Arkansas Business

CDI Contractors

Commercial contractor CDI Contractors of Little Rock was founded in 1987 by William E. “Bill” Clark in partnership with publicly traded department store chain Dillard’s Inc. of Little Rock. CDI built some of the state's best known buildings and also operated throughout the United States, consistently ranking in Engineering New-Record's top 400 contractors.

After graduating from college, Clark worked for his brother Russell at C&C Electric Construction Co. In 1981 he bought Bragg's Electric Construction Co. Bragg's began doing all of the electrical work for Dillard's new stores.

When general contractor Pickens-Bond went bankrupt Dillard's needed someone to step in and complete their stores. Clark approached Bill Dillard II and a 50-50 partnership formed CDI.

CDI built Dillard's stores and expanded nationwide to include hospitals, hotels and shopping malls. CDI built many of the state's best-known buildings: Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neuroscience Center at UAMS, Dillard's headquarters, Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, Episcopal Collegiate School and the $110 million William J. Clinton Presidential Center.

Clark died in 2007. Dillard’s now owns 100 percent of CDI.