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Arkansas Best Corporation Business Information, Profile, and History

3801 Old Greenwood Road
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72903
U.S.A.

History of Arkansas Best Corporation

Parent company of one of the leading truckers in the United States, Arkansas Best Corporation (ABC) ships general commodities both nationally and internationally through its motor carrier subsidiaries. During the mid-1990s, ABC operated as a less-than-truckload and truckload carrier, deriving nearly 70 percent of its annual revenues from its largest subsidiary, ABF Freight System, Inc. ABC was also involved in truck tire retreading and new truck tires sales through its 46 percent owned subsidiary, Treadco, Inc.

1966: A New Beginning

The formation of ABC in 1966 marked a new beginning of sorts for both the individual selected to lead the company and the 31-year-old trucking concern that spawned its creation. ABC, incorporated in May 1966, was organized to acquire Arkansas Best Freight System, Inc. (later renamed ABF Freight System, Inc.), a $32 million-a-year trucking concern based in Fort Smith, Arkansas that had been established in 1935 as Arkansas Motor Freight. Selected to lead the new parent company was the former finance director of the regional carrier, H. L. Hembree, who spent his childhood in Fort Smith growing up together, so to speak, with the company that would employ him as an adult. Hembree had joined the company in 1958, seven years after his boss, Robert A. Young, Jr., had been named the company's chairman. By 1966, after Hembree had risen to the position of finance director, Young still served as the company's chairman, a position he would continue to hold when he directed the formation of ABC and named Hembree its president. Together, Young and Hembree, serving as chairman and president, respectively, composed the senior leadership of the new company formed in 1966 that, paradoxically, was already in the middle of its thirty-first year of business.

In the months leading up to the formation of ABC, Young and the rest of ABF Freight's management had decided to diversify into business areas other than trucking, resolving to acquire interests that would move the company into business areas not regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission, the federal regulatory organization responsible for supervising the railroad and carrier industries. This the company quickly did, completing its first major acquisition seven months after ABC was incorporated. In December 1966, the company purchased Riverside Furniture Corporation and Twin Rivers Furniture Corporation, both of which had been established in 1946. The next acquisition moved ABC farther afield, both geographically and in business scope. In June 1968, ABC purchased a 64 percent stake in a Dallas, Texas-based financial institution, National Bank of Commerce, adding financial services to the company's widening roster of business interests. With these new additions rounding out ABC's major business interests, the company's management embarked on their new course, intent on applying their business skills to engender optimum profitability in the disparate business interests they maintained.

Within a few short years, ABC's management team had earned a solid reputation in the minds of analysts, drawing praise from nationally distributed publications that characterized the young cadre of managers as "ambitious, goal-oriented, and alert to opportunities for corporate growth." Heading this group and in charge of the day-to-day operations of the company was Hembree, who governed the company much like a former finance director would, with an emphasis on profitability and sound fiscal performance. "If you don't watch your costs," Hembree would explain later to a Forbes reporter about managing a trucking concern, "you can run up and down the highway with full loads and still go broke." Hembree, in the years ahead, would keep his eyes on costs, as they applied not only to ABF Freight, but to the three new additions as well. His was a perspective that placed a premium on profitability and gave ABC, which was described simply and accurately by industry pundits as a "management company," the task of stewarding each of its business segments in the right direction.

By the time the dust had settled from the acquisition of the National Bank of Commerce in June 1968, ABC already was recording success in managing its new furniture business, having organized the Twin Rivers Furniture Corporation as a subsidiary of its Riverside Furniture subsidiary. By far the parent company's most important business, however, was its trucking concern ABF Freight. By the late 1960s, ABF Freight was covering 12,500 route miles, transporting food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, and machinery, along with a host of other goods, with no single type of commodity accounting for more than three percent of the company's total traffic. The nearly 40-year-old trucker hauled its freight through a 14-state area, servicing major commercial hubs throughout the Midwest and the southern United States, stopping throughout much of its service territory at company-owned terminals that were operated by another ABC subsidiary, Arkansas Bandag Corp., which also retreaded tires under a patented German process.

