Gary Rickenbach's emotional request was granted: The former One Bank & Trust executive was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service in exchange for pleading guilty to failing to report a crime.

The sentencing by U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker concluded the prosecution of bankers who worked for the late Layton "Scooter" Stuart, who was ultimately removed from the control of the Little Rock bank he owned before his death in March 2013.

Of four bankers charged in connection with a fraudulent $1.5 million loan, only Rickenbach was convicted. Charges against former CFO Tom Whitehead were dropped in exchange for his testimony against the other two, Mike Heald and Brad Paul, who were acquitted after a three-week trial in October.

Only the borrower, a Canadian resident of Florida named Alberto Solaroli, was sent to prison. He was sentenced to a year and a day after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of money laundering.

Wednesday's sentencing hearing was perfunctory until Rickenbach, sniffling and pausing frequently, described to Baker a "very long and tough journey" since he "made what I thought was a well-secured loan" in 2007.

He said he had been embarrassed by the "abject failure" of a loan to someone he subsequently learned was "a con man," and he took improper steps to try to mitigate that lending error. (He did not mention the fact that he had personally invested in Solaroli's company before shepherding the loan through the bank.)

Rickenbach said he had "asked myself a hundred times" why he didn't take the "easy and correct" course of simply writing off the loan. Instead, he and others at the bank refinanced the loan with new loans and collateral owned by Stuart, and the bank's loss was limited. But Rickenbach looked the other way when Stuart submitted a call report to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. indicating that the loan was merely past due when the bank had already sought and received a court judgment for the amount in Florida. That was the crime to which he pleaded guilty, technically called misprision of a felony.

Rickenbach to his former coworkers and to Dr. Jim Pappas and Paul Berry, the outside directors of the bank who were left to clean up the mess. He also apologized to his wife and two children. 

"Every time there was another article in the paper, my family paid for it," he said.

The probationary sentence was what Rickenbach had hoped for when he offered in November 2015 to plead guilty to misprision, but Baker rejected that conditional plea. On Wednesday, she calculated the guideline sentence for his crime at between eight and 14 months in federal prison, and the federal prosecutor, First U.S. Assistant Attorney Patrick Harris, asked her to cut it in half in exchange for Rickenbach's testimony against Heald and Paul.

Rickenbach's defense attorney, Bill James of Little Rock, had filed a sentencing memorandum suggesting that probation — which the prosecution had agreed to in the original plea deal — was still appropriate, and Harris took no position on that request.

In granting the probationary sentence, Judge Baker pointed out that she had "sat through a lengthy trial" — that of Heald and Paul — since rejecting the original plea deal and now considered it to be an appropriate sentence in Rickenbach's case.

Heald's attorney, Gary Corum of Little Rock, filed a motion last week seeking to have the federal government pay his attorney's fees on the grounds that the prosecution of Heald was frivolous.

Don't you love it when you get all ready for a party, and at the last minute it gets canceled? 

Although the new overtime exemption rules were not going to be a "party" for employers by any stretch of the imagination, many felt perplexed when a Texas judge pulled the rug out from under the Department of Labor days before the new overtime exemption rule was to go into effect and after many employers had spent months preparing to comply. 

Without going into too much detail, the judge decided that the new rule's salary level (which more than doubled the level set over ten years ago) went too far and exceeded the level of authority normally given to the Department of Labor to interpret the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The judge believed that Congress "defined the [white collar] exemption with regard to duties, which does not include a minimum salary level," and that the new rule's salary level supplanted the duties test. 

Here's the key portion of the judge's ruling:

"The broad purpose of 213(a)(1) was to exempt from overtime those engaged in executive, administrative, and professional capacity duties. Since the FLSA was enacted, the Department has promulgated regulations to define and delimit the EAP exemption. To be exempt from overtime, the regulations require an employee to (1) have EAP duties; (2) be paid on a salary basis; and (3) meet a minimum salary level. The Final Rule raises the salary level from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually). The salary level was purposefully set low to 'screen out the obviously nonexempt employees, making an analysis of duties in such cases unnecessary.'  . . . The Department has admitted that it cannot create an evaluation 'based on salary alone.'  . . . But this significant increase to the salary level creates essentially a de facto salary-only test. . . . Congress did not intend salary to categorically exclude an employee with EAP duties from the exemption."

Basically, the judge saw the new salary level as "the tail wagging the dog."  

So, what now? 

If you have already planned to transition some of your employees from exempt to non-exempt or increase wages for some to meet the new salary level, and you have already talked to your employees about it, think about going through with it for a couple of reasons. 

First, it is entirely possible the Texas judge's ruling will be overturned in whole or part since the Department of Labor has appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Do you really want to back out of the transition at the last moment, only to have to restart it? 

Second, it's entirely possible President-elect Trump and the Republican Congress will enact a change to the Fair Labor Standards Act in early 2017; it's even possible (although not probable) President Obama and the current Congress could agree on some type of alteration, like a gradual phase-in period for the new salary level. Why not make the planned transition and then see how things play out in the next four-to-six months? 

Once things are finalized — either through the appellate process or a new law — you can decide whether to maintain the post-transition status for your employees.

Remember, the "default" rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act is that everyone is eligible for overtime unless a specific exemption applies. Assuming you have no issues with employees working off-the-clock and you calculate overtime rates correctly, paying hourly wages and making employees overtime eligible (the route a lot of employers were taking to comply with the new rules) will help insulate your business from wage and hour claims.

Attorney Stuart Jackson heads up the Labor & Employment Law team at Wright Lindsey Jennings in Little Rock. You can email him here and see this post on the WLJ website.

WASHINGTON — A healthy increase in home values and higher stock prices drove up U.S. household wealth in the July-September quarter, though the gains are largely concentrated among wealthier Americans.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

A 52-unit apartment complex in Little Rock weighed in at $1.4 million.

Parker Investments Group LLC, an affiliate of Trinity Multifamily of Fort Smith, purchased the Clearbrook Village Apartments at 619 and 719 Brookside Drive.

The seller is Serene Rock Ventures LLC, led by Michael Vick Jr. and Jason Mathis.

The 1.46-acre development previously was tied to an October 2005 mortgage of $1 million held by One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

Serene Rock acquired the project for $1.28 million more than 11 years ago from Presbyterian Village Inc. of Little Rock.

Liquid Assets
A water company in southeast Pulaski County tipped the scales at $1.3 million.

Liberty Utilities (Woodson-Hensley Water) Corp. of Oakville, Ontario, bought the water treatment plant at 24920 Hwy. 365 in Woodson and a water tower in Hensley.

The seller is Woodson-Hensley Water Co., led by James Walden.

The 0.89-acre water treatment plant site was purchased as part of two transactions with Dr. John Busby and his wife, Thelma, $500 in May 1965; and Irene Woodell, $8,000 in February 1992.

The 0.23-acre water tower site was acquired for $300 in May 1964 from Pauline Meade.

Bike Building
A 10,520-SF commercial building in Little Rock’s Riverdale area changed hands in an $835,000 transaction.

Off the Front LLC, an affiliate of Little Rock’s HIA Velo high-end biking venture, purchased the 1509 Rebsamen Park Road project from James Clements and Reggie Marshall.

The deal is financed with a 10-year loan of $688,000 from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The 0.78-acre development previously was linked with a March 2013 mortgage of $710,000 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The property was bought for $300,000 in January 1994 from Rosenbaum Brothers Partnership, led by Carl and Charles Rosenbaum.

Commercial Land
A 5-acre commercial parcel in west Little Rock rang up a $577,000 sale.

Rector-Phillips-Morse Inc. of Little Rock acquired the land near the northwest corner of Shackleford and Shackleford Ridge roads from LL Ark Properties LLC of Minneapolis.

The property was purchased for $525,000 in September 2015 from the Rachel Randell Trust, the Lora Koen Trust and the Kenneth Ray Koen Trust.

Cancun Acquisition
A 4,303-SF Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Jacksonville drew a $325,000 transaction.

LOM Inc., led by Leonor Ortega-Amaya, bought the former Mexico Chiquito at 1524 W. Main St.

