Kristi Casey, CEO of Rock Dental Brands of Little Rock, and Bill McCrary, CEO of Little Rock-based Pain Treatment Centers of America, were among the winners at Arkansas Business’ inaugural Arkansas Executive of the Year awards Nov. 5.
The new program, held at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock, is an expansion of the former CFO of the Year awards, recognizing and honoring the state’s most outstanding senior executives and top leaders. Nominees were evaluated by an independent panel of judges that met in late July to determine finalists and winners.
This year’s judges were Kristi Dannelley, founder and principal of Greenpoint CFO of Benton; Leslie Hutt, CEO/CFO of Bradley County Medical Center; Jason Keith, president of Staley Technologies of Little Rock; Rusty Mathis, general manager of Ben E. Keith Foods of Fort Worth, Texas; and Jeff Weatherly, CFO of Lexicon Inc. of Little Rock.
Casey won in the Large Private Company category. At the awards ceremony, she thanked Rock Dental employees for the role they’ve played in the company’s rapid growth. “They’ve been with me along the way. We’ve taken this thing from 65 clinics to 111 in a matter of three years. We’ve tripled the top line and the bottom and I couldn’t have done it without them,” she said.
Other nominees in the category were Daniel Brown, chief operations officer of Big River Steel in Osceola; Patrick Schueck, president & CEO of Lexicon Inc. of Little Rock; and Chase Selby, senior vice president CTEH/Montrose Environmental Services of North Little Rock.
McCrary won in the Small Private Company category. Like Casey, he praised his workers for the company’s success. “I can’t take all the credit,” he said. “I work with a great team that helps me do all the heavy lifting, that’s a big part of doing what I do.”
The other nominees in the category were Jacy Daugherty, CEO Buffalo Builders of Little Rock; Dan Sanker, CEO of SupplyPike of Rogers; and Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl, president & CEO of mhp.si of Little Rock.
Christie Jordan, CEO Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas, won Executive of the Year in the Small Nonprofit Organization category. The finalists included Tyler B. Clark, president & CEO of the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of NWA Inc.; Erica Kennemer, founder & executive director of HorsePlay Hippotherapy & Therapeutic Riding Inc. of Greenbrier;
Diane LaFollette, CEO of the Mid-America Science Museum of Hot Springs;
Michelle Mothershed, CEO of Compassionately Connected for Veterans Inc. of Little Rock.
The winner of the Large Nonprofit Organization category was Melissa Dawson, president & CEO of The Centers of Little Rock. The finalists included Brian Burton, CEO of Arkansas Foodbank of Little Rock; Richard Dunsworth, president of University of the Ozarks of Clarksville; Benjamin Johnson, president & CEO of the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith; and Gregory Wood, executive director of Hospice of the Ozarks of Mountain Home.
Bryan Day, executive director of the Little Rock Port, won in the Public Sector/Education category. The other finalists were Cam Patterson, chancellor of UAMS; Todd Shields, chancellor of Arkansas State University; and Amy Johnson, head of school at Arkansas Virtual Academy in Little Rock.
The winner in the Financial Executive category was Paul Rowton, CFO of GES Inc. of Harrisburg. Finalists included Kevin Scribner, chief risk officer at First State Bank of Lonoke, and Jenny Griffin, CFO of Encore Technology Solutions of North Little Rock.
In the Board Member category, the winner was Cynthia Walton Frazier, chair of Our House in Little Rock. The other finalists were Brad Hegeman, chair of the UCA Foundation in Conway; Kedrick Jones, president of the board of the Jefferson County Young Professionals Network; and Barry Simon, chair of The Centers in Little Rock.
You can read about all of this year’s CFO nominees here.
Sign up for Daily E-news
