FULL STORY, PAGE 4

NO. 1 BANKIN THE U.S.:

bank of the ozarks focuses on customer relationships in faulkner county

2 | FAULKNER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

The Conway Regional Health Foundation is hosting a “ONE with art” charity art auction to support the expan-sion of the Conway Regional Women’s Center and the new surgical center.

“ONE with art” is a special event and online auction that features the works of Conway artists Steve Griffith and Viv-ian Noe-Griffith. The event will take place Saturday, Oct. 22, from 7-10 p.m. at Southwest-ern Energy. The online auction is currently underway and will end Oct. 21. Proceeds from the sale of the art and the tick-et sales at the event benefit the ONE Capital Campaign.

The ONE Campaign is a community-wide capital campaign designed to raise

awareness and funds for continued investment in Con-way Regional’s health care infrastructure. The campaign highlights the connection between Conway Regional and the patients, families and neighbors it serves.

The effort is being led by committee chairmen Bill and Susan Farris and honorary co-chairmen Charles and Char-lotte Nabholz. The campaign has community representa-tives from every walk of life.

At the inaugural “One with art” event, Rodney Block & the Real Music Lovers will provide entertainment, and cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. In addition, each guest will be entered into a drawing to win an original painting that Steve Griffith will create at the event.

Tickets are $50 per per-son and are available online at ConwayRegional.org or by calling 501-513-5191. To preview the auction or to place bids prior to the event, click on the “One with art” banner located on the home page of the Conway Regional website.

art auction to support conway regionalcapital campaign

After years of working toward the official des-ignation, Conway was named a Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) dur-ing the 2011 Fall BFC awards held in Septem-ber. The city was one of only 11 new communi-ties nationwide that was named a BFC.

To achieve the designa-tion, Conway adopted the League of American Bicy-clists’ action plan for mak-ing the city bicycle friendly, and Mayor Tab Townsell appointed a task force to implement the plan. The task force is composed of the Bicycle Advisory Board, the Safe Routes to School committee, the three institutions of higher learning, The Ride bicycle shop, and members of Conway Advocates for Bicycling.

Erik Leamon, owner of The Ride and Conway Advocates for Bicycling’s 2011 advocate of the year, said that Conway has made great advancements toward becoming a safer place for cyclists and is deserving of the honor.

“It has taken a lot of people working diligently to make this happen,” Leamon said. “We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.”

The League of American Bicyclists judges com-munities in five categories often referred to as the Five E’s: Engineering, Education, Encourage-ment, Enforcement, and Evaluation & Planning.

“I think Conway has done particularly well in the Engineering and En-couragement areas,” Lea-mon said. “The share-the-road signs and markings as well as the new bike lanes on some streets have raised awareness of cyclists and have helped encourage more people to ride their bikes.

“I think we can improve on our evaluation of the systems we have in place and can also work toward educating cyclists and motorists alike about the rules of the road,” he said.

Leamon’s hope is that the momentum brought on by the designation will inspire others to become involved in making the city even more bicycle friendly.

“This is where the rub-ber meets the road,” he said. “Now that we have achieved the Bicycle Friendly Community sta-tus, we hope others will get excited about the cause and share their ideas on how to continue to move Conway forward.”

Residents can become involved in the effort by becoming members of the Conway Advocates for Bicycling or by attending the city’s monthly Bicycle Advisory Board meetings. Conway Advocates for Bicycling is open to any-one interested in joining; Bicycle Advisory Board members are appointed by the mayor.

For more information about Conway Advocates for Bicycling, visit Cy-cleConway.com. To learn more about the Bicycle Advisory Board, visit Cit-yOfConway.org and click on the “City Boards” link.

conway named a bicycle friendly community

Steve Griffith’s “Back Home” oil painting is one of several works by the Conway artist that will be auctioned at Conway Regional Health Foundation’s inaugural “ONE with art” event. The event benefits the Foundation’s ONE Capital Campaign that is raising funds for the expansion of Conway Regional Women’s Center and the addition of a new surgical center.

