Arkansas Business City of Distinction 2011

A chief financial officer is a historian and fortune-teller responsible for recording what has happened and for predicting what will happen with a company’s financial performance. The honorees here represent the perfect combination of intelligence, judgment, loyalty, integrity, high energy, balanced ego and impressive ability to see around corners. Arkansas Business honors those men and women who serve as the foundation upon which companies succeed or fail.

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Welcome to 2012 CFO Awards (Associate Publisher Chip Taulbee Introduction)

6 months ago –

Chief financial officers are about as boastful as chief information officers are chatty. They seek the spotlight as eagerly as an IRS audit. And probably the biggest self-endorsement they will offer all year is their Sarbanes-Oxley-required signature certifying their organization's financial statements. read more >

Kim Crook of First Arkansas Bank & Trust (CFO Lifetime Achievement award)

6 months ago –

When Kim Crook said that during her 23 years at First Arkansas Bank & Trust she's never had a day where she didn't want to come to work, a listener is inclined to believe her, particularly after she lists the reasons for that devotion to duty. read more >

Tom Gibbons of Frost, PLLC (Lifetime Achievement Award in Accounting)

6 months ago –

Back as a young accountant fresh out of law school and working for Arthur Andersen in Houston, Tom Gibbons figured an Arkansas job interview would amount to nothing more than a “great opportunity to go duck hunting.” He never got the chance to visit a duck blind, but his interview with the firm now known simply as Frost PLLC evidently was a good one: The trip lasted four days. read more >

Chris Maynes of Whole Hog Cafe (Small Private Company Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Maynes said Whole Hog's quality makes it a strong business. “I think it's definitely the commitment to consistently putting out a high-quality product no matter what location,” he said. read more >

Judy Shelley of Flake & Kelley Commercial (Small Private Company Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Judy Shelley's 30 years as a CPA have led her around the South and finally to Flake & Kelley Commercial as CFO. read more >

Mark Hartman of Arkansas Heart Hospital (Large Private Company Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Mark Hartman, 49, is the senior vice president for finance and treasurer for the Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock. read more >

Phyllis Rogers of Delta Dental of Arkansas (Large Private Company Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

While attending Hot Springs High School, Phyllis Rogers stumbled upon an accounting class and decided to take it. “It was the best thing I ever did,” said Rogers, 49. “It was such a practical application of numbers that it still fed my love of numbers but in a very practical way.” read more >

Mary-Lou Dunn of The Sunshine School (Nonprofit Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Mary-Lou Dunn taught special ed for seven years in Searcy's public schools and served on the Sunshine School's board throughout those years before she committed to the Sunshine School of Searcy full time. read more >

Laura Zurborg Grimes of Conway Development Corp. (Nonprofit Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Conway's nonprofit economic development organization, the Conway Development Corp., initially hired Laura Grimes in 2008 to manage the finances for a $32 million development project, that of the Hewlett-Packard Co. building at 355 Ledgelawn Drive. The project, which was completed in 2010, was part of how the city recruited HP to Conway. read more >

Scott Pittillo of Pine Bluff National Bank (Small Bank Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Pittillo, executive vice president and CFO of Pine Bluff National Bank, began his professional life as a purchasing coordinator for Century Tube & Conduit late in 2001 and had not considered banking. But current PBNB President and CEO Chuck Morgan saw something in Pittillo, recruited him, and Pittillo had a new career. read more >

Sam Stricklin of Bank of Fayetteville (Small Bank Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Stricklin, who is also Bank of Fayetteville executive vice president, has worked in accounting, lending, data processing and operations management in a banking career that began when he was in college. Throw in work with a bank consulting firm in Houston, and it is clear Stricklin knows a little something about the business. read more >

Ann Main of Community First Bank of Harrison (Large Bank Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Since joining Community First Bank of Harrison in December 2001, Ann Main has helped oversee operations where total assets have grown from $203 million to $496 million. read more >

Greg McKinney of Bank of the Ozarks (Large Bank Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

By the time he finished his accounting degree at Louisiana Tech University, he had set his sights on becoming CFO of a publicly traded company. McKinney, now 44, achieved that goal in 2011 at Bank of the Ozarks Inc., one of the most respected banking companies in the country. read more >

Jason Taylor of First Community Bancshares (Large Bank Category Finalist)

6 months ago –

Jason Taylor has always been good with numbers, so his banking career and rise to chief financial officer should come as no surprise. After flirting with retail for two years, Taylor returned to his hometown to work at First Community Bank of Batesville and hasn't looked back. read more >