2015-02 Faulkner County Business Journal

Building on a Family Foundation

February 2015

FOurth-generatiOn builders tOm and Kevin WatsOn cOmbine expertise in WatsOn and WatsOn cOnstructiOn

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Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat2D — Sunday, February 15, 2015

John Womack, chairman and CEO of Arvest Bank’s central Arkansas operations, will be the guest speaker at the Con-way Area Chamber of Com-merce’s upcoming CEO Lun-cheon. The event, presented by Nabholz Corporation, will take place Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Cen-tral Baptist College.

In his role at Arvest Bank, Womack oversees all banking operations and strategic direc-tion for the central Arkansas re-gion, which has more than 430 associates and 28 banking loca-tions in 12 communities.

Previously, Womack served as Arvest Bank’s Fort Smith presi-dent and CEO. He joined Arvest in 1999 as president, when the bank opened a loan-production office in Fort Smith with the de-sire to grow operations in the River Valley region.

During his tenure in Fort Smith, Womack led the bank to more than $730 million in as-sets and the third highest de-posit market share in the re-gion.

Before working for Arvest Bank, Womack had been pres-ident and chief operating offi-cer of Citizens’ Bank in Law-ton, Oklahoma, since 1992. He also worked for Fourth National Bank in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he rose to senior vice president, as well as City National Bank in Fort Smith.

Womack is a graduate of Pine Bluff High School, Arkansas Tech University and the Grad-uate School of Banking at Lou-isiana State University. He is past president of the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University and was chair-man of the Arkansas Bankers Association in 2007. Womack was recently appointed to the

Little Rock branch of the Feder-al Reserve.

Womack serves on the board for a number of organizations, including Arkansas Tech Uni-versity oundation, Arkansas Tech University Advisory Board, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business Advisory Board, Baptist Health Foundation, and Little Rock Re-gional Chamber of Commerce.

He is a member of the Chan-cellor’s Circle at the University of Arkansas for Medical Scienc-es and a member of the Little Rock Air Force Base Communi-ty Council. CEO Luncheons are open to all employees of Cham-ber-member businesses. Indi-vidual tickets are $25 per per-son. Reserved tables of eight are available for $200.

Online registration is avail-able at ConwayChamber.org. Reservations are also available by emailing director of events Therese Pollard at [email protected]. The res-ervation deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 18.

John Womack

Arvest Bank chairman, CEO to speak at Chamber luncheon

The Chamber has launched a new event to celebrate and recognize admin-istrative professionals in the Conway area.

The Administrative Professionals Awards luncheon is set for Administra-tive Professionals Day – Wednesday, April 22 – beginning at 11:30 a.m. The event will take place in Childers Dining Hall at Central Baptist College.

The inaugural luncheon honors ad-ministrative support staff, executive as-sistants, office and facility managers, office clerks, receptionists, and other ad-ministrative professionals.

The Chamber is accepting nomina-tions for the Outstanding Administrative Professional Award, which will be pre-sented to three individuals at the event.

The deadline to submit a nomination is Wednesday, February 25.

Nominees should demonstrate excep-tional performance in his or her field by exceeding work expectations, collaborat-ing well with others in the workplace and community, and managing company and organizational resources efficiently. Finalists and/or their employer must be members of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and must live or work in the Conway area. A panel of executives will select the award recipients.

For questions about the Administra-tive Professionals Awards luncheon and call for nominations or to purchase tick-ets to the event, contact chief operating officer Lindsay Henderson at 501-932-5403 or [email protected].

New event recognizes Conway-area administrative professionals

A group of Faulkner County business, government and commu-nity leaders traveled to Washing-ton, D.C., this week as part of the Conway Area Chamber of Com-merce’s D.C. Fly-In.

The annual trip is a “proac-tive measure toward supporting Faulkner County businesses and organizations,” said Jamie Gates, executive vice president at the Con-way Area Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s important, particularly when there is turnover within our feder-al delegation, to maintain old rela-tionships and build new ones.”

