Former UA Quarterback Jason Allen Joins Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas

Jason Allen (Photo provided by AECI)

Former Arkansas Razorback quarterback Jason Allen of Springdale has joined Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. as chief commercial officer.

Allen, who threw eight touchdown passes in the 1991 and 1992 seasons, will provide executive direction to AECI’s utility sales and services division, according to a Wednesday news release.

The member-owned cooperative’s utility sales and services division includes about 300 employees providing services, including product sales, warehouse and logistics, safety, construction, right-of-way, high voltage testing and energy efficiency work.

AECI offers those services to the state’s 17 distribution cooperatives and to other utilities in the region.

Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, president and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, welcomed Allen to the electric cooperative team.

“Jason has a proven track record of achieving goals by executing deliberate growth strategies,” Hasten said in the release.

Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in financial management from the University of Arkansas and a master’s in business administration from John Brown University. He was a four-year letterman and team captain for the Razorbacks in his Fayetteville years.

For the past 15 years, Allen has been chief commercial officer for Pace Industries LLC of Fayetteville, which bills itself as the largest custom aluminum castings manufacturer in North America.

“As a resident of Arkansas, I look forward to contributing to the longtime success of Arkansas’ electric cooperatives,” Allen said in the release. “As a service-driven organization, AECI will continue to grow and serve electric cooperative members and other utilities by offering world-class products and services.”

The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to about 600,000 homes, farms and businesses in Arkansas and surrounding states.