Opinion

Hold the center

As a leader, how comfortable are you with pausing? For me, one of the hardest things you can ask me to do is to stand still when I think I…

COVID’s second curve: Protecting our mental health

During the past six months, the world has become infinitely more familiar with charts and graphs. COVID-19 and its associated “curves” and “spikes” are prominent conversation points in our daily…

Aging gracefully in Arkansas

In 2019, 698,131 Arkansans were 60 years or older, representing 23.2% of our population, according to a report by the U.S. Administration for Community Living. These numbers are projected to…

Should you sell your business or hang on?

We live in strange times, and the impact of COVID-19 has had perhaps the most significant economic impact on small-business owners. Whether your business was impacted financially or not, it…

The virus and voting

With the general election a scant two months away, it’s time we get ourselves informed about what we’ll see on what promises to be a lengthy ballot. Before we do,…

Don’t let the pandemic put off lifesaving screenings

September marks National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. While this year looks different amid the backdrop of a global pandemic, cancer doesn’t wait and neither should lifesaving preventative screenings. As many…

Thriving while working from home

The world has changed, and I have finally decided to change with it. During the first few months of COVID, my denial ran rampant, and I refused to make the…

The art of effective communication

The number of words in the English language is 1,057,379.6. This is the estimate by the Global Language Monitor as of January 2020. While 1 million words is a generally…

Innovation is good for business and for politics

Competent business leaders know that to improve, the status quo can never be acceptable. Continuous improvement requires innovation, an exchange of ideas, and healthy competition. For Arkansas to grow, to…

Riff Raff: Local problems

The Fort Smith Public School Board on June 22 rejected a bid recommendation by a Texas-based company managing the district’s $120 million millage construction and instead gave the work to…

Resilience – overcoming our past

All children face challenges – it’s how they learn and grow into responsible adults. But how does one child experience a terrible childhood trauma and survive, even prosper as an adult, while…

Estate planning in a nutshell

While most people do not spend much time thinking about their estate plan, it is one of life’s biggest decisions. A customized, comprehensive estate plan will save your family time,…

For Jonesboro, is past prologue?

It’s a rare treat when a single document can provide a look at the past and a glimpse into the future simultaneously. That’s the way it felt the other day…

Community pharmacists willing to do more during the pandemic

Quarantine fatigue has set in. And for good reason. We’ve faced months of economic uncertainty, mandatory closures and time away from family and friends. It’s natural for us to embrace…

The key to recovery

As Northwest Arkansas starts to reopen its economy, local leaders must address an important question: What is the best way to recover and rebuild? The answer will determine the region’s…

We cannot wait another decade for fair redistricting

July 6th was a pretty big day for me. That was the day we submitted the signatures of over 100,000 Arkansas voters to the Secretary of State. Voters who had…

Are Walmart, Amazon killing retail? Or is retail killing itself?

Here in Northwest Arkansas, the heart of the retail industry, where Walmart is an all-dominating force in the market and Dillard’s is still viable as a “real” department store, we…

Bet smart, and be the chip leader in your organization

As a leader, maybe you don’t think of yourself as a poker player. You may not know a thing about “the flop” or a “bad beat” when playing cards. However,…

Marketing for the new normal

The coronavirus has sent our nation into a financial tailspin. Mandatory closures have impacted every sector of the economy, but particularly the restaurant, fitness, nonprofit, event and public-facing industries. In…

Work from home they say. It’ll be fun they say. Not so fast.

In March, many Northwest Arkansas businesses began the work-life change of having as many people as possible work from home to lessen the spread of the horror of COVID-19. Social…