Gates said that topics of discus-sion this year included continued support of the new airport, natural gas, higher education, health care, disaster relief, consumer data and surface transportation. “It’s obvi-ously a Faulkner County flavored agenda,” said Gates.

“It’s an opportunity to remind those in Washington that these are the ‘tent poles’ of our local economy. It’s also an opportunity for us to learn right at the source of Amer-ica’s policy decisions.” Sen. John Boozman, Arkansas’ senior senator, said that his office appreciates the Faulkner County group’s coopera-tive spirit.

“The Chamber does an excel-lent job of making sure that the city, county, business, education and health communities are all at the table as we talk about Arkan-sas’ future. The benefits of cooper-ation are apparent: a new airport, new and innovative businesses, and continued outreach to attract more industry to Conway. This teamwork stands out and is an im-portant contributor to the success of Faulkner County.”

While in Washington, the cham-ber group visited the offices of Sen. Boozman, Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. French Hill. The group also hosted an all-staff reception as well as a dinner attended by senior staff members.

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, February 15, 2015 — 3D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

The Social Entrepre-neurship Boot Camp, presented in partner-ship with the Clinton School of Public Ser-vice, the University of Arkansas Office of En-trepreneurship and the Arkansas Regional In-novation Hub, will take place July 17-19, 2015, at the Winthrop Rocke-feller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain.

The boot camp will provide training for new and aspiring social entrepreneurs, focusing on such topics as busi-ness skills, legal issues, scalability, measuring impact, ethics and ben-efit corporations.

Participants will also receive one-on-one mentoring from estab-lished business leaders and social enterprise experts. Participants will be selected from a pool of applications. Ap-plications will be ac-cepted through Feb. 28, and can be submitted online at RockefellerIn-stitute.org.

Representatives from each partner orga-nization will judge the applications, and the selectees for the boot camp will be notified by March 30. The selected attendees will then be required to complete a “lean canvas.”

The lean canvas is a one-page business mod-el designed to summa-rize a business’s value proposition, infrastruc-ture, customers and fi-

nances. The model is designed as a visual chart, with one half fo-cusing on key areas of market development, such as customer seg-ments and revenue streams, and one half focusing on the product offered, with categories such as problems ad-dressed and cost struc-tures.

A successfully com-pleted lean canvas aims to provide the ba-sic building blocks to all of the company’s activi-ties. Each team/partici-pant’s lean canvas will be developed through-out the boot camp.

Steve Clark, founder of Propak Logistics and co-founder of Rockfish and Noble Impact, will serve as the boot camp’s keynote speaker.

Also confirmed to serve as a speaker and mentor is Trish Flana-gan, founder of Picaso-lar and Show Me Solar Power, and co-founder of Noble Impact; Per-mjot Valia, renowned business mentor and internationally recog-nized expert in entre-preneurship; and Todd Brogdon, CEO of We-strock Coffee.

Scholarships will be available for some ap-plicants and are avail-able online at Rocke-fellerInstitute.org. For more information about the program, call the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute at 501-727-5435.

Applications available for Social Entrepreneurship

Boot Camp

The following business, government and community leaders represented Faulkner County on the Chamber’s annual D.C. Fly-In. Front row, from left: Kelley Erstine, UCA; Danny Ferguson, Southwestern Energy; Taylor Ross, intern; Lori Scroggin, Conway Regional Health System; Laura Grimes, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce/Conway Development Corporation; Jamie Gates, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce/Conway Development Corporation; Jeff Standridge, Acxi-om; and Bill Adkisson, Conway Development Corporation board chairman. Back row, from left: Tim Gorman, Rogers Group; Faulkner County Judge Jim Baker; and Mayor Tab Townsell.

Recently, three tech companies announced plans to locate in downtown Conway. Together, these companies will create 140 jobs. The fact that the announcements all came on one day and that they are all locating downtown rightly garnered a great deal of attention.

It was a remarkable moment in our city’s eco-nomic history. It gave the impression that down-town Conway’s tech and office sector was some-thing of an overnight success. That’s not exactly the case.

