Matt Crafton, 48
President and CEO
Crafton Tull, Rogers
In 1998, Matt Crafton joined the civil engineering and landscape architecture firm co-founded by his father, Bob, in 1963. He became COO a few years later and was named CEO in 2009. He spent eight years in the Air Force and retired from the Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. He manages 260 employees in offices in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Crafton is a past president of the American Council of Engineering Companies in Arkansas and a former chairman of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
Harrison French, 56
CEO
HFA, Bentonville
Harrison French founded the architecture-engineering firm Harrison French & Associates in 1990. His big break came when he began doing store design for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville in 1993. His firm, now rebranded as HFA, quickly grew and now has nearly 200 employees, including 35 architects, and has a Fort Worth branch. HFA is ranked nationally in the top five firms for retail design by both the Architectural Record and Commercial Construction & Renovation magazines. French is chairman of Main Street Bentonville.
Steve Kinzler, 66
President
Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, Little Rock
Steve Kinzler, the Arkansas Business Executive of the Year in 2005, was CEO of The Wilcox Group when it merged with Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects in 2009. The company, the second-largest architectural firm in Arkansas, has earned more than 100 state, regional and national architectural awards. It is ranked 31st nationally by Architect Magazine and has worked on the Clinton Presidential Library and Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock, the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith and the expansion of Clinton National Airport.
Rusty Mullen, 55
CEO
TME, Little Rock
Rusty Mullen co-founded TME with Ed Tinsley in 1995. He oversees a staff of 175 employees in 15 offices across the nation. TME, the second-largest engineering firm in Arkansas, recently relocated its headquarters to two floors of Building 2 of the Riverfront Plaza. In 2015, TME joined Bernhard to become an independent part of a holding group that provides full-service commercial engineering nationwide, and Mullen is a board member of Bernhard. Mullen is on the Board of Electrical Examiners for the state’s Department of Labor.
Charley Penix, 61
CEO
Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc., Little Rock
Charley Penix, a former intern for U.S. Sen. William Fulbright, became CEO of Cromwell in 2009 and has been with the firm for more than 30 years. Cromwell is the state’s largest architectural firm and fourth-largest engineering firm with offices in Little Rock, Jonesboro and Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cromwell recently opened an office in Germany. Among Cromwell’s projects is the new 200,000-SF ArcBest headquarters in Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith.
Dan Williams, 57
President and CEO
Garver LLC, North Little Rock
Dan Williams began as a design engineer at Garver in 1982 before earning a promotion to project manager of airport and civil projects. He became COO in 2008 and was named president and chairman in August 2012, later adding the title of CEO. He manages 400 employees, and under his leadership, Garver has expanded to 18 offices in 10 states and is the state’s largest engineering firm. Garver has numerous engineering awards, including two for its work on the Don Tyson Parkway Interchange in Springdale. Williams serves on the boards of the Arkansas Research Alliance and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
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