Here Are the Finalists for the 33rd Annual Business of the Year Awards

Arkansas Business on Monday announced 32 businesses, nonprofits and executives from around the state as finalists for its 33rd Annual Business of the Year Awards. 

Finalists and winners in each category will be celebrated at a one-of-a-kind, multi-platform awards ceremony with live audiences and two stages from 7-9 p.m. March 3 inside the Robinson Center ballroom and the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock. The ceremony will also be broadcast live online to other ticket holders.

GET TICKETS: Tickets are available now at arkansasbusiness.com/aboy. 

“The pandemic has given us an opportunity to create a dynamic new experience for our Arkansas Business of the Year awards,” Arkansas Business Publisher Mitch Bettis said. “We’re excited to bring our honorees, their coworkers and their families a safe, multi-stage, multi-platform event — all while following proper social distancing guidelines and restrictions.”

Tickets to the live event will be limited to honorees and their guests. Colleagues, coworkers, supporters, friends and family can buy tickets to the online broadcast here. Supporters can also purchase enhanced Watch Party and Skybox tickets, allowing them to become an interactive part of the live event.

“After a year of producing live events with small audiences broadcast online, we’re excited to take the Business of the Year Awards to the next level,” Arkansas Business Events Director Tiffany Mattzela said. “These honorees have worked hard all year amid tough pandemic restrictions, and we thought it was important to recognize them with a top-notch, live event — one on par with our previous 32 years of awards. This year, it’s a ceremony on two stages in two venues — but with one outstanding experience.”

RELATED: Arkansas Business this year has held live interactive events for 40 Under 40, Health Care Heroes and Best Places to Work.

Finalists and winners were selected by an outside panel of judges made up of previous award winners. Awards will be distributed in seven categories, including Business Executive of the Year and Nonprofit Executive of the Year. 

In addition to the categories listed below, the event will also honor winners of the Arkansas Community Foundation Smart Corporate Giving awards. Arkansas Business will also announce the latest recipient of its Legacy of Leadership award, a lifetime achievement award given to the state’s top business leaders. Those honorees will be named at a later date.

Here are the finalists in each category:

Category I (1-30 Employees)

• RichContext

• Rock Town Distillery

• SBWT DBA AR Cloth Masks

• The Shops at BrickCity llc

Category II (31-55 Employees)

• CAT Squared

• Consolidated Admin Services

• Ink Custom Tees

Category III (56-150 employees)

• Arkansas Myriad, Inc.

• Edafio Technology Partners

• Entegrity

• Smith Family Funeral Homes

• Steve Landers Toyota of Northwest Arkansas

Category IV (151-499+ Employees)

• Benchmark Group

• DOW Janitorial

• Kitestring Technical Services, Inc.

• Medical Center of South Arkansas

• Methodist Village Senior Living

Business Executive of the Year

• Jeff Amerine, Startup Junkie Consulting, LLC

• William Clark, Clark Contractors

• Cody Crawford, C.R. Crawford Construction

• Courtney Little, ACE Glass Construction

• Heather Nelson, Seal Solar

Nonprofit Organization

• Arkansas Research Alliance

• Arkansas Immigrant Defense

• Children’s Advocacy Center of Benton County

• Healthy Connections, Inc.

• The Venture Center

Nonprofit Executive

• Shannon Boshears, UA – Pulaski Technical College Foundation

• Anthony Calandro, Healthy Connections, Inc.

• Wayne Miller, The Venture Center

• Christian O’Neal, UA Little Rock Foundation

• Fred Scarborough, Arkansas Children’s Foundation

The winners of each category will be revealed at the awards ceremony and published in a special Feb. 15 supplement to Arkansas Business.

For more information on the Arkansas Business of the Year Awards, visit arkansasbusiness.com/aboy or contact Kelli Roy at either kroy@abpg.com or (501) 455-9336.