What has happened is that downtown has slow-ly grown its office sector into something that now is creating its own energy. It has achieved criti-cal mass. Most of this growth took place without the visible signs of cranes, groundbreakings and the like.

Downtown Conway’s building inventory and footprint has remained roughly the same for the last 50 years. In many cases, the area has lost sig-

nature buildings (depots, theatres, hotels, etc.). But now, buildings that were previously vacant, being used for storage or in disrepair, are being used to house a new generation of professionals.

On Main Street, Centennial Bank employs more than 200. These employees are not just run-ning our local branches; they’re running a publicly traded, multi-state banking enterprise. The Salter family has renovated and reinvented the former Regions Bank building into an almost-full Metro Square. The Nabholz family turned the old, most-ly vacant, post office into a bursting-at-the-seams Federal Plaza. It is home to 100 or more employ-ees.

On Front Street, the Halter Building is home to two of the three recently announced companies. But it’s also home to other tech interests, such as ABC Financial and the Arkansas Research Alli-

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Chamber leads delegation to Washington

Editorial

The quiet boom; Tech companies create new jobs


Fourth-generation builders tom and

kevin watson combine expertise in watson and watson

constructionFourth-generation builders Tom and

Kevin Watson have more than 70 years of combined experience in residential construction. After working indepen-dently, the Watson brothers now oper-ate under one roof with the formation of Watson and Watson Construction Inc.

“Tom and I worked together for years as Generation Builders, and then we op-erated separately for 15 years or longer,” Kevin said. “In October 2013, we decid-ed to join forces again and blend each of our areas of expertise.”

Tom and Kevin Watson have built homes in Faulkner County and central Arkansas for 38 and 33 years, respec-tively. Although they are both builders, the brothers have different areas of fo-cus that, when combined, further Wat-son and Watson’s mission to be a “total construction resource.”

Kevin, a licensed real estate agent, assists clients in the budgeting, concept and design aspects of their new home. He is actively involved in sales and the day-to-day business operations for Wat-son and Watson Construction.

“My role is to get the plans togeth-er and the details that go along with it. Tom actually gets it done and is the one out there in the field,” Kevin said.

While Tom also is involved in the sales and business development aspects of Watson and Watson Construction, his primary role is to oversee the construc-tion process.

As owner and contractor, Tom as-sures quality and attention to detail in building projects and manages relation-ships with subcontractors, vendors, and clients.

“When the concept and building pro-cess is complete, we culminate at the end to make sure the project finish-

es strong and our client is happy,” Kev-in said. “With each project, our aim is to continue to establish ourselves as one of the premier builders in central Arkan-sas.”

Virtual navigation is a breeze through WatsonAndWatson.net, where homebuyers can easily view client testi-monials, previously constructed homes, new home building sites and homes available for sale.

Custom Home-Building Process Watson and Watson Construction

manages clients’ homebuilding projects from start to finish. The family-owned business has a staff of six who walk cli-ents through the entire homebuilding process – from site selection to closing on the property.

“We sit down with each client and go through what they want in a home and custom design the floor plan so they don’t have to use stock plans,” Kev-in said. “They can create it complete-ly from scratch and hav a lot of involve-ment in the process.”

For homebuyers who are undecided

about their future home’s layout, Wat-son and Watson Construction has a vast inventory of custom home plans that Tom and Kevin have built.

“When people come in with needs and ideas, we usually can find the per-fect plan,” Kevin said.

“Tell us what you like, and we’ll turn that into your dream home,” Tom add-ed.

After the client has approved the plans and budget, the selection sched-ule begins. A strategically designed, floor-to-ceiling showroom is incorporat-ed into the Watson and Watson Con-struction office at 700 Padgett Road, al-lowing homebuyers to see, touch and experience some of the possible finish-es for their home. Tom’s wife, Cindy, ad-vises clients on design and detail and helps them bring their visions for their custom homes to life. Kevin’s wife, Mi-chelle, is business manager for Watson and Watson Construction. She helps cli-ents keep track of the invoices and costs associated with their new home con-struction.