Conway Regional’s ONE Cam-paign effort is being led by com-mittee chairmen Bill and Susan Farris (from left) and honorary co-chairmen Charlotte and Charles Nabholz.

FAULKNER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL | 3

If United States Senator Mark Pryor isn’t worthy of praise, he is at least due a heartfelt “thank you” from

Arkansans, especially those in Conway.

By this publication’s stan-dards, September of 2011 was a very good month for Senator Pryor. We ask that our elected officials, particu-larly those in Washington, perform two roles on our behalf: vote in our best inter-est and act as our advocate before and liaison to the federal government.

We’ll start with the voting. If you aren’t familiar with the months long boondoggle between Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) take a moment to research the topic online. If you have the stomach for it. The NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing for opening a new facility in the right-to-work state of South Carolina. They maintain that it is an act of retaliation against the unionized employees in the company’s home state of Washington. Never mind that

the Washington state jobs are not threatened by the new facility.

The NLRB’s behavior should scare the dickens out of the 22 right-to-work states in the US. Arkansas is one of those. It doesn’t just hurt our opportunity to attract relocat-ing industry, it cuts our efforts to attract new jobs off at the knees.

We assume this is why Senator Pryor joined 14 republicans in a key vote condemning the NLRB com-plaint against Boeing. Let us

be clear. We aren’t praising Senator Pryor for voting like a republican. We are thanking him for voting like an Arkan-san.

Now, the advocacy. When Conway’s new airport opens in 2014, not 2016 or 2020, it will be in large part due to the work of Senator Pryor and his staff. Their dogged support of this project means Conway will get a safer airport sooner and for less money. It’s a win-win-win and it wouldn’t have happened without the hard work and listening ear of

Senator Mark Pryor’s entire office.

It is no doubt easier to stay within ranks rather than to buck party leadership on politically charged issues. It is easier to count on the glacial inertia of the federal government to see projects through rather than push them through.

So when an elected official takes the hard way rather than the easy way for our benefit, they deserve to be acknowledged.

Thank you Senator Pryor.

Let us now praise famous menn EDITORIAL

TOP 5 RESIDENTIAL hOmE SALES

PRICE ADDRESS BED/BATH SUBDIVISION SQ. FT. $/SQ. FT. YEAR BUILT

$585,000 4625 Bay Hill, Conway 4/3.5 Centennial Valley 4,506 129.83 2006

$499,900 1815 Centennial Club, Conway 6/4.5 Centennial Valley 5,002 99.94 2000

$400,000 160 Casteleberry, Conway 4/3.5 Chapel Creek 3,382 $118.27 2010

$380,000 58 N. Hwy 25, Conway 5/3.5 n/a 3,818 $99.53 1999

$375,000 5100 Lost Canyon, Conway 4/4 Centennial Valley 3,730 $100.54 2010

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Laurel Park

Gatlin Park

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Dave Ward Dr

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60

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286

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40

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5100 Lost Canyon

58 N. Hwy. 25

160 Casteleberry Dr.

4625 Bay Hill Drive

1815 Centennial Club

For more than 40 years, Acxiom has been growing with Conway.

Over those four decades the company has thrived through countless changes. However, something that has only changed three times in the company’s his-tory has been the CEO. In July, the company named Scott Howe CEO and Presi-dent.

Howe is a former Corpo-rate Vice President of Mi-crosoft Advertising Business Group. He has managed multibillion dollar compre-hensive advertising enter-prises. He has a degree in economics from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard. As CEO and President of Acxiom, he will lead a com-pany with more than 6,500 employees globally and an-nual revenues of more than a billion dollars.

