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Best Quotes of 2005

6 min read

“I went through every analyst presentation, and it’s almost like it’s very hard to understand what Acxiom does by the way they communicate it. I gotta tell you, it ain’t that complicated when you get down to it.”

— Lou Andreozzi, hired by ValueAct Capital Partners to lead Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock if the company’s takeover bid is successful.

“My life is like a beautiful, multi-pane, stained glass window. … There is no way to explain what a good person I am.”

— Former Little Rock attorney Keith Moser, in a letter asking U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright for a lenient sentence for the 13 felonies he pleaded guilty to, including stealing nearly $2 million from unwitting clients.

“This has been the worst year of my life … When I go to sleep, it’s on my mind. When I wake up it’s on my mind.”

— Kenneth Way Jr., in court testimony on Keith Moser’s dipping into the $1.3 million proceeds from the sale of Way’s farm.

“You’d have to be a total village idiot not to make a lot of money if you had a couple of million dollars [to invest].”

— Lee Ward, owner of Realty Concepts of Fayetteville, on the lucrative practice of “flipping” real estate in northwest Arkansas.

“We all realized when we got back from Las Vegas what it’s like to be stalked.”

— Little Rock insurance agent Andrews Meadors, business adviser to middleweight boxing champion Jermain Taylor of North Little Rock.

“I lost money on that, but you learn more from your defeats than your victories.”

— Carl Corley, the Fort Smith entrepreneur, after buying a cracker company and landing a military contract to supply crackers for meals ready to eat (MREs) only to see a quick end with the quick end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

“We don’t get into business for fun.”

— Larry Crain, owner of Crain Management Group, on boosting his radio stations’ profitability.

“I tell them, ‘Welcome to the Minor Leagues, now grab a mop.'”

— Bill Valentine, the longtime general manager of the AA Texas League Arkansas Travelers, on what he tells interns who are chosen to work each summer with one of baseball’s most progressive internship programs.

“When you’re riding alligators it doesn’t really matter if the tide is coming in or going out, you just have to try to get things going.”

— Tony Moore, general manager of the Glove Corp. plant at Heber Springs, on the value of “lean manufacturing.”

“You’d think we were California and that this is the Gold Rush.”

— Debra Lang, White County assessor, on the rush for lucrative gas leases within the Fayetteville Shale Play.

“Frankly, it didn’t occur to him that anybody would mind him having this stuff.”

— Dallas attorney Ben Krage on materials client Gary Parisi took with him when he left Little Rock’s Acxiom Corp. in 2002. A Pulaski County Circuit Court jury eventually decided that Parisi broke the rules but did Acxiom no harm.

“It was considered a shoo-in until so many residents began talking about showing up at the meeting.”

— Chester Robinson, treasurer of the Royal Oak-Krooked Kreek-Martha’s Village Property Owners Association, on the $35 million redevelopment of Cadron Valley Country Club into Conway’s largest apartment complex.

“If people think that (any willing provider) will be without an increased cost, I would just suggest that there is no free lunch.”

— Paul Berry, a lobbyist for the Arkansas Employers Healthcare Coalition, a group representing 85-90 employers that opposed AWP, who said if the Arkansas Legislature approved it, rates could rise 20 percent to 25 percent.

“There are a lot of bottom-feeders in the world that can’t compete in a normal way so they have to resort to misinformation to engage in this false battle.”

— Duane Lammers, COO of Nexstar, calling out KATV-TV, Channel 7, for citing the company’s retransmission consent agreement with Comcast as a reason not to advertise with Nexstar-owned KARK-TV, Channel 4.

“We’re not interested in playing a game that some would describe as ‘green mail.'”

— William Floyd, president and CEO of Beverly Enterprises Inc. of Fort Smith, in a letter to Formation Capital CEO Arnold Whitman on the latter’s hostile takeover attempt.

“That sector had been searching for a bottom and hopefully we found it.”

— Jeff Collins, director of the Center for Business & Economic Research at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, on the state’s loss of manufacturing jobs.

“We were the subject of coffee table and cocktail party jokes.”

— Richard Ma-son. He and his wife, Vertis, have been the prime movers and inves-tors in the revitalization of downtown El Dorado.

“If someone comes in and buys a small, old house next door to me and then decides to tear it down and build one three to four times its size, it’s not going to do much for how my little place is viewed or the value of it.”

— Sandra Carter, a lifelong resident of the Hillcrest neighborhood in Little Rock where some have bought old bungalows, only to raze them and build larger homes.

“I believe that if you look at the facts with an open mind, you’ll agree that Wal-Mart is good for America.”

— Lee Scott, CEO of the world’s largest retailer, as criticism of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. mounted, backed primarily by the United Food & Commercial Workers Union and other labor groups.

“We think we can show them they can make more money by being a responsible member of our society, as opposed to the way they operate today.”

— Andrew Grossman, executive director of leading Wal-Mart critic Wal-Mart Watch.

“We’re a lot closer to knowing now than we were when we started.”

— Bruce Burrow, the developer of the proposed $80 million Shoppes at North Hills development at North Little Rock’s Dark Hollow wetlands area, who was hoping for a quick permit to start the project first proposed nearly three years ago.

“If you’re willing to walk a block, you won’t have a hard time finding parking.”

— Sharon Priest, president of the Downtown Partnership, on the availability of parking in downtown Little Rock

“Hot damn! How’d that happen in south Arkansas? But it’s happening.”

— Fred Duplantis, director of the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development, on the 2,600 people who found jobs in Ouachita, Calhoun and Dallas counties over the past two years.

“When you look at the game of business, I’ve won.”

— Jim Gaston, owner of Gaston’s White River Resort, talking about the death of his son, his depression and the future of the resort with his grandson, Danny Gaston.

“If we do a great job for our customers, we’ll do a great job for our shareholders.”

— George Gleason, CEO of Bank of the Ozarks, on the secret of building a successful bank.

“I will say this: Somebody has those figures, but we couldn’t find them.”

— Tom Wilson, superintendent of the DeWitt School District, talking about the possibility of suing Global Business Solutions Inc. to recoup losses from unused maintenance and service fees.

“Hear that? My member is doing business with another organization. Perfectly legitimate. Darn it, I hate it when I can’t be there.”

— Larry Biernacki, point-of-sale lending specialist and new CEO of Arkansas Federal Credit Union of Jacksonville, on the lending opportunities his credit union has been missing.

“Normally, here in Arkansas, we wait until there’s a problem and we respond reactively. Here’s a chance with some forethought to get ahead of the curve and do it when it’s more cost-effective. The time is right. The window of opportunity is fairly short.”

— Ron Goforth, president of Beta Rubicon Inc. of Fayetteville, on the financial feasibility of a light rail system in northwest Arkansas.

“People in public life get to thinking they are bigger than life. I thought I was a big dog.”

— Steve Clark, former state attorney general who was convicted of felony fraud and who now teaches a fraud-prevention class.

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