator our local economy is headed in the right direction. That’s our hope, anyway.

Finally, as a reminder, the deadline for nominations is June 7. I look forward to seeing what fills my inbox between now and then.