ABF Freight's service territory expanded before the end of the decade, moving into Pennsylvania and New York after ABC acquired Fast Freight, Inc. in November 1969. Although ABC collected roughly 80 percent of its annual revenues from its trucking business, the most promising segment of its business, at least in terms of financial growth, was its newly acquired furniture company. Riverside Furniture, which generated approximately 18 percent of its parent company's annual revenues during the late 1960s, manufactured popularly priced wood occasional tables, exposed wood living room furniture, and rocking chairs, marketing its products through the efforts of more than 50 salespeople. With roughly 5,000 wholesale and retail accounts and permanent showrooms in North Carolina, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, Riverside Furniture ranked as one of the five largest table manufacturers in the United States, an enviable market position that was expected to grow stronger as the company benefited from the "ambitious and goal-oriented" management of ABC.

Early on, ABC's management was credited with staging two dramatic turnarounds, the reports of which educed financial analysts to recommend the company to prospective investors. Riverside Furniture recorded $9 million in annual sales in 1968, 26 percent more than the previous year's total. More impressive, however, was the growth achieved by National Bank of Commerce. Ranking as the fifth largest bank in Dallas County, Texas, National Bank of Commerce posted net operating earnings of nearly $850,000 in 1968, which represented an increase of 104 percent from the total recorded in 1967, giving senior management in Fort Smith every expectation that all three of their primary businesses would flourish during the decade ahead. As Hembree and the rest of his team prepared for the 1970s, plans were being made to bolster ABC's interests in each of its three major businesses, as the company searched for acquisitions in the transportation, consumer products, and financial services industries.

During the first few years of the 1970s, ABC followed through on its plans to grow through acquisitions, purchasing Flanders Manufacturing Co. and Coffey Furniture Industries, Inc., both of which were merged into Riverside Furniture's operations. The company also added to its trucking service territory by acquiring Youngblood Truck Lines, which extended ABF Freight's presence in the southeastern United States from 16 to 19 states. After this initial spurt of acquisition activity to start the decade, the company was enjoying encouraging success, with nearly every facet of its business demonstrating vibrant growth. By the end of 1973, ABC's furniture segment was accounting for roughly 30 percent of the company's total yearly sales, up from the 18 percent it contributed five years earlier, while the profits derived from furniture manufacturing had registered a greater leap, jumping from 12 percent to 32 percent during the five-year span. ABF Freight, meanwhile, had exhibited a vitality of its own, consistently ranking as one of the most profitable operations in the trucking industry. The thirty-first largest trucking concern in the country in terms of total revenues, ABF Freight now operated in a 19-state territory, bounded by Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and New York on the north, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas on the west, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia on the south, and North and South Carolina on the east.

Conspicuously absent from the series of acquisitions during the early 1970s were any additions to ABC's financial services segment. Despite increasing its net income two-and-a-half times in its first five years as a partly owned ABC subsidiary, National Bank of Commerce had proved to be an ill-advised acquisition. The bank, as one company observer noted, had "serious collateral problems in its loan portfolio," but Hembree did not become aware of such problems until 1972, four years after he had invested in the bank. Once alerted to the problem, Hembree disposed of ABC's interest, explaining that "autonomy was the problem with [National Bank of Commerce]. It was also the only subsidiary in which we had less than 100 percent interest." After writing off $22 million over a three-year period, Hembree had learned a valuable lesson, vowing "we will never make that mistake again."

Change of Focus in the Mid-1970s

While the National Bank of Commerce was being divested, ABC continued to strengthen its trucking concern's business, completing a string of acquisitions during the mid-1970s that gave ABF Freight the operating authority to service a larger territory. By 1977, however, the value of gaining the operating authority to operate in additional territory was becoming questionable. The U.S. Congress was beginning to talk about deregulating interstate trucking, which would open routes to any interested trucking company and render ABF Freight's ever-growing portfolio of operating rights meaningless. Mindful that federal intervention would dramatically alter the dynamics of his company's mainstay business, Hembree knew a decision had to be made about the future course of ABF Freight and ABC if the government did indeed deregulate the trucking industry. For help, Hembree turned to his four full-time economic forecasters for advice on what the company should do in the event of deregulation.

