Arkansas Business of the Year Nominations

Arkansas Business is searching for the region's finest businesses, business executives and nonprofit organizations for our annual "Arkansas Business of the Year Awards."

Awards will be given in the following categories:

AWARDS

• Category I (1-30 employees)
• Category II (31-55 employees)
• Category III (56-150 employees)
• Category IV (151-499 employees)
• Category V (499+ employees)
• Nonprofit Organization
  - 501(c)(3) designation
  - Organization must be three years or older
• NEW The Innovation Pacesetter Award honors start-up or existing companies that are remaking an old industry or charting an entirely new course to create a new market. Companies in the Innovation Pacetter category must have been in business for at least three years; must have revenue, user and/or investment traction; and innovative companies in any of the areas below are welcome to apply.
  • Incremental Innovation enables small, but important improvements or extensions to existing products, services, or processes (i.e. Gillette, Coca-Cola, etc.)
  • Breakthrough Innovation uses a new technology to create new product, service, or process variations within an existing business model (i.e. iPhone, Uber), or a new business model with existing technology (Dollar Shave Club).
  • Disruptive Innovation results in an entirely new product, service or process to address the unmet needs in the market or organization (web-based video such as Netflix, Hulu or Roku replacing traditional Cable TV).

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS  

• Entities can only be a finalist two consecutive years - will be eligible again after one non-finalist year.
• No entity can win in the same category more than once, but can win in a different category (Example: win in Category I, and then later win in Category II if the company has grown).
• Judges will be instructed to give greater consideration to nominees that include their limited financial information on entry forms.
• All information should only pertain to business operations in Arkansas.
• All financial information will be kept confidential by the judges.

RULES

• Judges, sponsors and employees of Arkansas Business Publishing Group are ineligible to enter.
• Companies must be at least three years old.
• Nominees for Company  categories must be a for-profit business.
• COMPANY MUST BE HEADQUARTERED IN ARKANSAS 

Banks or bank executives will no longer be accepted as nominees for the Business of the Year awards.

Please note, this is a nomination ONLY. A packet will be emailed to the nominee and must be completed in full to be considered for judging.

Nomination Deadline: October 10, 2023