Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Arkansas Business Presents the 40 Under 40 Class of 2018

2 min read

This section of Arkansas Business is dedicated to our 25th class of 40 Under 40 honorees, and with each passing year (this is my 19th), the honorees seem younger and their accomplishments more impressive.

As always, these young leaders were selected by an internal committee, and we had more than 300 nominations to choose from. The committee considers previous accomplishments, both professional and in community service, and we certainly hope for great things in the future although we’re not in the business of making specific predictions. Any of these 40 names may be a breakout star in our state’s business community — but that’s true of the hundreds of nominees who weren’t selected.

That’s why I would never claim that these are the best or the most promising young leaders in our state. But our committee did find them very impressive, and we think that readers of Arkansas Business will benefit from being introduced to them.

The state’s population centers in central and northwest Arkansas are well represented, but we have also spotted accomplishment and promise in Jonesboro, Mountain Home, Sheridan, Hot Springs and Marion.

We also look for leadership in a variety of industries, and we look for diversity in gender and race — which has become easier than it was in the early years of this project.

The number of nominations gives us confidence that we have a quality class of honorees, just like a bigger school has a better football team. But there is a common drawback: The starters tend to be upperclassmen. This problem is the very reason Arkansas Business introduced a 20 in Their 20s feature nine years ago. We’ll be featuring those New Influentials in the Oct. 8 issue, so don’t forget to submit your nominations by June 30 at ArkansasBusiness.com/20. (Don’t worry: Nominees for 40 Under 40 who are still in their 20s will also be considered.)

A luncheon recognizing this year’s honorees will be held at the Embassy Suites in west Little Rock on Wednesday, June 14. The luncheon is open to those of us who never made the cut. For more details, go to ArkansasBusiness.com/40Lunch.

Gwen Moritz

Editor

The 2018 40 Under 40 Class

Send this to a friend