The seller is HSRE LLC, led by Lisa Glidewell. The deal is funded with a 15-year loan of $360,000 from BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The 0.69-acre property was acquired for $31,500 in March 1966 from Frank Carder Sr., and his wife, Faye, and Frank Carder Jr., and his wife, Mary Jane.

Country Club House I
A 5,517-SF house near the Country Club of Little Rock weighed in at $1.2 million.

The namesake trusts of Jeremy Davis and Holly Sanders purchased the house from Craig and Lisa Douglass.

The deal is backed with 30-year loans of $417,000 and $183,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The residence previously was tied to a May 2009 mortgage of $257,927 held by Centennial Bank.

The property was bought for $660,000 in December 2005 from the Robert Richard Revocable Trust.

Country Club House II
A 2,974-SF home near the Country Club of Little Rock is under new ownership after an $855,000 transaction.

Gregg and Paige Day acquired the house from Casey and Rodney Rockwell.

The residence previously was linked with a June 2016 mortgage of $358,000 from Stone Bank of Mountain View.

Rockwell purchased the property for $255,000 in December 2013 from the Theresa M. Larimore Revocable Living Trust.

Ridgefield Abode
A 4,378-SF home in west Pulaski County’s Ridgefield Estates neighborhood sold for $678,000.

Rex and Deborah Critzer bought the 10-acre spread from Don and Kimberly Fowler.

The residence previously was tied to April 2013 mortgages of $417,000 and $64,800 held by IberiaBank Mortgage Co. of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The Fowlers acquired the property for $602,000 more than three years ago from Rex and Jane Bell.

Rivercrest Residence
A 5,992-SF home in Maumelle’s Rivercrest Estates neighborhood changed hands in a $600,000 transaction.

Peter Nikolakakis purchased the house from Robert and Tina Chastain.

The Chastains bought the property for $800,000 in May 2007.

The sellers were Albert and Sharon Reece.

Hallen Court Home
A 3,350-SF home in the Hallen Court neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development rang up a $550,000 sale.

Don and Kimberly Fowler acquired the house from Crain Family Holdings LLC, led by Larry Crain Jr.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $360,000 from IberiaBank Mortgage.

Brandon and Hope DeGroat forfeited the property in lieu of foreclosure three months ago to Crain Family Holdings, which held a September 2015 mortgage of $465,000.

The DeGroats purchased the location for $98,000 in July 2014 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

Chenal Circle Abode
A 3,548-SF home in west Little Rock’s Chenal Circle neighborhood drew a $542,000 transaction.

James and Kim Cherry bought the house from Darrell and Angela Baker.

The residence previously helped secure a November 2015 mortgage of $900,000 held by First Security Bank of Searcy.

The Bakers acquired the house for $520,000 in October 2015 from the Jack Harper Family Trust.

RV Refinance
The owner of a recreational vehicle dealership in Sherwood picked up a $3.3 million financial package.

PR Properties LLC, led by Paul Minton, received the five-year loan from Bank of the West of San Francisco.

The 9.65-acre River City RV development at 6721 Warden Road previously was linked with a November 2013 mortgage of $3 million and a November 2014 mortgage of $500,000 held by Arvest Bank.

The property was assembled in deals with Stafford Kees Jr. and his wife, Mary, $1.5 million in October 2001; and First Security Bank, $300,000 in July 2012.

Land Loan
A 21.95-acre tract in west Little Rock was used to secure a $2.4 million funding agreement.

Rowan Development LLC, led by Jasen and Jacob Chi, obtained the six-month loan from First Security Bank.

The land between the south end of Aldersgate Road and Shackleford Road previously was tied to a January 2008 mortgage of $3.2 million held by the bank.

The property was purchased for $3.3 million nearly nine years ago from ERC Foundation Inc., led by Mark Davis.

Seven-Digit Construction

Mini Storage     $3,800,000
601 Autumn Road, Little Rock
Richardson Builders LLC, North Little Rock
 
Infrastructure Upgrades    $2,000,000
USAble
416 W. Fourth St., Little Rock
Baldwin & Shell Construction Co., Little Rock
 
Popeye’s Chicken       $1,100,000
8815 Baseline Road, Little Rock
L.R. Mourning Co., Little Rock

Dr. Stavros Manolagas has been named the 2016 recipient of the Veterans Administration Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development Service’s highest honor, the William S. Middleton Award.

The honor includes a cash award of $5,000 plus $50,000 per year for three years in additional VA research support.

Manolagas is a researcher with both the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine.

Patrick McCruden and Robert Schulte have been elected to the board of directors of Arkansas Hospice in North Little Rock. Bruce Holsted and William Smith have been elected to the board of directors of the Arkansas Hospice Foundation, also located in North Little Rock.

John Bonner, Dina Bates and Kevin McKenzie have new roles at Farm Bureau Insurance in Little Rock. Bonner has been named vice president of underwriting, Bates was promoted to vice president of products and education, and McKenzie was named vice president of claims. The three longtime employees together have 85 years of experience with Farm Bureau Insurance.

Joe Dunn has joined the management team of Gateway Bank in Bryant as executive vice president. Dunn holds a degree from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking in Dallas.

See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.

Bank of the Ozarks shares have followed a sometimes precipitous trek during the past few quarters. The pricing landscape traveled by the $18.5 billion-asset bank holding company is marked by several dramatic climbs and descents.

The topography of the company’s two-year stock price resembles a mountain range dominated by three peaks with a fourth major summit now under formation. Market activity established four high points for OZRK closing prices:

• $48.27 on June 22, 2015;
• $54.69 on Dec. 1, 2015;
• $44.74 on April 20, 2016; and
• $50.07 on Dec. 6, 2016.

Interspersed with the ridges are low-point valleys:

• $39.25 on Aug. 24, 2015;
• $36.73 on Feb. 11, 2016; and
• $34.82 on June 27, 2016.

The ups and downs of stock pricing are at odds with a company where re-cord earnings are the norm rather than the exception.

“Earnings have not lagged,” said Matt Olney, research analyst with Little Rock’s Stephens Inc. “This has just been a valuation issue. Expectations are that strong earnings will continue. It’s only a matter of time before the valuation rebounds.”

And valuations did rebound though some of the 2015-16 price swings were larger than historical patterns.

George Gleason, Bank of the Ozarks chairman and CEO, shrugs off the uncharacteristic movements as vagaries of the market relative to the performance of his company.

“There’s a disconnect for a season,” Gleason said. “That doesn’t really matter. As long as we keep putting up excellent results, the stock price will eventually reflect it. That is our approach. Our focus is on the long-term performance of our company and stock.”

The occasional bouncing valuation of OZRK shares is sometimes tied to investment community concerns that have so far proven to be misplaced.

Among the concerns in some quarters was that Bank of the Ozarks perhaps had overpaid for Community & Southern Holdings Inc. of Atlanta and C1 Financial Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida.

The nearly $800 million stock-swap deal for the $4.4 billion-asset Community & Southern represented a tangible book value multiple of about 1.8.

The $402.5 million stock swap for the $1.7 billion-asset C1 franchise clocked in at about 2 times tangible book value.

Helping feed misgivings were the longer than expected time it took to close the deals announced in October and November 2015. The July 20 Community & Southern purchase and the July 21 C1 acquisition came about three to four months later than anticipated.

An added wild card for some was the unexpected July 26 exit of Trevor Burgess, former CEO of C1 who resigned as chief innovation officer and director at Bank of the Ozarks.

“The informed people who follow our company and our track record understand our transactions,” Gleason said. “We had done our homework. If anyone did have concerns, our third-quarter results certainly put those issues to rest.”

On Oct. 11, Bank of the Ozarks announced record third-quarter net in-come of $76 million, a whopping 64.8 percent increase over the third quarter of 2015.

The results followed the company’s July 11 announcement of record second-quarter net income of $54.5 million, up nearly 22 percent from the same quarter in 2015.

“Our asset growth and earnings have just been excellent,” Gleason said. “There’s really no reason whatsoever that the fundamentals of our company are so good and our stock price isn’t.”

CRE Concerns
Bank of the Ozarks hasn’t been immune from creeping concerns about commercial real estate lending, the chief fuel of the company’s profit machine.

