Movers and slakers

The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas held its 16th Arkansas Business Hall of Fame on Feb. 7. The first class crowd filled the promenade outside the Wally Allen ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center like a pile of marbles poured into a pail, fast and loud and displacing. Many of the Marriott staff trying to wheel large coolers of beer on ice to the bar stations simply stalled out amid the human traffic.

As is often the case, the hall induction ceremony brought out one of the most diverse crowds the Wally Allen will see all year, with a number of folks from the far northwest (Siloam Springs) and the Delta (Marianna); surrounding states such as Tennessee and Mississippi; even Charleston, S.C. and Jacksonville, Fla.

“They’re connected everywhere,” said David Speer, spokesman for the college, of this year’s class.

Despite being known as a farmer, inductee Stanley Reed once had his photo taken with Fidel Castro, Speer marveled.

Joining the late Reed in the 2014 class are:

Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty of Little Rock, current chairman of McLarty Associates and McLarty Companies and former CEO of Arkla Gas Co.

James H. Faulkner of Little Rock, founder of Faulkner & Associates, Falcon Productions and Falcon Publications, and Jimco, Inc.

Mark C. Simmons of Siloam Springs, chairman of Simmons Foods, Inc.

Everyone dined on baby spinach and strawberry salads, beef tenderloin and grilled chicken dinners with wild rice and roasted vegetables, and capped it off with individual apple and pecan pies.

McLarty, best known as a former White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton, said it’s “always special to be recognized by your alma mater,” and defended his induction into a business hall of fame this way: “While it was a privilege to be in public service and to serve President Clinton, I spent 10 years in our business, McLarty Companies; 10 years at Arkla Gas, 10 years in an advisory firm …”

Faulkner, who was effusive about his home state, said, “I’ve been coming to these things for quite a few years … and they’re special because it honors people who have done things for the state. Yeah, they’ve made a lot of their businesses and for themselves, but in doing so, they’ve also given so much to the state.”