The Watson and Watson office is

probably one of few in central Arkansas that includes a complete design center. They also have a visual electronic de-sign center set up along with samples of products that they install. A variety of options for roofing, flooring, doors, fin-ishing hardware, faucets, cabinetry and countertops are located throughout the facility. Tom pointed to the roofing op-tions in the entryway.

“When you walk into the office, you’ll see options for bricks, rocks and roofing. We have a roof built inside to show an example of a standing seam metal roof,” Tom said. “Those looking to build a home can visit our showroom and walk away with a good idea of what kinds of prod-ucts will be in the home,” Kevin added.

Once construction begins, homeown-ers remain in constant communication with the team at Watson and Watson Construction.

“We provide completion schedules that inform our clients of key dates, such as when the foundation will be laid, when the lighting and flooring are scheduled to be installed, and when they can plan to move in,” Kevin said. “Because we are extremely organized in the initial phases as far as budgets, de-tails and schedules are concerned, the construction process is easy and enjoy-able for the client.”

Building on a Legacy Tom and Kevin Watson come from a

family of builders. “On the Watson side of our family, our father, grandfather and great-grandfather were builders,” said Tom. “Our mother’s father was also a builder in California.” Because of the family influence, the brothers got their start in construction at an early age. Tom completed and sold his first home the summer after graduating from Vilo-nia High School.

“After high school, I attended college at UCA, and then I came back to build-ing. I sold cars for a while, and then I came back to building,” Tom said. “I al-ways came back to it. “When interest

FOUNDATION < 6D

Building on a family foundation

Watson and Watson Construction Inc. has a vast inventory of custom home plans that Kevin (seated) and Tom have constructed.


Conway Chamber Photo

On Thursday, March 19, more than 900 business and community leaders will fill the University of Central Arkansas’ newly renovated HPER Center for the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting. A CEO-level speaker, an awards ceremony and special announcements comprise the largest business event in Conway. Tickets and sponsorships are on sale now at ConwayChamber.org. Individual tickets are $75, and sponsorships begin at $600, which include one table of eight.

rates soared to 17 percent in 1979-1980, I had to find something else to do for a year or two. But as soon as the in-terest rates got tolerable, I went back to building.” Kevin’s path was similar. “I helped Tom and my dad build hous-es early on and also went to college at UCA,” he said. I graduated with a bach-elor’s degree in education and taught

school for one year. I was building hous-es the entire time I was teaching and eventually began building houses full time. “Since then, I’ve been building ei-ther with Tom or on my own.

It’s always back to building.” For more information about Watson and Watson Construction Inc., including available listings and photo galleries, visit WatsonAndWatson.net or call 501-327-6444.

FOUNDATION from 4D

Price........Address..........Beds/Baths....Subdivision......SQFT.....$/SqFt.....Built

$350,000....43 Bluebird Lane...7/5/0.................Lakeview Acres.......4707........82.64............2005 $340,000....3270 Vineyard........4/3/1.................Falcon Crest............3514 .......101.02..........1999 $320,000....4980 Canal Place...4/3/1.................Westin Park.............3200........103.09..........2011 $277,000....2745 Glohaven.......4/4/0.................Cresthaven Ph II.....5278........64.8..............2007 $263,000....172 Carroll..............4/3/0.................none..........................3180........89.15...........2008

TOP RESIDENTIAL SALES, FEBRUARY

Upcoming business event

ance. And don’t forget about Amer-ican Management Corporation and Fairmont. These companies have been downtown for years but continue to shuffle, improve and redevelop of-

fice space. Down at North and Front Streets, Conway-founded Rock-Pond has filled its own historic building.

These companies and their employ-ees are leading our economy into the 21st century. And they’re bringing our downtown along with them.

BOOM from 3D

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, February 15, 2015 — 7D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

Unemployment RateDecember

Seasonally AdjustedUS.........................................5.6%Arkansas..............................5.7%

Not Seasonally Adjusted

US.........................................5.4%Arkansas..............................5.6%Faulkner County...................5.1%Conway.................................4.9%

Sales Tax CollectionsConway* November

2014............................$1,885,5872013..............................1,863,083Percent Change 0.3%

Year to Date (November)2014..........................$20,992,9992013............................20,935,315Percent Change .18%

Annual2013..........................$23,235,8912012............................22,944,163Percent Change 1.3%*Tax Rate 1.75%

Faulkner County* November2014...............................$710,1372013.................................687,686Percent Change 3.3%

Year to Date (November)2014............................$7,901,2322013..............................7,770,243Percent Change 1.7%

Annual2013............................$8,588,8352012..............................8,465,686Percent Change 1.5%*Tax Rate 0.5%

Restaurant Sales*

December2014..........................$14,036,9492013............................13,441,772Percent Change 4.4%

Annual Sales 2014........................$176,205,9652013..........................164,519,3692012..........................161,318,563

Percent Change 7.1%*Including mixed drink sales Hotel Sales

December2014............................$1,170,2592013..............................1,056,692Percent Change 10.7%

Annual Sales2014..........................$19,336,1692013............................18,559,3082012............................18,683,677Percent Change 4.2%

Conway Building Permits Single Family Homes

Annual2014..........................119 permits2013..........................147 Permits2012..........................186 Permits 2011..........................153 PermitsPercent Change -19.0%

Average Construction Cost*Annual

2014...............................$220,3112013.................................228,2752012.................................207,5372011.................................204,387Percent Change -3.5%*Not including land or lot im-provements

Average Square Footage*Annual

2014.....................................2,9292013.....................................3,002

2012.....................................2,9102011....................................-2,814Percent Change -2.4%

Average Construction Cost Per Square Foot*

Annual2014.....................................$75.222013.......................................76.042012.......................................71.332011.......................................72.64Percent Change -1.1%* Total under roof

Lottery Sales Faulkner County

Annual2014............................$14,193,2042013..............................17,038,2772012..............................16,943,909Percent Change -16.7%

Total StateAnnual

2014..........................$401,251,3652013............................432,932,7992012 ...........................452,245,215Percent Change -7.3%

Natural GasSeverance Tax Distribution

ConwayAnnual2014.................................$363,8372013...................................276,5232012...................................162,523Percent Change 31.6%

Faulkner CountyAnnual

2014.................................$296,4112013...................................224,4552012...................................131,418Percent Change 32.1%

Information provided by Pulse of Conway

EconomyGlanceDeadline approaching for Toad Suck Daze scholarships

Graduates of a Faulkner County high school or homeschool who plan to attend the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College, Central Bap-tist College or the University of Arkansas Commu-nity College at Morrilton during the 2015 fall se-mester have until Friday, March 13, to apply for a Toad Suck Daze Community Service Scholarship.

Applications are available online at ToadSuck.org or at the four participating colleges, all Faulkner County high schools and the Conway Area Cham-ber of Commerce.

The purpose of the Toad Suck Daze Communi-ty Service Scholarship is to encourage community service among Faulkner County youth and to pro-vide an opportunity for educational and communi-ty growth. For this reason, all scholarships require a minimum of 20 hours of active community service with a nonprofit organization in Faulkner County. Applicants also must complete 12 volunteer hours during the 2015 Toad Suck Daze festival, which will take place May 1-3 in downtown Conway.

Since the Toad Suck Daze Community Service Scholarship Program began, it has awarded more than $1.5 million in the form of direct scholarships, endowments and a pre-K initiative. Approximate-ly 290 Faulkner County students have received fi-nancial assistance through direct scholarships and endowments at CBC, Hendrix College, UCA and the Arkansas Community Foundation of Faulkner County.

This year the committee will award up to $25,000 in direct scholarships. Scholarships for $3,000 each will be awarded to students who plan to attend CBC, Hendrix College, or UCA.

Scholarships for $1,000 each will be awarded to students who plan to attend UACCM.

For more information, contact Mary Margaret Satterfield at the Conway Area Chamber of

Commerce at 501-932-5412 or [email protected].

Documents

2015-02 Faulkner County Business Journal