“They’ve probably been among the best and most effective commercial real estate lenders,” said Olney of Stephens Inc. “Some investors who rewarded Bank of the Ozarks for that in the past are now punishing the company for what they perceive as too much commercial real estate lending. It’s a fickle thing.”

The worry about possible overbuilding affecting commercial real estate was among the topics Gleason addressed in the company’s Oct. 11 conference call with analysts.

“You’ve got all of these articles and a lot of these articles are self-propagated articles,” he said. “You know, one person writes an article about CRE, that causes another person to write an article about CRE, and you have this whole litany of articles about CRE written by people who by and large don’t understand the market, and in many cases some do, but many don’t. The result of that is you end up with a lot of commentary about the markets that is just not consistent with the reality that’s occurring in the market.”

Timur Braziler, analyst with Wells Fargo Securities in New York, asked in the conference call if Gleason saw any warning signs or cause for fear related to commercial lending on the national scene.

“No, and what I will tell you is that our product by and large — whether it’s speculative homes or lots, commercial lots or residential lots or condos or speculative buildings — our product is selling faster than we modeled in the majority of cases and not slower,” Gleason said. “And in our universe of customers and our universe of projects, the trends are very positive.”

He acknowledged that Bank of the Ozarks draws attention as one of the largest and most active CRE lenders in the nation and tends to get lumped in with worrisome broad brush critiques of the commercial lending scene despite its profitable quarterly march through the Great Recession.

Gleason has told the investment community he doesn’t expect another Great Recession but if one happens, Bank of the Ozarks is “superbly prepared.”

“Simply stated, we believe our CRE portfolio is the lowest risk CRE portfolio in the industry,” Gleason said during the third-quarter conference call.

The tumble taken by shares in a Houston-area appliance retailer is the only reason for a new name among the 10 largest stockholders in Arkansas.

A year ago, the heirs of W. R. “Witt” Stephens Sr. were among the top 10 because their shares in Conn’s Inc. of The Woodlands, Texas, were valued at more than $140 million. But Conn’s share price, which flirted with $80 back in 2013, has slumped from more than $25 a year ago to $10.80 on Dec. 2, the date used for ranking this week’s list of the top stockholders in the state. (Conn’s stock rebounded to the $13 range last week.)

As a result, the Witt Stephens family dropped to No. 14, and Gary George of Springdale, chairman of George’s Inc. and a director of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell, moved into the No. 10 spot. The Securities & Exchange Commission, to which officers, directors and large shareholders must disclose the number of shares owned, considers George to be the beneficial owner of more than 1.4 million shares of J.B. Hunt stock worth nearly $140 million. More than a third of those shares are held by CL George & Sons Ltd. rather than by Gary George personally.

Shares in the trucking company are worth considerably more this month than they were in December 2015. The Dec. 2 closing price was $96.33, up 24 percent in a year. Three trading days later, on Wednesday, it cracked $100 for the first time in intraday trading, and ticker symbol JBHT opened at $100.25 on Thursday.

J.B. Hunt stock is the foundation of two other top-10 stock fortunes on this week’s list: the heirs of founder J.B. Hunt (widow, Johnelle, and son, Bryan), No. 3 with stock valued at almost $1.9 billion, and director Wayne Garrison, who moved from No. 8 last year to No. 7 with stock worth $223.6 million.

The top stockholders, as always, are the heirs of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton. Their disclosed stock in the Bentonville retailer was valued at $112.7 billion as of Dec. 2, and they had another billion dollars worth of combined stock value in three other companies: First Solar Inc., Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Enphase Energy Inc.

A distant second — but richer than ever on paper — are the heirs of Don Tyson, whose class A and B shares in meat and poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc. were worth $4.15 billion.

Year-over-year improvement in the price of both Murphy Oil Corp. and Murphy USA Inc. helped the Murphy family of El Dorado maintain its spot at No. 4. Members of the family are also major stockholders in the Murphy Oil spinoff Deltic Timber Corp. and of BancorpSouth Inc. of Tupelo, Mississippi.

Despite continuing revenue challenges — see Holidays Should Buoy Dillard’s Slow Sales — Dillard’s Inc. stock was slightly higher on Dec. 2 than it had been a year ago. That kept the heirs of founder William Dillard at No. 5 on the list. (CEO William Dillard II is a director of Acxiom Corp. and Barnes & Noble Inc., so his holdings in those companies are also included in the family total.)

Bankers George Gleason, Rick Massey and Johnny Allison round out the top 10 at Nos. 6, 8 and 9 respectively. The stock in Bear State Financial Inc. attributed to Massey, its chairman, includes nearly 19 million shares owned by Bear State Financial Holdings LLC, of which Massey is the managing member. Gleason’s total includes shares held by his wife, Linda, a director of Bank of the Ozarks Inc., where George Gleason is chairman and CEO.

Allison is chairman of Home BancShares Inc. of Conway, the parent company of Centennial Bank.

The List

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission requires public disclosure of stock held by officers, directors and any person or entity that owns at least 5 percent of the outstanding shares of any publicly traded company. The information included in Arkansas Business’ annual list is gleaned from corporate proxy statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed with the SEC.

Unless otherwise noted, the shares are deemed by the SEC to be owned outright by the person or family listed. Exercisable options and restricted shares are generally not included.

The stockholders on the list can be presumed to have other investments, even in publicly traded companies, that aren’t made public and therefore aren’t included in the totals.

Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a nonprofit loan fund that works in partnership with Southern Bancorp Inc. of Little Rock, said Tuesday that it has received $2 million — the maximum available under the Financial Assistance program of the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution Fund.  

SBCP was among 196 organization to receive money from the fund this year. The money is awarded to institutions like SBCP based on their success in providing financial access to underserved communities.

"We are honored to have once again been selected as a CDFI Fund award recipient," said Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp Inc. "These awards are critical to the mission of financial organizations like SBCP that are working to increase access to capital and financially strengthen families in low-income communities."

Southern Bancorp and SBCP have used previous awards to increase lending. Dominik Mjartan, CEO of SBCP and executive vice president of Southern Bancorp, said this year's award will allow SBCP to extend financial development services like credit and homebuyer counseling, financial education and free tax preparation to more of Southern Bancorp's markets.

One other Arkansas CDFI, the Bank of Lake Village, received $700,000 from the fund.

The Federal Reserve is raising a key interest rate for the first time in a year, reflecting a resilient U.S. economy and expectations of higher inflation. The move will mean modestly higher rates on some loans.

The Fed signaled in a statement Wednesday that additional rate increases will likely be made slowly as the economy improves and inflation edges closer to the Fed's 2 percent target.

The central bank is increasing its benchmark rate by a quarter-point to a still-low range of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent. The Fed last raised the rate in December 2015 from a record low near zero set during the 2008 financial crisis.

More: Read the Fed's complete statement here or at the end of this article.

President-elect Donald Trump's plans for tax cuts and infrastructure spending have led investors to expect that inflation will pick up in coming months.

The economy, after growing at an anemic annual rate of 1.1 percent in the first half of this year, accelerated to a 3.2 percent pace in the July-September quarter. That pickup has lifted hopes that the economy will keep rising, fueled by steady hiring gains. The unemployment rate is at a nine-year low of 4.6 percent.

In the month since Trump's victory, investors have sent stock prices surging to record highs and driven up bond yields. The markets have calculated that Republican control of Congress will enable Trump to cut taxes, ease regulations and accelerate infrastructure spending — and that higher economic growth, inflation and corporate profits will result.

The Fed's action Wednesday should have little effect on mortgages or auto and student loans. The Fed doesn't directly affect those rates, at least not in the short run. But rates on some other loans — notably credit cards, home equity loans and adjustable-rate mortgages — will likely rise soon, though only modestly. Those rates are based on benchmarks like banks' prime rate, which moves in tandem with the Fed's key rate.

Mortgage rates have been surging since Trump's election victory last month on expectations that his economic program will accelerate economic growth and inflation.

Some Fed watchers expect faster growth to lead the central bank to shift its focus from trying to energize the economy to considering ways to counter the risk of too-high inflation. On that assumption, some are revising their forecasts for Fed rate hikes in 2017.

