The Arkansas Business list of the state’s largest trade and professional associations is back after a four-year hiatus, complete with 15 new entries because of greater participation.
The previous list comprised 40 trade and professional associations, but will feature 55 this year with the additional participation of groups such as the Arkansas Grocers & Retail Merchants Association (No. 14), the Arkansas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (No. 27), the Arkansas Timber Producers Association (No. 33) and the Arkansas Florists Association Inc. (No. 46). (The entire 55-entry list is available for purchase. The list in the print edition totals only 40 entries because of space limitations.)
Get the List: Purchase the full list here.
The Arkansas chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals did not return multiple requests for information since surveying began in late May, forcing Arkansas Business to use data from the 2011 list that shows AFP’s member count as 172. More than half of this year’s respondents have member counts under 1,000, with just slightly fewer reporting fewer than 500.
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As in 2011, the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation stayed at No. 1 with 190,223 members, despite dropping from a previously reported 220,000 figure. People who buy property and casualty insurance policies from Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. of Arkansas Inc. are required to join the AFBF and pay annual dues. The federation’s annual revenue also dropped from $24.2 million to $17 million.
The Arkansas School Boards Association, now No. 10, jumped up from No. 12 in 2011 after 100 members were added; membership now totals 1,600. Tom Prothro, the executive director of the ASBA, succeeded Dan Farley in June 2013 after joining the association in 2012. Farley held the position for 34 years before his retirement in May 2013.
In regard to personnel, another change will come next week after Mary Dandurand, the executive director of the Arkansas Society of Association Executives since 1996, officially retires July 15. An official news release announced last month that Best Association Management of Little Rock was awarded the contract to manage the ASAE after Dandurand’s departure. Anne Fuller, president of Best Association Management, was president of the ASAE from 2009-2010.
Most of the top 10 from the previous list held their spots in the top tier, though they moved around slightly, with the exception of the National Guard Association of Arkansas, which now sits at No. 13 after dropping three places. Four years back, Arkansas Business estimated the group’s membership at about 1,800 after the association failed to respond, but the reported number for 2015 is 1,179.
The Arkansas Home Builders Association moved from No. 11 in 2011 to No. 18 this year, dropping from 1,671 residential builders in 2011 to a reported 1,000 builders in 2015. The AHBA’s annual revenue figures also dropped a little more than 30 percent from its previously reported $260,208 in 2009 to $176,016 for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2013.
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