Robert Shults

Robert Shults, the 70-year-old chairman and CEO of Little Rock’s Financial Centre Corp., finally has reached a point in his life where he can see retirement.

“I’ll probably retire in 20 more years,” he said, with a laugh.

For the previous 20 years, Shults focused his energies on Financial Centre Corp.

The company is known for its pioneering commercial development in west Little Rock’s Financial Centre Parkway and Shackleford Road area and working through millions of dollars of debt tied to a prime rate that hit 21 percent.

These days, FCC doesn’t carry any debt, and much of its work is at The Ranch development, a 600-acre mix of residential, office and retail projects on Highway 10 in west Little Rock.

Before joining with Ed Willis to form Financial Centre Corp., Shults had established a reputation as a keen-minded numbers guy with a talent for structuring deals that left both parties happy.

He was attracted to the world of balance sheets and P&L statements while growing up in Marvell (Phillips County). In his youthful readings, accounting was touted as a gateway to getting ahead in business. His ultimate goal was to run his own enterprise.

After high school and a tour of duty with the U.S. Marine Corps, he majored in accounting at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Shults joined the St. Louis office of Arthur Andersen after graduating cum laude in 1961 and opened the accounting firm’s Memphis office in 1966.

He came to Little Rock to work at Allied Telephone Co. (now Alltel Corp.) as executive vice president and chief financial officer in 1970.

A decade later, Shults left to become chairman and chief executive officer of Financial Centre Corp. and Skyways Airline, which was taken public in 1982 and merged with Air Midwest in 1984.

Shults has served on the Arkansas Children’s Hospital board of trustees for more than 20 years. A member of Fifty for the Future, he also is active with the Arkansas Arts Center and Rotary International.

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