Before Trump's victory, the consensus view of economists was for two Fed rate increases next year. Now, some say they foresee three or possibly as many as four. Others think the Fed will be hesitant to step up the pace of rate hikes. For one thing, Trump's economic program still must win congressional approval and could undergo significant change along the way.

Last month after Trump's election, Yellen told a congressional committee that Fed officials would be monitoring Congress' actions and "updating our economic outlook as the policy landscape becomes clearer."

Other Fed officials have endorsed that wait-and-see approach.

Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff announced its intention to enter the Oklahoma market by acquiring Southwest Bancorp Inc. of Stillwater.

The pending purchase of the $2.47 billion-asset public company represents the largest Simmons acquisition to date, and it push total assets at Simmons to more than $10.6 billion. The combination stock swap-cash deal, valued at $564.4 million, is expected to close during the third quarter 2017.

Under terms of the agreement, each outstanding share of common stock and equivalents of SBI will be converted into the right to receive 0.3903 shares of the Simmons common stock and $5.11 in cash: all subject to certain conditions and potential adjustments.

In addition to Oklahoma, Southwest's Bank SNB network of 31 branches will also open the door to new markets in Texas and Colorado as well expand the Simmons franchise in Kansas.

Bank SNB operates 18 offices in Oklahoma, five in Texas, four in Kansas and three in Colorado, with total loans of $1.87 billion and deposits of $1.95 billion.

The bank, which employs a staff of 393, recorded net income of nearly $12.9 million through the first nine months of 2016.

Bank SNB reported annual profits of almost $19.3 million last year, more than $21.8 million in 2014, nearly $20.7 million in 2013 and about $18.4 million in 2012.

Most of the owners of the 30-story Regions Center in downtown Little Rock filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 9, about a month before a hearing to decide whether to appoint a receiver for the property.

In the initial filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the owners, in 24 separate bankruptcy filings, listed estimated debts of between $10 million and $50 million. A more detailed filing is expected later. The owners’ assets also are estimated between $10 million and $50 million.

The bankruptcy filing automatically puts a hold on all legal proceedings against the property owners, including the foreclosure lawsuit filed against them in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 9.

An attorney for Regions Center's owners, Mark Rubin of Florida, told Arkansas Business Friday afternoon that the owners expect to be out of bankruptcy in the first or second quarter of 2017.

"We have a plan to reorganize the property and payoff the loan and to finance it with a new lender," he said.

Wells Fargo Bank filed the lawsuit, alleging that the 32 LLCs with an ownership interest in the building defaulted on a $32 million loan used to buy the property in 2006. As of Nov. 7, according to the bank, the defendants owed $29.6 million.

Wells Fargo also asked for an emergency hearing to appoint a receiver. That hearing was scheduled for Jan. 12 in front of Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza, but is now stayed.

"The lender was being a little heavy handed with the way that they were preceding," Rubin said. "We felt that the most appropriate action would be to go to bankruptcy court where they have to have a referee in the room with them to make them do the things that they should do according to the contracts that we have with them."

In bankruptcy filings, the owners listed its 20 largest unsecured creditors: Moses Tucker Real Estate Inc. of Little Rock, owed $145,000; Colliers International Valuation & Advisory Services LLC of Little Rock, owed $145,000; and Entergy Corp. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, owed $60,000.

"This isn't an issue of about not having money. This is an issue of a dispute with a lender," Rubin said. "So we just have to figure out in this process how we move this lender out and bring somebody that's going to be more commercially reasonable."

Earlier this year, the 547,000-SF Regions Center was listed for sale with a $40 million asking price.

Dusty Middleton has been hired as senior vice president, senior lending officer and Harrison market manager for Stone Bank of Mountain View.

Middleton was formerly a senior vice president and loan manager for Community First Bank in Harrison, now Equity Bank, and a vice president and branch manager for the Western Grove branch of Bank of the Ozarks.

Frank Bailey, co-founder and partner of the Bailey & Oliver Law Firm in Rogers, has been recognized as one of Arkansas’ top 50 lawyers by the 2016 Super Lawyers report.

Super Lawyers is a legal rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas and uses a rating process that includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

Ken Stuckey, director of talent acquisition and development for Pace Industries of Fayetteville, has joined the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council board of directors in Alexandria, Virginia.

He leads the talent acquisition and workforce development initiatives for its 4,000 U.S. and Mexico employees. He will be responsible for producing talent pipelines, building technical bench strength through workforce development, creative sourcing and recruiting and retaining technical talent.

See more of this week's Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.

A name change and new parent company are accompanying the pending acquisition of Forrest City Bank.

Big Creek Bancshares Inc. of Moro (Lee County) staked a trademark claim on ArmorBank in connection with the deal.

Mark Waldrip, president and CEO of Big Creek, owns a 75.2 percent stake in the new bank holding company.

His son, Nathan, chief financial officer of the family’s Armor Seeds enterprise, and Stephen Edwards, president of GES Inc. of Marianna, will each own 9.5 percent.

GES operates the Food Giant grocery store chain, with supermarkets in Forrest City, Harrisburg, Marianna and four locations in Little Rock, along with convenience stores in McCrory and Augusta.

The acquisition of Little River Bancshares Inc. marks a departure from past means of exchange for First Community Bancshares Inc. of Batesville. The deal closed Monday.

“This is our first stock-swap transaction,” said Dale Cole, First Community’s chairman and CEO.

FCB is issuing 2,922 shares to acquire Little River’s $31.5 million-asset bank. The value of that stock is about $2.24 million ($767 per share).  

First Community used cash to buy Missouri’s Goodman State Bank for $3.1 million in July 2008. The same goes for its February 2010 purchase of the Mountain Home branch of Community First National Bank of West Plains, Missouri.

This time, First Community is folding in rather than buying out investors in the parent company of Little River Bank of Lepanto (Poinsett County).

Little River also will be folded into the $1.1 billion-asset First Community franchise, which includes two branches in neighboring Craighead County.

The roster of largest investors with a stake in Little River is dominated by members of the extended Portis family:

• Henry Watkins III of Lepanto, 17.8 percent, worth about $399,007;
• Danette P. Lawrie of Lepanto, 17.74 percent, worth about $397,662;
• Juliet Romano of Seattle, 15.88 percent, worth about $355,968;
• Dannal Perry of New Orleans, 15.64 percent, worth about $350,588;
• Hadley Arnold of Memphis, 10.85 percent, worth about $243,215;
• Julanne Portis of West Memphis, 9.93 percent, worth about $222,592; and
• Benjamin Perry of West Memphis, 9.48 percent, worth about $212,505.

The year-end high-water mark for total assets at Little River Bank was nearly $55.4 million in December 2004.

The bank has struggled to turn a profit since 2008. Only two of the past eight years have ended in the black for Little River Bank.

During 2008-15, the lender generated a loss of $332,000. The first three quarters of 2016 produced a $165,000 loss.

First Community, a member of the De Novo Class of 1997, will celebrate its 20th anniversary in August.

Little River Bank, Lepanto

Total Assets: $31.5 million
Net Income: -$165,000
Equity Capital: $4.4 million
Staff: 9 at one full-service location in Lepanto.
(As of Sept. 30)

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. All dollars in thousands.

Fewer & Fewer
The Little River sale will reduce the head count of the smallest banks in Arkansas from seven to six.

The remaining field of sub $50 million-asset banks in Arkansas includes:

• The $15.6 million-asset Community State Bank of Bradley (Lafayette County),
• The $37.8 million-asset First State Bank of Crossett,
• The $41.2 million-asset Farmers Bank of Hamburg,
• The $42.8 million-asset Bank of Bearden (Ouachita County),
• The $45.7 million-asset Merchants & Planters Bank of Clarendon and
• The $47 million-asset Forrest City Bank (See Forrest City Bank Soon To Suit Up in New Name).

Shandong Sun Paper Industry’s decision to put a $1.3 billion pulp mill in Clark County was the most viewed story on ArkansasBusiness.com this year.