Howe will speak to mem-bers of the Conway busi-ness community at a No-vember 2nd CEO Luncheon hosted by the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Nabholz Con-

struction. CEO Luncheons are open to all employees of Conway Chamber member businesses. Tickets are $25 per person. The event will be held at the Brewer-Hege-man Conference Center and begins at 11:30am.

With more than 2,000 employees and a payroll larger than $100 million Acxiom is, by far, Conway’s largest employer. Conway Area Chamber President Brad Lacy says that it’s hard to overstate their impor-tance to central Arkansas’s economy. “Take away the sheer size of their eco-nomic impact and you are still left with an incredible story about a global leader in technology who grew up in Conway, Arkansas. That testimony is invaluable as we market our community worldwide. Everyone living in Conway has a stake in their long term success.”

To reserve a ticket or ta-ble at the luncheon call the Chamber at 501.327.7788 or email GetSmart@ConwayArkansas.org. The reservation deadline is October 26

howe, new acxiom chief,to address chambermembers at ceo luncheon

4 | FAULKNER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

Bank of the Ozarks has expanded to more than 100 locations, including four in Conway. With a solid record of long-term growth in loans, deposits and earnings, Bank of the Ozarks has earned respect as a great place to do business – and build successful relationships.

“We’ve built our reputation on sound financial performance, steady growth and, of course, exceptional customer service,” said Sarah Shaw, president of the Conway and Clinton, Ark., markets.

Bank of the Ozarks entered the Conway market in 2002 when the late John Stanton established the North of-fice on Old Morrilton Highway and the Downtown office on Harkrider Street. The bank expanded a year later with a location on Prince Street and opened its East branch on Oak Street in 2004.

Tom Nelson, senior vice president of the Conway market, said that relation-ship-building is a quality that sets Bank of the Ozarks apart. “There’s nothing better than finding out how to satisfy a customer and then doing it,” Nelson said. “What we do better is we take care of the customer.

“This is in line with our current ad-vertising campaign: ‘You have a friend here.’ We have hands-on management at the bank, and we’re able to succeed and move forward because we work hard building strong relationships with our customers. It’s that relationship that we can fall back on through good times and bad times,” he said.

Bank of the Ozarks can support its claim to being the nation’s No. 1 bank thanks to a recent national ranking. In April, the ABA Banking Journal named Bank of the Ozarks the top-performing bank in the nation with total assets over $3 billion. The Arkansas-based bank topped the prestigious list of “Banking’s Top Performers 2011.”

“The No. 1 bank in the U.S. is right here at your doorstep,” Shaw said. “That ranking means that we’re well-managed and very strong. Your money is safe here.”

The ABA Banking Journal is the flagship monthly magazine of the

American Bankers Association. The publication ranked the performance of domestic depository institutions with assets greater than $3 billion as of Dec. 31, 2010. According to the jour-nal, 139 public banks, thrifts, and bank or financial holding companies met the selection criteria. These institutions were ranked by return on average total equity, or ROAE, for 2010.

Bank of the Ozarks’ ROAE was more than 21 percent. Among the peer

group of 139, the average ROAE was negative 1.18 percent for 2010.

“We have an obligation to the com-munity, to our stockholders and to our customers to manage our account relationships prudently,” Shaw said.

The bank’s excellent financial per-formance and commitment to sound banking has enabled it to continue of-fering products that some banks have chosen or been forced to discontinue. Products such as free checking and

free debit cards for both personal and business customers are alive and well at Bank of the Ozarks.

“We know customers like free check-ing, and they sure don’t want to pay $4 or $5 a month just to use their debit card,” Nelson said.

Bank of the Ozarks also offers the latest in secure online and mo-bile banking and offers a full slate of cash management tools for business customers. These innovative services

faulkner county customers comefirst for no. 1 bank in the nation

The No. 1 bank in the U.S. is right here at your doorstep. That ranking means that we’re well-managed and very strong. Your money is safe here.

—Sarah Shaw,president of Conway and Clinton, Ark., markets

FAULKNER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL | 5

benefit the bank’s many customers who desire access to their accounts on their time and place, not just during normal banking hours.

