Profiles

A directory of Profiles for Northwest Arkansas Business Journal Awards

Fast 15: Caleb LeBow

Caleb Lebow is a Hillbilly. He’s from Ozark. It’s the school’s mascot. But he’s far from the cliche underachieving mountaineer. He has a master’s degree in engineering, has his finger…

Fast 15: Tom Hanna

Fort Smith-based KMW Properties was a “passive” real estate development company primarily supporting the operations of Hanna Oil & Gas. That began to change when Tom Hanna returned to the…

Fast 15: Tanner Green

An entrepreneur since he was a teen growing up in Farmington, Tanner Green dropped out of the University of Arkansas after one year for an opportunity to join software startup…

Fast 15: Will Ginger

Will Ginger grew up at Merrill Lynch. The Fayetteville native followed in the footsteps of his mother, Nan Ginger, as they both joined Merrill Lynch full-time after graduating from the…

Fast 15: Sara Lynn Geiger

With her eyes on Northwest Arkansas’ future, Sara Lynn Geiger is “making sure what we’re doing today results in a better tomorrow.” Geiger works to create a better quality of…

Fast 15: Johnny Galloway

Johnny Galloway may be a born-and-bred Texan, but he has heeded Northwest Arkansas’ call twice. The first time to earn a degree. The second time to reinvent his career during…

Fast 15: Cameron Clark

Cameron Clark has enjoyed being a proponent of growth in Northwest Arkansas. The Fayetteville native only expects it to continue. In 2015, Clark graduated early from the University of Arkansas,…

Fast 15: Micah Bender

Problem solving motivates Micah Bender. A thinker who is always learning, he likes to be in the details and do the thinking to help his team execute. “I like to…

Fast 15: Jackson Bates

Almost as an afterthought, Jackson Bates decided to study finance as a University of Arkansas freshman. He dabbled in graphic design as a teenager — he designed the original logo…

Fast 15: Brandon Andrews

Brandon Andrews is motivated by helping others as it makes him “feel complete.” It also led the Green Forest native to consider a nursing career before pivoting into banking. In…

C-Suite: Jeff Williams

Fast fact: Williams joined America’s Car-Mart as chief financial officer in October 2005. He became president in March 2016 and has been a director since 2011 and CEO since January…

C-Suite: Dave Wilgus

Fast fact: Wilgus was named CEO in 2019 after working for HFA for nearly 19 years. What’s the most recent book you read? “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek. What…

C-Suite: Lori Walker

Fast fact: Managed external and internal communications for the $1.2 billion bank’s core system conversion in 2018, a merger in 2019 and a global pandemic in 2020-2021. What is the…

C-Suite: Eddie Vega

Fast fact: Vega was the first Hispanic to own a radio license in Arkansas, and his company is the only independent radio cluster with FM signals in Little Rock and…

C-Suite: Susan Upchurch

Fast fact: Upchurch and her team are responsible for distributing over $14 million in Emergency Rental Assistance program funds to Benton County residents since February 2021. What’s the most recent…

C-Suite: Michael Newcity

Fast fact: Newcity has worked for ArcBest Corp. for nearly three decades. He is also president of ArcBest Technologies, which provides IT services to different clients within ArcBest and its…

C-Suite: Yvette Murphy-Erby

Fast fact: Murphy-Erby, a professor of social work, was promoted to her current role in 2019 and has worked in multiple leadership positions since she joined the UA faculty in…

C-Suite: Steve Lane

Fast fact: A Colliers partner since 2004, Lane started his real estate career with Walmart (1992-1998). He leads a Colliers branch office with annual sales volume of over $100 million…

C-Suite: John Cooley

Fast fact: Cooley has been CFO for 21 years at Propak, a logistics company with more than 1,600 full-time employees operating in 60 locations in 21 states. Which supporting skills…

C-Suite: Bill Akins

Fast fact: A retail data scientist, Akins had leadership roles with Rockfish and Walmart Global Tech before he joined James+James in 2021. Over the past 18 months, the company has…