Arkansas Business had been tracking the company’s plans, officially announced April 26, since at least 2013, the same year Gov. Mike Beebe announced the $1.3 billion Big River Steel project, now wrapping up construction in Osceola.

At the time, word circulated that state and local economic developers had been working on another billion-dollar project. Arkansas Business reported in Whispers in February 2013 that Sun Paper was looking to invest in a pulp mill in Camden or Arkadelphia.

Back then, Camden was said to have an edge, with the Chinese eyeing that city’s former International Paper Co. site. But the Clark County site, just south of Arkadelphia near Gum Springs, boasted quick interstate access.

When official word finally came down in April, Gov. Asa Hutchinson called the project one of “the largest private investments in the history” of Arkansas. Sun Paper’s founder and chairman, Li Hongxin, said the bio-refinery would result in 2,000 construction jobs over a two and a half years of building, about 1,000 indirect jobs and 250 permanent jobs.

The average salary will be about $52,000.

Stories about major new economic development projects and new jobs are reliable online traffic drivers, but so are stories about prominent Arkansas sports figures. And one sports star who still commands attention is former Razorback football star Darren McFadden.

McFadden, now a running back for the Dallas Cowboys, filed a lawsuit in June against his former family friend and financial adviser, Michael Vick of Pulaski County, accusing Vick of “gross incompetence, self-dealing and outright theft” of more than $15 million.

While the alleged theft and mismanagement haven’t left McFadden bankrupt, a friend of McFadden’s told Arkansas Business Senior Editor Mark Friedman, the incident once again showed that professional athletes can be vulnerable to fraud.

“The problem of financial fraud against professional athletes is pervasive,” Laurence Landsman, a partner at the Chicago law firm Block & Landsman, told Friedman. “It happens with alarming frequency, and it is a difficult crime to detect before the money’s gone.”

Vick has denied wrongdoing. Because of McFadden’s NFL schedule, the case is scheduled to go to trial sometime between March and May 2018.

The influence of Texarkana attorney John Goodson also caught reader attention in 2016.

It was Arkansas Business — specifically Friedman — that first reported in December 2015 a questionable legal strategy used by Goodson and other attorneys involved in a class-action lawsuit against the United Services Automobile Association. While a U.S. District Court judge was pondering how to sanction Goodson and others for what the judge called “forum shopping,” Arkansas Business was also investigating Goodson’s role in getting a group of out-of-state attorneys a contract with the state auditor’s office.

Friedman’s story revealed that state Auditor Andrea Lea agreed to pay the attorneys a contingency fee nearly twice as high as other states have committed to pay in a long-odds pursuit of unredeemed U.S. Treasury bonds that belonged to Arkansans.

The law firms were introduced to Lea by Goodson, one of her campaign contributors and the husband of Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson. While Goodson did not comment for the story, Lea told Friedman that Goodson’s campaign contributions didn’t play a role in her choosing the firms he recommended.

In the course of reporting the story, Arkansas Business learned that Lea repeatedly instructed staff to use private accounts to send emails about official state business to her private email address. Lea said she would implement “a new communication policy for the office to avoid any appearance of impropriety.”

Other People’s Money
Other people’s money — and how they use it — also drove clicks at ArkansasBusiness.com this year.

Friedman’s account of a legal dispute between Kristian Nelson and Mike and Gina Fullerton offered a glimpse into how the best intentions can have costly results.

The couple befriended Nelson, an ex-con, in part because they all attended the same church. The three teamed up to turn a former yoga studio on Pinnacle Valley Road into a restaurant and build an office building next door.

The deal soon collapsed; three separate suits were filed against Nelson and the construction company he worked for, alleging work on the project wasn’t done or properly completed. Meanwhile, Nelson filed liens and a civil suit against the Fullertons, alleging they used Nelson’s status as a convicted felon to keep him from getting an ownership interest in their joint business venture.

Marty Cook reported on a more successful investment: Gene Whisenhunt’s $19 million purchase of 375 undeveloped acres along Interstate 49 in Rogers in 2012.

The property had been forfeited to Bank of America as the result of $80 million in bad loans. Four years later, Whisenhunt’s bet is paying off, as development has restarted — in part because of Whisenhunt’s prescience.

“It signaled the end of the recession,” Ramsay Ball of Colliers International in Rogers said. “Those properties were stalled, and now they’re building out. They validated the region.”

Arkansas Business readers also remain fascinated by the state’s business leaders. This year, Arkansas Business unveiled a new feature profiling 10 of the state’s biggest “business icons.”

The brief overview that linked to the individual profiles of people like Warren Stephens, Johnny Allison, George Gleason and Alice Walton was not included in this year’s top 10 list. If had been, it would have been the No. 1 most visited article of the year by far.

The Full List

1. Sun Paper of China Picks Clark County for $1.3B Pulp Mill — Gwen Moritz and Lance Turner
2. NFL's Darren McFadden Learns Lesson From Financial Fumble — Mark Friedman
3. John Goodson Helped Law Firms Get State Auditor Contract Potentially Worth Millions — Mark Friedman
4. Church Friendship Collapses Along With Building Plans — Mark Friedman
5. Whisenhunt’s $19M Cash Bet In Northwest Arkansas Pays Off — Marty Cook
6. Pulaski County's Most Expensive Home Sales of 2015 — Mark Friedman
7. Arkansas Hospitals Face Lawsuits After Refusing Insurance — Mark Friedman
8. New Owners Leave Lindsey’s Resort in Familiar Hands — Alexis Hosticka
9. Developer Brandon Woodrome’s $2M Fraud Seen From The Inside — Mark Friedman
10. Inside New Overtime Regulations, Traps to Avoid, How to Prepare (Stuart Jackson Commentary)

Bonus: Ten Arkansas Business Icons Have Stories to Tell — Gwen Moritz

“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”

“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.

“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”

“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”

“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.

“Both very busy, sir.”

“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”

“Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”

“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.

“You wish to be anonymous?”

“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge.

If you have the luxury of Abundance, perhaps you’ll take time to remember — “at this festive season of the year”— the many who feel keen Want, even in this great and generous nation.

Arkansas Business Publishing Group shuts down between Christmas and New Year, so there’s always a reward for pushing on through. I don’t think I’ve ever been so eager for a year to end while simultaneously dreading the new one.

A year ago, I used this space to make a “grown-up Christmas list,” riffing on an Amy Grant song, and I actually got some of what I wished for. The middle class in America did see a rebound in median income. Abuse of the justice system in Arkansas was punished rather than rewarded. People who bribed state officials were sentenced to prison rather than given immunity.

I would enjoy those blessings more if two of my wishes hadn’t been ground into dust and watered with my tears.

A year ago, I actually wrote these words: “2016 being an election year, my list also includes this standard wish: That anyone who sets out to mislead the public be thwarted.” Instead, a man who entered the political arena by promoting a malicious lie about the citizenship of the current president was himself rewarded with the presidency.

I also wished last Christmas that someone would figure out a new business model for the news industry that would support the kind of robust reporting and editing staffs we had when I entered the field almost 35 years ago. I explained then that this was not just a selfish wish: “I genuinely believe that democracy depends on an informed electorate,” I wrote, blissfully ignorant that the next few months would reveal the depravity of the minds that were already rushing in to fill the void.

(A young man, undereducated and unemployed, becomes increasingly religious and ultimately feels compelled to drive 350 miles to conduct his own armed assault on a pizzeria in response to ominous messaging about the actions and motives of American political figures that he obsessively accesses online. Clearly, radicalizing propaganda can work on susceptible Christians too, but are Christian parents monitoring the fake news their children are absorbing?)

A year ago I knew we would be facing a miserable election year, but I assumed (stupid me) that we would end up with a president who was fit and prepared for the job, even if not perfectly aligned with my opinions. Now I have no idea what to expect from 2017.

Will Donald Trump actually get interested in the details of legislation? If so, will he actually try to deliver on some promises made to the working class? (Will he even remember what those promises were? He said he forgot completely that he had made some kind of promise about Carrier jobs in Indiana.)

Or will he rubberstamp any legislation that Congress sends over in exchange for letting him do whatever he wants with the office of the presidency — including continuing to produce a reality TV show?

