Kristi Dannelley, founder and principal at GreenPoint CFO of Benton and Charles W. Warren, CFO of the Fort Smith School District, were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the CFO of the Year luncheon Nov. 2 in Little Rock.
Arkansas Business produces the annual event to honor chief financial officers, who must manage the present and future of their organization’s financial position. In addition to the lifetime achievement awards, CFO of the Year awards were given out in six categories: Small private companies, large private companies, bank, hospital, nonprofit organization, and education/public sector.
Each of the honorees was chosen by an independent panel of judges. This year’s judges were William Craig of Howard Memorial Hospital, Kimberly Hadley of John Brown University, Jeff Holt of Stallion Transportation Group, Jane Mote of Southern Marketing Affiliates and Karen Shaw of Citizens Bank.
Dannelley received the CFO Lifetime Achievement Award. Dannelley, the former owner of Magna IV Color Imaging Inc. of Little Rock, started her company, GreenPoint CFO, to help business owners.
“I always had such a passion for the strategic financial aspects of running a business,” she said. “It’s the part I’ve always gravitated to, always had a passion for.”
Warren received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Accounting. He has been the CFO of the Fort Smith School District since 2009, after having served 21 years in the private sector. He said he likes the symmetry of accounting.
“It has the ability to reconcile things. It has an accomplishment to it as well as it is its own language,” he said. “If you can learn to speak that language, you can interpret data in a meaningful way. As an interpreter, that gives you an upper hand on some business decisions and business judgment.”
Brian Swindle, CFO of Harrison Energy Partners of Little Rock, was named small private company CFO of the year. Other nominees in the category were Taylor Crow, CFO of Pain Treatment Centers of America of Little Rock, and Brian Smith, CFO of Southern Administrative Services of North Little Rock.
Jeff Weatherly, CFO of Lexicon Inc. of Little Rock, was named large private company CFO of the year. Other nominees in the category were Brady Moore, CFO of Priority-1 of Little Rock; Brady Pipkin, CFO of EOS of North Little Rock; and Chris Shepard, CFO of Clark Contractors of Little Rock.
Laine Harber, CFO of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, was named nonprofit organization CFO of the year. Other nominees in the category were Monique L. Sanders, CFO of Arkansas Foodbank of Little Rock; Susan Singleton, CFO of Health Connections of Hot Springs; and Britney Snell, vice president of finance, treasurer and secretary of the SHARE Foundation of El Dorado.
Russ Hannah, CFO of Arkansas State University of Jonesboro, was named education/public sector CFO of the year. Other nominees in the category were Misty Eubanks, CFO of the Arkansas Department of Human Services; Tammy Hall, CFO and vice president of finance at Harding University of Searcy; Emily Shumate, CFO of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission; and Ember Strange, CFO of the city of North Little Rock.
Amanda George, CFO of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, was named hospital CFO of the year. Other nominees in the category were Andrew Covington, CFO of Arkansas Surgical Hospital; Beth Lutes, CFO of Ozarks Community Hospital of Gravette; and Nicki Simpkins, CFO of Pinnacle Pointe Behavioral Healthcare of Little Rock.
Eric Mangham, CFO of Arkansas Federal Credit Union of Little Rock, was named bank CFO of the year. Other nominees in the category were Paul Castleberry, CFO of Eagle Bank & Trust and State Holding Co. of Little Rock; Sandy Ferguson, CFO of Generations Bank of Rogers; Brittany Little, executive vice president and CFO of Today’s Bank of Huntsville; and Kim Nunnally, executive vice president and CFO of Bank of Cave City.
You can read about all of this year’s CFO nominees here.
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