University of Arkansas Walton College Announces 2013 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Inductees

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Business leaders from areas ranging from the dairy industry to banking to sales and document imaging and management of a diversified holding company have been selected to join the 58 other distinguished members of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.

Established in 1999 by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame recognizes the exceptional business success its honorees have achieved in Arkansas and beyond. Selections are made by the Hall of Fame’s board of directors based on nominations it receives each year.

The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame board is pleased to announce that these outstanding leaders will be inducted into the hall of fame on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013:

• Thomas E. Boyer of Amarillo, Texas, owner and founder of Micro Images and a  graduate of the business college at the University of Arkansas, where he was an All-American basketball player.
• W.C. “Buddy” Coleman Jr. of Little Rock, former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Coleman Dairy. Coleman passed away in 2011.
• William L. Cravens of Little Rock, a certified public accountant and professional engineer who retired after a long career in banking and telecommunications management. He continues to serve as a director of the Oaklawn Jockey Club.
• Frank Fletcher Jr. of North Little Rock, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Frank Fletcher Companies, a holding company that owns or controls 20 separate corporations.

“This year’s inductees represent the breadth of accomplishment by business leaders from Arkansas,” Walton College Dean Eli Jones said. “These individuals join the distinguished list of members of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame who continue to inspire the future leaders of our state and of the nation with their outstanding achievements in a wide variety of business endeavors.”

The Arkansas Business Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held 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 Larry T. Wilson, chairman and chief executive officer of First Arkansas Bank & Trust, Jacksonville, Ark. 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, living inductees must be over the age of 60.

Jones and selection committee members met with the inductees or their families to inform them of the honor. He and committee member Phillip Tappan met with the Coleman family. Jones, Wilson and committee members Tappan, Sherman Tate and Bob Shoptaw met with Cravens and Fletcher. Committee members George Westmoreland and Bill Kennedy met with Boyer.

Thomas E. Boyer

Shortly after retiring from the Eastman Kodak Co. in 1989, Thomas E. Boyer founded Micro Images in Amarillo, Texas. Within two years, Micro Images had become the largest Kodak Document Imaging Systems broker and reseller in the United States and maintained that status for seven consecutive years. That successful launch followed Boyer’s 26-year career at Kodak during which he received the Phil Samper Award recognizing the sales professional in the company demonstrating outstanding sales performance throughout his career. He was the only sales manager in the history of Eastman Kodak to exceed corporate sales goals for 26 consecutive years. In 2000, Boyer was presented with a national award, the Medallion for Entrepreneurship. He has an extensive record of service to the University of Arkansas, where he graduated in business in 1964. Boyer served for four years as the chair of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, was vice chair of the University of Arkansas Foundation Board of Directors and chaired the Walton College’s Dean’s Executive Advisory Board from 2003 to 2008. He and his wife Sylvia are founding members and gold members of the Towers of Old Main. They were honored by the university as Volunteers of the Year in 1992 and received the Arkansas Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award in 1999.

W.C. “Buddy” Coleman Jr.

W.C. “Buddy” Coleman Jr. was born and raised on his family dairy farm in Little Rock and he grew and developed that operation into a statewide business. He was named president of Coleman Dairy Inc. in 1964. In 1971, he was elected chair of the board and chief executive officer of the company. The dairyman was recognized for his business and industry accomplishments many times over the years, serving as president of the Quality Chekd Dairy Products Association, president of the Southern Association of Dairy Food Manufacturers and the Arkansas Dairy Products Association, a board member of the National Dairy Council and a member of the Governor’s Advisory Committee to the Arkansas Grade “A” Milk Program. Coleman was also known as a sportsman and civic leader, working actively with the Boy Scouts of America, the Boy’s Club and Little League baseball. Coleman was a football official in the Southwest Conference for 26 years, working in more than 250 college football games and 15 bowl games, including two national championship games. He was an inductee and past president of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and was president and a board member of numerous charitable and civic organizations, including service as President of Kiwanis Activities Inc., which runs the Joseph Pfeifer Kiwanis Camp. Coleman passed away in October 2011.

William L. Cravens

William L. Cravens’ business and professional career spans many years and a variety of endeavors. He has served as a leader for companies in manufacturing, public accounting, banking, information services and thoroughbred racing. After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering, he worked for General Electric in a job that took him to Kentucky, Massachusetts, Illinois and back to Arkansas. He moved to Little Rock to become a partner in the Russell Brown & Co. firm as a certified public accountant. In 1976, he moved to the First National Bank in Little Rock, becoming its president and chief executive officer. At the same time, he became a director of the Oaklawn Jockey Club, a position he still holds. He was instrumental in the merger of the First National Bank and Commercial National Bank, forming First Commercial Bank. He later joined Worthen Banking Corp., guiding it to a successful recovery and sale. After a brief retirement, Cravens returned as vice-chair and later chair of Alltel Information Systems. He also later helped establish Pinnacle Bank, where he served as chair. He is a long-time supporter of the University of Arkansas, being honored in 2006 by induction into the College of Engineering Hall of Fame.

Frank Fletcher Jr.

Frank Fletcher Jr. started as a salesman for DuPont Paint Co., calling on Walmart founder Sam Walton. Walton persuaded Fletcher to become a manufacturer’s representative for his young retail company and then later – when Walmart was moving away from factory reps and beginning to work directly with manufacturers – advised Fletcher to start a company and begin manufacturing his own goods. Fletcher took that advice and began building Cheyenne/Silverwood Industries, a business that is now the largest manufacturer of lamps and distributor of barstools in the United States. Fletcher expanded manufacturing into Taiwan and then China before selling the company in December 2010. Recognizing the value of diversifying, Fletcher is now chair and chief executive officer of Frank Fletcher Companies, a North Little Rock holding company with interests in 13 auto dealerships, commercial real estate, a hotel and three restaurants and a retail fur store. Fletcher, who graduated from the business college at the University of Arkansas in 1964, has shared his success with young entrepreneurs at the Walton College by founding Students Acquiring Knowledge through Experience (S.A.K.E.) and by speaking regularly to classes and student groups. Fletcher was named Walmart’s Vendor of the Year three times and was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Walton College in 2000.

A list of previous inductees into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame is available at http://waltoncollege.uark.edu/abhf/.

Tickets to the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a black-tie optional event, are $150 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 117, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201, 479-575-6146, by email at abhf@walton.uark.edu, or on the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame website.