A huge question for me: What will happen to the Affordable Care Act? Trump may have forgotten that he promised to replace it with something much, much better, but 20 million Americans — including 300,000 Arkansans — are counting on him not to pull the rug out from under them.

Politically, of course, it was absolutely unthinkable for any Republican to vote to make improvements in Obamacare while Barack Obama was president. Perhaps now, with Trump getting all the credit, Congress will make the fixes that could have been done years ago.

I think that’s the only wish I’ll make publicly this year: That politics finally take a back seat to the reality that millions of hardworking Americans, many of them employed by readers of Arkansas Business, simply cannot afford health insurance without help from the government.

The last issue of the year is an indulgence for the Arkansas Business reporting staff. We revisit what we think have been the biggest business stories in Arkansas in the past 12 months, and we remind ourselves and our readers of the most interesting things newsmakers have said and done.

Next week, subscribers will receive the Book of Lists. It’s a compilation of the lists — accounting firms, banks, hospitals, etc. — that we do every week of the year, and this year we’ve added a section of “Market Facts” for a big picture that complements the minute detail of the lists.

I’m the editor of the Book of Lists, but I’m also its biggest fan. I use it almost every day; I can’t imagine how anyone who sells anything in Arkansas lives without it. Here’s a pro tip for 2017: When the Book of Lists hits your desk, get a big fat marker and scrawl your name across the front immediately.

Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. Email her at GMoritz@ABPG.com.

Six weeks ago, we told you that Batesville’s First Community Bank was looking to enter the Little Rock market and looking at a former Allied Bank location.

Well, an $850,000 deal was struck to acquire the dormant branch at 4900 Kavanaugh Blvd. from Allied’s regulator-assisted successor: Today’s Bank of Huntsville (Madison County).

We understand the 1,426-SF facility will start operations as a loan production office with an eye toward becoming a full-service branch down the road.

Who will be in charge of the new office?

René Julian, a Batesville boy, who comes to First Community via First National Bankers Bank of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Julian was a senior vice president in FNBB’s Little Rock office and before that a vice president with Regions Bank.

The first day of 2016 saw the death of a political giant in Arkansas, Dale Bumpers, and in April, Ray Thornton, a respected politician, jurist and educator, died.

Also passing during the year were a number of noted philanthropists, such at Pat Walker; business heavyweights, such as Tyson’s Buddy Wray; and beloved media veterans, including Ben Fry, Allen Weatherly and Beth Ward Haynie.

Following is a reminder of some of the notable deaths of 2016.

January

Dale Bumpers, 90, a former Arkansas governor who served in the U.S. Senate for 24 years, died Jan. 1. Bumpers, considered one of the most talented politicians Arkansas has ever produced, defeated Orval Faubus and Winthrop Rockefeller for governor in 1970 and J. William Fulbright in 1974 for the U.S. Senate. A gifted speaker, Bumpers delivered one of his best-known speeches defending President Bill Clinton during Clinton’s impeachment trial.

Hayes McClerkin, 84, former speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives, died Jan. 6. McClerkin, a prominent Texarkana lawyer, also served as an aide to Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. He was a member of the House from 1961-70 and was a member of the Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield board, serving as chairman 2004-11.

Bradley Dean Jesson, 83, of Fort Smith, a former chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, died Jan. 11. Most of his career was spent with the Hardin Law Firm, now Hardin Jesson & Terry PLC, but Jesson also served as Fort Smith city attorney, legislative secretary to Gov. Dale Bumpers, chair of the Arkansas Democratic Party, chair of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and special master for the Supreme Court in Lake View School District v. Huckabee, the landmark case involving public education in Arkansas.

Jim Hannah, 71, former chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, died Jan. 14. Hannah, a longtime circuit court judge, was elected to the court in 2000 and became chief justice in 2004, serving in that role until August 2015, when he resigned from the court because of illness. He was known for his efforts to make the court system more open to the public and to implement new technologies, particularly digital technologies.

Donald “Buddy” Wray, 78, former president of Tyson Foods Inc., died Jan 18. Wray was instrumental in transforming Tyson Foods into a corporate giant. The University of Arkansas established the Donald “Buddy” Wray Chair in Food Safety in the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture in 2004, and Wray was inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2012. He retired from Tyson in 2014.

March

Otto Jech, executive vice president of George’s Inc. of Springdale, died March 6. He was 86. Jech began his poultry career in his father’s chicken coop building business and in 1951 began taking care of a chicken farm for the founder of George’s. He was named executive vice president of the company in 1980.

Ben Fry, the longtime general manager of Little Rock public radio stations KUAR and KLRE, died March 10. Fry, 54, had been general manager of the two University of Arkansas at Little Rock-affiliated stations since 1995, overseeing financial management, engineering, programming and fundraising.

Bob Cooper Coleman Sr., a member of the family that founded Coleman Dairy in Little Rock, died March 18 at the age of 62. Coleman worked for 44 years at Coleman Dairy, which was established in Little Rock in 1862, sold to a dairy cooperative in 1995, and in 2006 became a division of Hiland, owned by Prairie Farms of Carlinville, Illinois. Coleman, head chef of the Coleman Cooking Team, also was active with the Arkansas Hospitality Association, which in 2013 honored him with the Maurice E. Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award.

John Simone, the former CEO of USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren, died March 24 in Fernandina Beach, Florida. He was 54. Simone led a turnaround of USA but took a leave of absence in April 2015 after being diagnosed with lung cancer; he later resigned in July 2015.

Joseph Stanford “Sandy” Boone, 93, of Springdale, a businessman and real estate developer, died on March 31. Boone, the founder of Original Homes Inc., helped organize the Northwest Arkansas Homebuilders Association and served two years as president. He was a director of the National Association of Home Builders for eight years.

April

Raymond Hoyt “Ray” Thornton Jr., 87, a former Arkansas Supreme Court justice and congressman, died April 13. Thornton served Arkansas as attorney general from 1971-73, U.S. representative for Arkansas’ 4th District from 1973-79 and U.S. representative for Arkansas’ 2nd District from 1991-97. He was a state Supreme Court justice from 1997-2005, and he was president of two Arkansas universities: Arkansas State University from 1980-84 and the University of Arkansas from 1984-90. Thornton was the nephew of brothers Witt and Jack Stephens, who founded Stephens Inc. of Little Rock.

Bettye Caldwell, of Little Rock, a pioneer in the field of early childhood development, an educator and a member of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame, died April 17. She was 91. Caldwell, whose research led to the creation of Project Head Start, also was a professor of education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1974, becoming a Donaghey Distinguished Professor in 1978, and in 1993, she became a professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Scott Hembree, 55, of Rogers, CEO of Global Dental Technologies in Bentonville, died April 23. Hembree, a Fort Smith native, was a former owner of Trans-American Tire and Trans States Lines in Fort Smith and Sugar Hill Farm in Paris. Hembree was the son of the late H.L. Hembree III, who served as chairman and CEO of Arkansas Best Corp., now ArcBest Corp.

Henry Ford Trotter Jr., a prominent Pine Bluff businessman, died April 25. He was 78. He joined his father in the family business, Trotter Ford, in the 1960s and worked there until his death, serving as chairman. The company, now Trotter Auto Group, expanded to own a number of automobile dealerships.

John Lisle, 77, founder of Lisle Rutledge Attorneys in Springdale, died April 27. Lisle, a trial lawyer, also served in the Arkansas Senate in 1981-83. “To many, being a lawyer was a job,” said his law partner, Donnie Rutledge. “To John, it was something much more. Something that is hard to put into words, but is fundamental, authentic and profound.”

Herbert “Herbie” Byrd, 87, of Little Rock, died April 29. Byrd was a longtime radio broadcaster who covered the Central High Crisis and politicians ranging from Orval Faubus to Bill Clinton.

May

Gus “Buddy” Blass II, 92, a Little Rock businessman and philanthropist, died May 8. Blass began his business career at the Gus Blass Co., leaving to start Capital Savings & Loan in 1961, which grew to almost $100 million in assets before it was sold in 1980. He founded Capital Properties in 1970. Blass served on the board of trustees of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville from 1981 to 1991.

