Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty, chairman of The McLarty Companies and onetime White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, will receive the Legacy of Leadership Award at the 35th annual Arkansas Business of the Year ceremony on March 8. The McLarty Companies is a fourth-generation family transportation company.
Before joining the Clinton administration, McLarty was chairman and CEO of Arkla Gas, which he helped grow into the nation’s largest natural gas distributor. He also served on the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Environmental Quality under President George H.W. Bush, and was a member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board from 1989 through 1992.
Today, McLarty is also co-founder and chairman of global advisory firm McLarty Associates.
McLarty, who was born in Hope, was inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in 2014. The same year, with his wife Donna, McLarty established the McLarty Global Fellows program, which enables international study for University of Arkansas students.
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"Mack McLarty is regarded as one of the state's great leaders with a distinguished record of business leadership and public service," Arkansas Business Publisher Mitch Bettis said. "He leads with vision and determination but he also walks with humility and compassion for others. His lifetime of leadership is exactly the type of contribution we think young leaders in our state should emulate."
Arkansas Business will honor McLarty and the Arkansas Business of the Year finalists at an awards ceremony March 8 from 7-9 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock.
Finalists and winners were selected by an outside panel of judges made up of previous award winners. Arkansas Business of the Year awards will be distributed in five categories, along with awards for Business Executive of the Year, Nonprofit Organization and Nonprofit Executive of the Year.
Past recipients of the Legacy of Leadership award include longtime Little Rock businessman and community leader Sherman Tate, billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist Johnelle Hunt, and former banker and restaurant franchise owner Wallace Fowler.