“We understand how important convenience, ease-of-use and functionality are,” Shaw said.

In addition to its personal banking and business banking services, the Conway market is fully staffed with mortgage and commercial lenders touting over 90 years of combined banking experience. The staff manages more than $70 million in loans for the Conway division and is eager to make every good loan to every qualified buyer that they can.

Valari Bristol, mortgage loan officer, said that a common mis-conception in today’s economy is that people are unable to get loans. That’s not the case at Bank of the Ozarks, she said.

“We have the capital and resources to service most any size customer and can provide mortgage loans as well as construc-tion, consumer, commercial and small business loans,” Bristol said. “At Bank of the Ozarks, all underwriting is done in-house –

local decisions are made by local people.”“We are ready to help and we are ready to do business right

now,” Shaw added. “We love Conway, and we want to be instru-mental in its growth. One thing I’ve learned is that my staff really knows how to take care of customers. They listen and try to find the best fit for the customer’s banking needs whether it’s a checking account, business loan or investments. We do what-ever it takes.”

Chartered in 1903, Bank of the Ozarks Inc. is a bank holding company with $4.03 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2011. The publicly traded company trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “OZRK.”

Bank of the Ozarks owns a state-chartered subsidiary bank that conducts banking operations through 113 offices in Arkan-sas, Texas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama.

For more information about Bank of the Ozarks’ Conway mar-ket and its services, call 501-932-3020.

state chamber/aia to hold door-to-door lunch meeting

The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas, in partner-ship with Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, are hosting a “Door-to-Door” lunch meeting Thursday, Oct. 20, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The meeting will take place in Room 205A of the University of Central Arkansas Student Center.

The presentation is designed as a review of the key legislative accom-plishments from the 2011 session.

It will also provide in-formation on the highway program, education, the severance tax and other tax issues, and ways to make the state’s business climate more competitive.

There is no cost for lunch, but reservations are required. To make reservations, contact Deb Mathis at 501-210-4212 or dmathis@ArkansasStateChamber.com.

The Door-to-Door lunch meeting is sponsored by Nabholz Construction Company, Acxiom Cor-poration, Koontz Electric Company, Southwest-ern Energy Company, Conway Corporation and Farm Credit Services.

The State Chamber/AIA has held Door-to-Door meetings across the state. The Conway meet-ing is the final meeting scheduled for the year.

‘DOOR-TO-DOOR LUNCH’

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 20WHERE: Room 205A of the UCA Student CenterTIME: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

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School (District) .............................................................................Region ................Grades ................... % Served Proficient/ Advanced1 College Hill Elementary (Texarkana)* ...........................................................SW ............................. K-4 ...........................98%2 Park Magnet (Hot Springs)* ............................................................................. CN ............................. K-4 ...........................97%2 Gillett Elementary (DeWitt) ..............................................................................SE ............................. K-5 ..........................97%4 Mount Pleasant Elementary (Melbourne)* ................................................. NE ............................. K-6 ...........................96% 4 Academy of Technology (Vilonia)* ............................................................... CN ............................ 2-4 ..........................96%4 Richland Elementary (West Memphis)* ....................................................... NE ............................. K-6 ...........................96% 4 Ellen Smith Elementary (Conway)* .............................................. CN ......................K-4 .................... 96%4 Evening Shade Math & Science Academy (Cave City) ............................ NE ............................. K-4 ...........................96% 4 Arnold Drive Elementary (Pulaski County)* .............................................. CN ............................ K-5 ..........................96%4 Jim Stone Elementary (Conway)* ................................................. CN .......................K-4 ..................... 96% 11 Viola Elementary (Viola) ................................................................................. NE ............................ K-6 ..........................95%11 Salem Elementary (Bryant)* .......................................................................... CN ............................. K-6 ...........................95% 11 Pottsville Elementary (Pottsville) ............................................................... NW ........................... K-3 ..........................95%11 Morrilton Elementary (South Conway County) ..................................... NW ............................ 2-3 ...........................95% 15 Central Park at Morning Star Elementary (Bentonville)* ................... NW ........................... K-4 ..........................94%15 Forest Park Elementary (Little Rock)* ......................................................... CN ............................. K-5 ...........................94% 15 Tuckerman Elementary (Jackson County) ............................................... NE ............................ K-4 ..........................94%15 Dover Elementary (Dover) ............................................................................. NW ............................ K-4 ...........................94% 15 Woodrow Cummins Elementary (Conway) ............................... CN ......................K-4 .................... 94%15 Center Valley Elementary (Russellville) ..................................................... NW ............................ K-4 ...........................94%*Indicates school placed on same list in 2009-10.