Michael Allen Lasiter, 50, founder of Redstone Construction Group of Little Rock, died May 31. Lasiter expanded his paving and asphalt company into many areas, including building, recycling, excavation, real estate and the quarry business.

Neal Lance Gildner of Bismarck, owner of Gildner Autogroup in Arkadelphia and noted for his generosity to local nonprofits, died May 29. He was 60.

June

Gary DiGiuseppe, 60, a longtime central Arkansas journalist and newscaster, died June 1 in a vehicle accident. DiGiuseppe was the morning newscaster on “First News With Kevin Miller” on KARN.

Paul Barton, 58, of Arlington, Virginia, a journalist who once was Washington Bureau chief for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and whose career included covering Bill Clinton and interviews with President George W. Bush, died June 6.

Wayne Dowd, 74, of Texarkana, a former state senator best known for his work on the Arkansas juvenile justice code, died June 16. Dowd, who served in the Senate from 1978 to 2000, “inaugurated the juvenile court system in Arkansas,” said Tom Cabaniss of Texarkana, a retired CPA long involved in state and local politics. “He was big into judicial code and having a whole separate code for juveniles rather than just hardened criminals.”

Homer Connell, 73, founder of the popular plate lunch restaurant Homer’s Restaurant in Little Rock, died June 17.

Donna Kelley, a KARN radio reporter and newscast anchor, died June 26. She was 66. Kelley, who worked at KARN for 16 years, coming to Little Rock from Orlando, Florida, was remembered as a “consummate professional” and hailed for her journalistic integrity.

July

Don Soderquist, 82, of Rogers, a longtime executive with Wal-Mart Stores, died July 21. He started with Wal-Mart in 1980, serving as an executive vice president. In 1988, Soderquist became chief operating officer and vice chairman, retiring from those positions in 2000. He was inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 2010.

Randy Alexander, a leader in residential real estate in Arkansas who owned McKay & Co. Realtors, died July 22 in Little Rock. He was 71. Alexander joined McKay & Co. as a real estate agent when the company was founded in 1972. In 1980, he became president, and two years later, he purchased the firm’s residential sales division. He retired in 2010, when he closed the firm.

Sheilla Lampkin, 70, a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from Monticello, died July 23. Lampkin, a retired schoolteacher, was vice chairman of the House Education Committee.

August

S. Gene Cauley, 48, of Hot Springs, once a high-profile class-action lawyer in Little Rock before pleading guilty to stealing millions from a client trust account, died Aug. 12.

Ronald Gene “Ronnie” Baldwin, the executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Association, died Aug. 28. He was 63. Baldwin, a longtime law enforcement officer, also served five terms as Cross County sheriff, retiring in 2008.

September

Pat Walker of Springdale, a philanthropist and co-founder of the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, died Sept. 3. She was 97. Walker had been inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame just a few days earlier, on Aug. 25. Walker’s philanthropic contributions were enormous, and a number of institutions in Arkansas are named for her, among them the Pat Walker Theater at Springdale High School, the Pat Walker Health Center on the University of Arkansas campus at Fayetteville and the neonatal intensive care unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Andrew Jackson “Andy” Lee III, who served seven terms as Benton County sheriff from 1989-2002, died Sept. 5. He was 68. Lee also served as a Bentonville City Council member and as the executive director of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce. Lee was living in Florida but died while visiting relatives in Bentonville.

Pat M. Riley Sr., 92, a Little Rock businessman who invested in nursing homes and opened a number of health clubs, died Sept. 6. In the 1980s, Riley opened four clubs that evolved into the Little Rock Athletic Club, the Little Rock Racquet Club, the North Little Rock Athletic Club and the Downtown Athletic Club. Riley was a member of the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame.

Dr. W. Martin Eisele, 94, of Hot Springs died Sept. 14. Eisele, one of the first board-certified surgeons in the state of Arkansas, also served as president of the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and was instrumental in promoting a new Hot Springs Community College.

Dale Freeman, Lawrence County judge, died Sept. 17 at 75. He was instrumental in a successful special countywide sales tax election last fall to pay for a new county jail.

Eugene John Post Sr., founder of Mount Bethel Winery in Altus, died Sept. 18. He was 88. Post served on the Franklin County Quorum Court for 42 years.

October

Maurice Jennings, a prominent Fayetteville architect and partner of famed Arkansas architect E. Fay Jones, died Oct. 10. He was 68. Jennings worked on many noted projects, including Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs and the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista.

Ron Loveless, 73, a former Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club executive, died Oct. 17. Loveless started at Wal-Mart as a store stocker and worked his way up through the company until Sam Walton, Wal-Mart’s founder, picked him to head the new Sam’s Club division. Loveless retired from the company in 1986.

Ray Gosack, former Fort Smith city administrator, died Oct. 21. He was 58. He worked for the city for 20 years in a number of roles. During his tenure, the city developed its first comprehensive plan, and Gosack was instrumental in the revitalization of downtown Fort Smith and the redevelopment of Chaffee Crossing.

November

Allen Weatherly, 64, who led the Arkansas Educational Television Network through 15 years of awards and online expansion, died Nov. 1. Under Weatherly’s leadership, the Conway-based network of PBS member stations increased educational services, including online professional development for teachers, produced programming and training for Ready to Learn, the network’s children’s media service, and archived the memories of Arkansas’ World War II veterans.

John “Skip” Gregory, 79, a Rogers businessman active in city affairs, died Nov. 7. Gregory, who had owned Gregory’s Menswear in Rogers, served as a city councilman, interim mayor for three months and member of the Rogers Planning Commission.

Reginald D. “Reggie” Marshall, 58, of Little Rock, an interior designer and co-founder of Marshall Clements Interiors & Antiques, died Nov. 30.

December

Christen Franke, an owner and operator with her family of Franke’s Cafeteria in Little Rock, died Dec. 4. She was 37.

Donna Galchus, founding member of Cross Gunter Witherspoon & Galchus PC of Little Rock, died Dec. 4. She was 70. Galchus practiced labor, employment and immigration law for the firm, founded in 1997.

Ron Pierce, 81, of Mountain Home, the founder of Bass Cat Boats and a former member of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, died Dec. 4. Pierce was Mountain Home’s mayor from 1976 to 1986 and served on the Game & Fish Commission from 2006-13.

Edward Eugene “Gene” Lewellen Sr., of Little Rock, the owner and operator of Terry’s Finer Foods in Little Rock’s Heights neighborhood for more than 30 years, died Dec. 5, 2016. He was 83.

Beth Ward Haynie, 74, a fixture on Little Rock television for more than 37 years, died Dec. 8. Known as Beth Ward, she had hosted the noon newscast of KTHV, Channel 11, which she had helped launch in 1987 as “Arkansas Today,” and the morning show. She was also widely known for her weather reporting and for hosting “Dialing for Dollars” on KARK, Channel 4, where she began her television career in 1968.

Donald Corbin, 78, of Little Rock, a retired Arkansas Supreme Court justice, died Dec. 12. Corbin also served in the state House of Representatives and on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. He was elected to the state Supreme Court in 1990, retiring at the end of 2014, and participated in a number of high-profile decisions, writing decisions that struck down a ban on gay foster parents and a law requiring voters to show photo identification.

“He wasn’t unkind, but he was a crook.”

— David Hoffman of Santa Cruz, California, reflecting on his business dealings with accused serial fraudster John Rogers of North Little Rock

“I always try to remember what my dad told me years ago: ‘Don’t ever forget what it’s like to sit on the other side of the desk.’”

— Darwin Hendrix, chairman and CEO of the Bank of Delight (Gurdon Girding for More Bank Competition)

“He said he was looking for pine trees, and I said, ‘You’re talking with the right person because we have a lot of those in Arkansas.’”

— Mark Hamer, director of business development in Asia for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, on a 2010 breakfast conversation with Hongxin Li, chairman of Shandong Sun Paper Industry JSC Ltd. that led to a billion-dollar industrial announcement for Clark County in April 2016

“Everyone says that if Batman had a mower, it would be a Spartan.”

