Profiles

A directory of Profiles for Northwest Arkansas Business Journal Awards

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…

Forty Under 40: Lindsay Young

Lindsay Young’s career path started in an industry she didn’t envision when attending college — construction. “If you’d told me I’d work for design and construction firms and help them…

Forty Under 40: Christy Williams

Christy Williams thrives on making connections and developing relationships. That’s evident by her accomplishments in 13 years of an upwardly mobile career working in UAFS’ Office of Advancement. A Lavaca…

Forty Under 40: Kane Whitt

Watching his family make real estate investments led Kane Whitt into commercial real estate. He began a career in the industry in 2006 when he joined CSK Hotels, a diversified…

Forty Under 40: Jeannine Wheeler

Northwest Arkansas was not part of the plan for Jeannine Wheeler. Two months into her marriage, the accounting firm her husband worked for landed the Tyson Foods contract. They’ve been…

Forty Under 40: Ashley Wardlow

Ashley Wardlow seamlessly stepped into the role vacated by Graham Cobb earlier this year. Wardlow attributed the smooth transition to her colleagues. “Complex problems require collaboration,” she said. “You may…

Forty Under 40: Josh Vasquez

A leader at one of the nation’s fastest-growing banks, Josh Vasquez pinches himself sometimes for the opportunities he has been given. “As a whole, I never imagined I would have…

Forty Under 40: Corey Thompson

Corey Thompson left his hometown in east Texas in 2005 to accept an academic scholarship offer from the University of Arkansas. Nine years later, he had three UA degrees —…

Forty Under 40: Autumn Lewis Spicher

A first-generation college student, Autumn Lewis Spicher has always had an innate desire to achieve. As a high school senior in Joplin, Mo., she earned the prestigious Honors College Fellowship…

Forty Under 40: Rachel Spencer

Rachel Spencer’s interest in transforming food systems led her to Arkansas over a decade ago. As a result of her success at the grassroots, state, regional and national levels, she…

Forty Under 40: Max Shaw

Max Shaw plans to build Infinity Worlds to be synonymous with the top-tier sales agencies in Northwest Arkansas. He envisions the parent company, The Bar Code Group, as synonymous with…

Forty Under 40: Brandon Sebald

Brandon Sebald moved to Northwest Arkansas in 2012 to open area Planet Fitness locations. Initially, he intended the move to be temporary but decided to stay. Over the past decade,…

Forty Under 40: Eli Saldivar

Eli Saldivar has been at the center of the e-commerce world for more than 15 years. Born in Pachuca, Mexico, Saldivar attended John Brown University because his sisters went there….

Forty Under 40: Abigail Reith

Abigail Reith spent 10 years earning degrees in three states to finish her education in the animal health industry. With a focus on poultry medicine, health and management, it’s no…

Forty Under 40: Blake Pennington

The second-largest city in the state relies on Blake Pennington to keep its government running smoothly. “Not everybody is going to be happy with what we do,” he admits. “But…

Forty Under 40: Betsy O’Connor

Betsy O’Connor has led and expanded research into health disparities in specific populations in the United States and internationally. In 2015, she joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences…