UA Walton College Announces 2006 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Inductees

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Recognized for the lasting impact their businesses have made on the state of Arkansas, four distinguished Arkansans have been selected for the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.

The Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, and the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Board announced these outstanding business leaders for the 2006 induction ceremony:

. Frank Hickingbotham, founder and former chairman, TCBY Enterprises Inc.
 
. The Late William F. “Billy” Rector, founder, Rector Phillips Morse Inc. (RPM)
 
. Doyle W. Rogers Sr., chairman of the board, Metropolitan National Bank
 
. Forrest L. Wood, founder, Wood Manufacturing Company Inc. (Ranger Boats) 
 
Walton College Dean Dan L. Worrell said: “This year’s inductees built businesses that have made - and are continuing to make - a significant impact on the economy of Arkansas. The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame was founded in 1999 to highlight the important and lasting contributions of its talented business leaders. We feel it is important to the state’s future business leaders to honor and perpetuate these inductees’ names and accomplishments.”

The eighth-annual Arkansas Business Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Friday, Feb. 10, 2006, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame is permanently housed in the atrium of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development at the Walton College on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

The selection process was chaired by Walton College alumnus and Arkansas native Tommy Boyer, chief executive officer of Micro Images, Amarillo, Texas. A nominating committee of 20 business leaders encouraged people throughout the state and beyond to make nominations, and then a selection committee of 12 business and community leaders reviewed the nominations and chose the inductees. Criteria for selection included: the significance of the impact made as a business leader, the concern demonstrated for improving the community, and the display of ethics in all business dealings. In addition, the inductee must be over the age of 60.

Boyer said: “We are very excited about this year’s inductees. They join 29 other Arkansas business leaders in a place of prominence. Each of these distinctive people has made a major contribution to the state of Arkansas in terms of employment and revenues and has reached out and touched the nation with their expertise and services.” 

 Frank D. Hickingbotham founded TCBY Enterprises in 1981 and served as chairman and CEO until the company was sold in 2000. When he started the company, very few people had heard of frozen yogurt. Through his leadership, a new market segment was created as the company grew to over 3,000 locations in approximately 70 countries. Hickingbotham began his career as a junior high principal in his native McGehee, Arkansas. He started selling insurance as a sideline, and in 1968, he became a vice president at National Investor’s Co. In 1969, he entered the food business for the first time owning several companies, including AQ Chicken, Ole South Foods, which he sold to Tasty Baking Co. in 1976. He is also founder of FDH Bancshares, which consisted of five banks with assets totaling approximately $400 million. He merged the bank with First Commercial Bank, now Regions Bank. Among his many awards is the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Arthur Young and Venture Magazine. Hickingbotham holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas at Monticello and did graduate work at the University of Arkansas. He holds an honorary degree from Ouachita Baptist University.

The late William F. “Billy” Rector Sr. established the Rector Insurance Agency in 1931, which later became Rector Means & Rowland Inc. In 1955, he founded Rector Phillips Morse Inc., which in five years became Arkansas’ largest real estate corporation. It was the first real estate company to simultaneously have under construction and management a retail shopping center, residential subdivision, apartment complex, and commercial industrial park. In 1957, he founded Phillips-Morse Construction Co. to construct developments to be sold or managed by Rector Phillips Morse. In 1962, he developed the first condominium project in Arkansas. In 1966, he formed RPM Management Co. to manage company-owned and client projects. In 1968, he brokered the largest single land sales transaction in Pulaski County to what is now the Pleasant Valley subdivision and country club. Rector was born in Palarm, Ark., in 1913 and died in 1975. He graduated from Little Rock High School (now Central High School). He attended Little Rock Junior College (now University of Arkansas at Little Rock) where he studied business administration.

Doyle W. Rogers Sr. is chairman and founder of The Doyle Rogers Co. as well as chairman of the board of Metropolitan National Bank. A native of Batesville, Ark., Rogers began his career as a residential and commercial real estate developer in1953. In 1982, he developed and opened the landmark Excelsior Hotel (now the Peabody Hotel) and the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. In 1983, he acquired Metropolitan National Bank, which is one of the state’s largest banks with assets in excess of $1.2 billion. In 1985, he developed the Rogers Building (now the Stephens Building) in Little Rock. The Doyle Rogers Co. currently manages commercial real estate interests across the United States, including dozens of large-scale retail developments and a ski resort located in Winter Park, Colo. He has served on the board of trustees for Hendrix College. As a member of the Business Advisory Board for the College of Business Administration (now Walton College) in the 1970s, he played a key role in the fund-raising efforts for the current Business Building, completed in 1978. He holds honorary degrees from Lyon College and Philander Smith College. Rogers attended Arkansas State University, Arkansas Technical University and the University of Denver.

Forrest L. Wood founded the Wood Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Flippin, Ark. in 1968 to manufacture Ranger Boats. He is internationally known as the “father of the modern bass boat,” and his boat-building contributions are legendary. Wood and his wife, Nina, previously operated a fishing service and construction company and continue to be ranchers, operating one of the largest cattle operations in the state. A cowboy at heart, he named the boat after the Texas Rangers. His innovations in upright and level boat flotation encouraged the U.S. Coast Guard to adopt standards that continue to save lives today. Wood also helped pioneer the sport of competitive bass fishing. In 1998, Wood was appointed to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. He has been widely recognized for his contributions to conservation causes and has been inducted into five sport-related halls of fame. He received the American Sportfishing Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. Wood and his wife were featured in the books “Rare Breed — The Entrepreneur” and “An American Culture and Living Legends of Fishing.”

Previous inductees in the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame include:

. 1999 - the late William T. Dillard Sr., Dillard's Inc.; the late Charles R. Murphy Jr., Murphy Oil; the late Jackson T. Stephens, Stephens Inc.; the late Sam M. Walton, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

. 2000 - Joe T. Ford, ALLTEL Corp.; the late Harvey Jones, Jones Truck Lines; the late Donald W. Reynolds, Donrey Media (now Stephens Media Group); Don Tyson, Tyson Foods Inc.
 
. 2001 - the late Col. Thomas H. Barton, Lion Oil Co.; the late William E. Darby, National Old Line Insurance Co.; J.B. and Johnelle Hunt, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.; the late John H. Johnson, Johnson Publishing Company Inc.
 
. 2002 - Roland S. Boreham Jr., Baldor Electric Co.; the late Sheridan Garrison, American Freightways Inc. (now FedEx Freight East); Gene George, George's Inc.; Walter V. Smiley, Smiley Investment Co. 
 
. 2003 - Richard E. Bell, Riceland Foods Inc.; David D. Glass, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; the late Robert D. Nabholz Sr., Nabholz Construction Corporation; the late Louis L. Ramsay Jr., Simmons First National Corporation
 
. 2004 - the late John A. Cooper, Sr., Cooper Communities Inc.; the late Frank Lyon Sr., Frank Lyon Co.; Charles D. Morgan, Acxiom® Corp.; the late Robert A. Young, Jr., Arkansas Best Corp.
 
. 2005 - the late Dave Grundfest Sr., Sterling Stores Co. Inc.; James T. “Red” Hudson, Hudson Foods Inc.; Donald Munro, Munro & Co.  Inc. and Edward   M. Penick Sr., Worthen Banking Corp.
 
Tickets to the black-tie event on Friday, Feb. 10, 2006, are $125 per person. For more information about tickets and event sponsorships, please contact the Office of External Relations at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Business Building 343, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201, (479) 575-6146, by e-mail at abhf@walton.uark.edu, or on the Web at http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/externalrelations/halloffame.asp