— Robert Foster, founder of Intimidator Inc. of Batesville, maker of Spartan zero-turn lawn mowers

“It was something that devastated me. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through in my life.”

— Robert Foster, describing his split with former business partner Phil Pulley, co-founder of Bad Boy Mowers of Batesville, now a rival of Foster

“I grew up in the Holden Avenue Church of Christ in Newport, Arkansas. Jesus loves all the children, red and yellow, black and white. That’s it. That’s my politics.”

— Little Rock lawyer David Couch, who uses initiated acts to liberalize Arkansas law

“David is a stickler for the law. Whatever one might say about David Couch, he is a defender of the law. He believes in it. He never hides behind it. But he thinks it’s a tool for good.”

— Marsha Scott, a political and organizational consultant discussing Couch’s initiative efforts

“Alice leaning on us pretty hard helped. She flew us up there several times. We really did not want to go to Bentonville.”

— Dallas restaurateur Shannon Wynne, describing how Alice Walton persuaded him and his business partners to locate a Flying Fish restaurant in Bentonville

“I don’t want to be a chain and I don’t want to be a Chili’s. I want to have a little neighborhood corner restaurant. I like funky.”

— David Stobaugh, co-owner of Stoby’s Restaurant in Conway, which is being rebuilt after a fire in March

“It’s our home. It’s always great to come home. We feel like being headquartered in Little Rock has been an advantage for us in a lot of ways.”

— Warren Stephens, CEO at Stephens Inc. (Business Icons: Warren Stephens Steers Company Into Growth, Expansion)

“I don’t have anything before me that the plaintiff put a gun to the defendant’s head and made him sign the note.”

— Yell County Circuit Judge Terry Sullivan before granting a $2 million summary judgment against Lex and Ellen Golden of Little Rock, who personally guaranteed to repay the loan to Chambers Bank of Danville

“I always tell people: We’re not making widgets here. We’re making a good time.”

— Michael Marion, general manager of Verizon Arena in North Little Rock (Verizon Arena On Track for Biggest Revenue Year Ever)

“Running a restaurant is exactly like running a political campaign. Your clientele are your constituents. You’ve got to communicate with so many different kinds of people from so many different socioeconomic backgrounds and get along and delegate and make quick decisions. You are in politics, sister. You may not realize it, but you are.”

— Little Rock Director Kathy Webb’s advice to Trio’s co-owner Capi Peck, who ran successfully for the Little Rock Board of Directors

“You take people with innovative-type ideas and you get innovative-type results. That is innovation alley over there. During the next 20 years, it is going to become the next redevelopment hot spot.”

— Margaret McEntire, founder and former owner of Candy Bouquet International, on the growing wave of commercial makeovers along Sixth Street east of Interstate 30 in Little Rock

“If you wade into the water, whatever is in that water is on your leg.”

— Matthew Davidge on buying the former Equity Broadcasting/Soul of the South facility in west Little Rock and the historical controversies associated with both endeavors

“We’re one of the very few airports that set out with that goal and made it.”

— Ron Mathieu, executive director of the Clinton National Airport, on becoming debt-free entering 2016

“It was a cage match and it didn’t disappoint from a spectator’s point of view.”

— Bob Clausen, KARK anchor, describing Donald Trump’s election night victory over Hillary Clinton

“The only time I was scared [during the 2008-09 financial crisis] was when I remembered Mack had got me into the car business.”

— Robert L. Johnson, billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television, joking about his automotive partnership with Mack McLarty

“Four in 10,000 customers: Even the EPA lets that ride sometimes as acceptable levels of cancer.”

— Pat Costner of Eureka Springs, who generates her own solar power, speaking to the state Public Service Commission on the tiny number of current “net metering” customers served by Arkansas utilities

“Yes, Don Hale and I have been conspiring for years and we finally figured out how to dominate the north-central Arkansas financial industry.”

— Kirby Williams, joking about the news that he and Hale had gone to work for separate banks after decades of running their own advertising firms in Hot Springs and El Dorado.

“I had only a dream and determination. And something else that was incredibly valuable — my first client.”

— Elise Mitchell on starting her Fayetteville PR firm, representing Promus Hotel Corp.

“Newspapers are going to be around for a while. But they’re going to be a premium product for a premium price.”

— Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman Jr. (Business Icons: Walter Hussman Delivers Innovation to Newspaper Industry)

“The old model was essentially building a very expensive factory to process expensive newsprint paper and sending tons of it out daily by an expensive transportation system only to be looked at once and thrown away.”

— Former Arkansas Gazette Editor Carrick Patterson, describing the daily newspaper business model he now sees as moribund

“I am struck by what we were like 10 years ago, like lemmings about to go off a cliff. We were blissfully ignorant and just thinking about return.”

— Rick Adkins, president and CEO of Arkansas Financial Group Inc., discussing the pre-2008 housing bubble

“I saw all those records at the Rose Law Firm, and there was nothing there to be secretive about. Maybe [Hillary Clinton] was embarrassed for people to know the piddling little stuff she was doing for her legal fees.”

— Little Rock journalist Ernest Dumas on the presidential candidate’s penchant for privacy, a trait that dogged her from her Arkansas years to her defeat last month

“This is exactly the kind of project they want to invest in. It’s in the U.S., a stable country, and it’s in an area that needs development, Jefferson County.”

— Roger Williams, CEO of Energy Security Partners, describing equity funds’ reaction to his plans to build a $3.5 billion plant to turn natural gas into liquid fuel north of Pine Bluff

“My path was anything but typical. I was a single mother before I started working. I was going to be the best receptionist I could possibly be.”

— MaryEmily Slate, on how she rose from being a 19-year-old without any college to become a vice president and plant manager at Nucor Steel

“I couldn’t face it; I should have faced it. If I had faced it, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here.”

— Dennis Smiley Jr., the former president of Arvest Bank’s Benton County market, describing how his personal financial habits led him to commit bank fraud

“I don’t know how he got up and went to work at Arvest Bank.”

— U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III before sentencing Smiley to 97 months in federal prison for bank fraud

“The future is very bright. It darn well better be; I own a lot of stock.”

— Robert Young after retiring as chairman of the ArcBest board of directors after reaching 75

“He’s not going anywhere for three years. He’s going to be on speed dial for me.”

— Tom Hayes on Donnie Smith, whom he will replace as CEO of Tyson Foods on Dec. 31

“This gamesmanship is improper in any case. That it has become standard practice for some Respondents only further convinces the Court that this conduct is an abuse of the judicial process.”

— Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III on attorneys involved in a controversial class-action case

“We have a huge problem with North College: It looks like shit.”

— Builder Mark Zweig on his quest to rehabilitate one of Fayetteville’s main corridors.

“You don’t know whether to shake his hand or lick his face. My son’s 5 and he looks older than Doug McMillon.”

— James Corden, host of the Wal-Mart shareholders extravaganza, about the company’s baby-faced CEO

“We planned a lot of things this morning. That was not one of them.”

— Walmart CFO Brett Biggs after Corden gave him a long hug and a kiss after introducing him at the shareholders meeting

“At my advanced age, it was going to be short term.”

— Tom Glaser, 66, about his six-month tenure as interim CEO of USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren

“The goal is not to create winners and losers. The goal is statewide productivity increase.”

— Maria Markham, director of the state’s Department of Higher Education, on the state’s new performance-based funding formula

“It’s a happy day for me. This is more than a gift; this is about an investment.”

— Tyson Foods Chairman John Tyson after his family and company donated $15 million to the Arkansas Children’s Northwest

“Our focus now is to find someone to come fill that void.”

— Gentry Mayor Kevin Johnston after the closing of all Walmart Express stores left his city without a grocery

“My clients are very proud of that settlement.”

— Attorney John Elrod of Fayetteville about plaintiffs’ attorneys, including John Goodson of Texarkana, who received $1.85 million from a controversial class-action settlement while only 4 percent of the class members filed a claim

“The fact of the matter is that the parties still unapologetically defend their right to silently forum-shop away from a judge that would scrutinize their settlement and safeguard absent class members’ interests.”

— Ted Frank, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness (Class-Action Watchdog Says Sanctions Should Stand Against Attorneys)