BENCHMARK SCORES COMBINED(Math and Literacy - 2011)Top 20 elementary schools in Arkansas based on Benchmark Math and Literacy achievement.

On the heels of good news about district wide Bench-mark Exam scores comes another exciting piece of in-formation for Conway Public Schools.

Of the more than 500 public elementary schools in Ar-kansas, Conway has three campuses in the top 15. Ellen Smith, Jim Stone and Wood-row Cummins all placed in among the highest performing elementary schools on the 2011 Benchmark Exams.

The rankings were based on the percentage of students scoring proficient or advanced on literacy and math. No school district in Arkansas placed more elementary schools in the top 15. Ellen Smith and Jim Stone ranked 4th in the state with 96% at or above proficiency and Wood-row Cummins finished 15th at 94%.

Conway also had two el-

ementary schools, Ida Burns and Sallie Cone, place in the top 10 of the state’s 288 “economically disadvantaged” campuses based on math and literacy scores respectively. The list defines “economically disadvantaged” as a school where more than two-thirds of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Campuses showed improve-ment district wide and all nine Conway elementary schools scored well above the state average. Jamie Gates, Sr. Vice President of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce says it’s not just parents and kids who benefit from a thriv-ing school district. “Aside from educating our next generation of neighbors and leaders, it’s been proven time and time again that high performing elementary schools have a direct impact on property values. In the short term, all Conway homeowners share equally in that benefit.”

conway schools top competition, odds

6 | FAULKNER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

Parents in central Arkansas won’t have to travel far this spring to treat their kids to the nation’s best festival program-ming.

Toad Suck Daze just brought home the Gold for Best Children’s Programming from the International Festival and Events Association (IFEA) an-nual convention in Fort Worth earlier this month. Toad Suck Daze was competing against festivals around the world with budgets up to $1.5 million. The silver and bronze winners were the Denver and Des Moines Arts festivals.

Conway Area Chamber President and CEO Brad Lacy

says that the award is ap-propriate recognition for all of the work “behind the scenes” to make Toad Suck Daze a success. “This award is further evidence of the quality and professionalism of Toad Suck Daze. Much credit goes to the Toad Suck Daze Committee, our volunteers, and our Cham-ber staff for executing the type of event that competes at an international level. Our entire community should be proud.”

Founded in 1956, the Inter-national Festival and Event As-sociation is made up of more than 2000 event professionals and organizations. The IFEA exists to serve the needs of the event industry, who produce and support quality celebra-

tions for the benefit of their respective communities. The organization annually recog-nizes best practices with their “Pinnacle” award winners.

Toad Suck Daze’s applica-tion featured both new and established events. The Toadal Kid Zone and Toad Dome entertainment lineups, Crawl

Drag and Squirt and the Blue Bell Ultimate Weekend were all contributing factors in the first place effort. “Toad Suck Daze has been recognized as an out-standing Arkansas festival for years,” said Conway Chamber Director of Events, Mary Mar-garet Satterfield. “But compet-ing on an international stage and winning the top award says a lot about our volunteers and what the festival offers.”

