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Gene Whisenhunt Named President, CEO of Hickingbotham Investments

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Frank D. Hickingbotham, chairman and CEO of Hickingbotham Investments Inc. of Little Rock, said Friday that Gene Whisenhunt has been promoted to president and CEO of the private holding company.

Whisenhunt joined the Hickingbotham’s TCBY Enterprises Inc. in August 1989 as executive vice president and CFO. At the time, the publicly traded frozen yogurt company had more than 3,000 locations and operations in 70 countries. Hickingbotham sold the company in a $137.5 million deal in June 2000.  

Since 2000, Whisenhunt has served in a similar role with Hickingbotham Investments, and is also a part of the ownership group of the holdings of Hickingbotham Investments. The firm has diversified interests in automobile dealerships, Harley-Davidson dealerships, food service equipment distribution and real estate.

Hickingbotham Investments ranked No. 35 on Arkansas Business’ most recent list of the state’s largest private companies, with $271 million in 2015 revenue. The firm has 375 employees — 70 in Arkansas.

Before joining the Hickingbotham group, Whisenhunt worked at Ernst & Whinney, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, which in 1989 became Ernst & Young through a merger with Arthur Young & Co. He is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia and earned a masters of business administration at Louisiana Tech University of Ruston, Louisiana.

Whisenhunt recently served as chairman of OBU’s presidential search committee. In 2013, he was recognized as the CFO of the Year by Arkansas Business, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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