Toad Suck Daze is held annually the first weekend of May in downtown Conway. The 2012 festival will mark the 31st Toad Suck Daze. During that period the festival has raised more than $1.2 million dollars for scholarships to local col-leges and universities.

toad suck daze beats ‘big boys’for international award

Mary Margaret Satterfield (right) accepts the Gold Children’s Pro-gramming Award on behalf of the Toad Suck Daze Festival at the IFEA Annual Convention.

FAULKNER COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL | 7

Unemployment RateAugust 2011

US .....................................9.1%Arkansas ...........................8.3% Faulkner County ...............7.5%Conway .............................6.7%

Labor ForceAugust 2011

ConwayEmployed .......................26,185 Unemployed ....................1,801Total ...............................27,986

Faulkner County*Employed ......................52,550 Unemployed ....................4,275Total ...............................56,825*Includes Conway

Sales Tax CollectionsConway- YTD July

2011......................$12,515,051 2010 .....................$12,424,900Percent Change 0.73%

Conway -Annual*2010......................$21,868,102 2009......................$20,825,010 Percent Change 5.0%*Tax Rate 1.75

Faulkner County - YTD July2011........................$4,632,2762010 .......................$4,397,276 Percent Change 5.3%

Faulkner -Annual* 2010 .......................$7,834,2262009 .......................$7,731,691 Percent Change 1.3%*Tax Rate 0.5%

Restaurant Sales*Conway – YTD June

2011 .....................$95,401,9652010 .....................$88,662,671 Percent Change 7.6%

Annual Sales 2010 ...................$139,864,2032009 ...................$130,911,970 Percent Change 6.8%*Includes mixed drink sales

Hotel SalesConway - YTD August

2011 .....................$12,816,975 2010 .....................$12,398,515Percent Change 3.4%

Annual Sales2010 .....................$17,590,242 2009 .....................$16,404,114Percent Change 7.2%

Building Permits ConwaySingle Family Residents

YTD - September2011 ...................... 110 permits2010 ..................... 196 permitsPercent Change -43.9%

Total for the Year2010 ..................... 223 Permits2009 ..................... 259 PermitsPercent Change -13.9%Average Construction Cost*

YTD - September2011.......................... $206,7212010...........................$171,767Percent Change 20.3%*Not including land or lot improvements

Average Square Footage*YTD - September

2011 ..........................2,8722010 ..........................2,620Percent Change: 9.6% *Total under Roof

Lottery SalesFaulkner County

September ..............$1,344,956Annual* .................$16,515,344Annual Per Capita ......$144.87

Total StateSeptember ...........$38,181,351Annual* ...............$470,572,805Annual Per Capita .......$164.80*October 1, 2010 – Sept. 30, 2011

Natural GasSeverance Tax Distribution

September 2011Faulkner County ..........$18,686Conway ........................$23,248

2010Faulkner County ........$171,543Conway ......................$221,255

Wellhead Price per MCF*September

2011 ................................$3.822010 ................................$3.762009.................................$2.922008.................................$7.27

Yearly Average2010 ......................... $4.16 2009 ......................... $3.712008.......................... $8.072007.......................... $6.372006 ......................... $6.402005 ......................... $7.332004 ......................... $5.462003 ......................... $4.882002 ......................... $2.95*1000 cubic feet

Number of Wells*Faulkner County .................266Total in Field ...................3,439*As of May 12, 2011

Estimated Life TimeValue of Production*

Total Field ........$8,553,336,233*As of February 10, 2011

Information provided by pulseofconway.com

Conway Economyat a Glance

BY ROGER LEWIS

In operation for two years, September 28, 2009, through September 30, 2011, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has produced $950.7 million in state wide sales.

Approximately 20%, or $190 million, of the revenue from lottery sales funds the Academic Challenge Scholarships. Faulkner County is one of the few counties where benefits received exceed the lottery sales.

Lottery sales for the state were $477.2 million for the first year and declined slightly (.8%) to $473.5 for the second year. Lottery sales in Faulkner County were $18.4 million for the first year and declined 9.5% to $16.5 million for the second year for a total of $34.8million. The chart below illustrates this decline and plotting a trend line to monthly sales indicates a continuing decline for future sales. Although new games have been introduced, sales have continually declined. This may be due to people having less discretion-ary money to spend on the lottery because of the recession.

Faulkner County lottery sales, rank fifth among the counties. The rank in sales is related to the size of the population and location of the county on a major highway. Faulkner County is also fifth in population among the counties. Located on In-terstate 40, it is assumed that some of the sales are to visitors and this is substantiated by the fact that the two vendors with the highest sales among 55 Faulkner County vendors are in Mayflower near interstate 40.

When comparing sales per capita in the most recent year, Faulkner County ranked 37th with $146 sales per capita compared to the state av-erage of $165. The range in county sales per capita ranged from $39 for Montgomery County to $372 for Nevada County.

Approximately 66.2 percent of the sales are returned to the play-ers through prizes, 5.6% is paid to point-of-sale vendors as a commis-sion and 8% is used for administra-

tion, advertising and contracted services, leaving 20.2% for scholar-ships. Based on the $34.8 million in Faulkner County lottery sales, the players should have received approximately $23 million in prizes, of courses, not all of these recipients are Faulkner County residents. The fact that a Mayflower resident won $25 million in a Powerball game pushes the winnings in Faulkner County to an abnormal high. (This was the only Powerball grand prize winner in the state since the incep-tion of the lottery.)

Academic Challenge Scholarships valued at $2.4 million were awarded to 520 Faulkner County residents for the 2010 -11 academic year. Unfortunately, data for this academic year (2011-12) is not yet available. Arkansas students attending institu-tions of higher education in Faulkner County during 2010-11 received 4,218 Arkansas Challenge Schol-arships (UCA 3639, Hendrix 351, CBC 228) valued at $18.8 million. There is some overlap in the $2.4 million in scholarships received by

Faulkner residents and the $18.8 million in scholarships received by the colleges since many of the Faulkner county residents receiving scholarships attend one of the three local colleges. The total impact of scholarships received by Faulkner County’s residents and the colleges is approximately $20 million when this overlap is factored out. Prelimi-nary figures for this academic year indicate that the level of Academic Challenge Scholarships will be about the same for the 2011-2012 academic year, making the awards for the two years approximately $40 million.

The Arkansas Challenge Scholar-ships are not entirely funded by lot-tery proceeds. The state continues to fund the program at $20 million per year, amounting to approximate-ly 10.5% of the total scholarship awards. Thus only $35.8 million of the $40 million in scholarships over two years is from lottery proceeds.

Local governmental officials have been concerned that lottery sales negatively impact sales tax collec-tions. Lottery sales are not sub-jected to sales tax levies. Faulkner County’s sales tax rate of .5% would generate $174 thousand in sales tax revenue on $34.8 million lottery sales if the money spent on lottery tickets were spent on taxable goods. This revenue would be slightly more than one percent of the County’s an-nual sales tax revenue. Likewise for Conway and other cities in Faulkner County, the tax revenue on lottery sales would account for about only 1% of the sales tax collections. Lottery sales do not substantially impact sales tax revenues.

Faulkner County has a net gain in terms of the return on lottery sales. Scholarships awarded to residents, student with scholarships attend-ing the three institutions of higher education, and prizes received by players substantially exceed the amount spent on the lottery. The fact that Faulkner County has three col-leges and a $25 million prize made this situation possible.

More information on real estate can be found at www. pulseofconway.com.

arkansas lottery’s impact on faulkner co.’s economy

The state con-tinues to fund the program at $20 million

per year, amounting to approximately 10.5% of the total scholarship awards.