Hembree's economic forecasters and their computers came up with three possible options: scale back expansion and become a regional trucker in the Midwest, sell the company to a larger competitor, or buy another trucking company and make a bid to become a major national carrier. In Hembree's mind, the first two options assured survival, but as he later explained to a Forbes reporter, "I didn't want to be just a survivor--makes it sound like you're going to a funeral. I wanted to achieve." Accordingly, he adopted the third option as the company's strategy, deciding that before deregulation opened the floodgates to the trucking industry ABF Freight would become a major national competitor.

The first step toward national prominence was taken in 1978, when Hembree authorized the acquisition of Denver-based Navaho Freight Line for roughly $15 million. The move immediately transformed ABF Freight from the country's 22nd largest trucking company into the eighth largest concern, representing a prodigious first step for the Fort Smith company. Next, the company acquired East Texas Motor Freight, Inc. in 1982, an acquisition that represented another important boost to ABC's stature. Once these acquisitions were fully digested, ABF Freight was a considerably larger company, serving nearly 90 percent of the nation's major metropolitan markets. Still the major engine driving ABC's growth, ABF Freight contributed the bulk of what its parent company declared in annual sales, a figure that had grown exponentially between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, soaring from roughly $150 million to more than $500 million.

Deregulation in the 1980s

The U.S. trucking industry, as expected, had become deregulated early in the decade, making the operating rights ABC had obtained through more than 30 acquisitions over a 45-year period essentially worthless. The passage of the 1980 Motor Carrier Act also precipitated another change in ABF Freight's business, one that would change the way in which the company operated and opened the doors to a flourishing segment of the carrier market. The number of licensed trucking companies doubled in the first few years after deregulation; then, just as quickly, a majority of the new entrants fell into financial ruin. The rising number of bankruptcies created more than $1 billion worth of extra business for those who survived, with the biggest profits going to those companies that operated as less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers. Aware of the shifting dynamics in its industry, ABC changed from being a truckload operator to an LTL carrier, ranking by the mid-1980s as one of the five leading competitors in the lucrative industry niche market.

Growth in the LTL segment pushed ABC forward throughout the remainder of the 1980s, as the company approached the $1 billion-in-annual-sales plateau. Despite the divestiture of its long-held furniture manufacturer, Riverside Furniture, which was sold in 1989, ABC was recording steady sales growth as it entered the 1990s. By the end of 1993, ABC could rightly call itself a $1 billion company, generating by year's end $1.009 billion in sales and posting more than $50 million in operating income.

With the addition of WorldWay Corporation, which was acquired in 1995, ABC was rapidly heading toward the $2 billion sales mark as it prepared for the late 1990s. Annual sales in 1995 reached $1.47 billion, but once WorldWay was fully absorbed by the company sales were expected to near $2 billion. As the company prepared for the late 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, Robert A. Young III, the son of ABC's founding chairman, was leading the way as chief executive officer, hoping to continue the robust growth that had transformed the company's mainstay business from the 48 largest trucking company into the country's fourth largest.

Principal Subsidiaries: ABC Treadco, Inc.; ABF Cartage, Inc.; ABF Farms, Inc.; ABF Freight System, Inc.; ABF Freight System Canada, Ltd.; ABF Freight System de Mexico, Ltd.; Advertising Counselors, Inc.; Arkansas Underwriters Corp.; Best Logistics, Inc.; Clover Insurance Co., Ltd.; Data-Tronics Corp. Integrated Distribution Systems, Inc; Land-Marine Cargo, Inc.; Treadco, Inc. (46%).

Related information about Arkansas

pop (2000e) 2 673 400; area 137 749 km²/53 187 sq mi. State in SC USA, divided into 75 counties; the ‘Land of Opportunity’; the first white settlement established by the French as part of French Louisiana, 1686; ceded to the US as part of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; included in the Territory of Missouri, 1812; became a separate territory, 1819; joined the Union as the 25th state, 1836; seceded, 1861; re-admitted, 1868; capital, Little Rock; other chief cities, Fort Smith, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff; rivers include the Mississippi (forms the E border), Red (part of SW border), and Arkansas; the Boston Mts, part of the Ozark Plateau, rise in the NW, and the Ouachita Mts in the W; highest point, Mt Magazine (860 m/2821 ft); the mountainous region is bisected by the Arkansas R valley; extensive plains in the S and E; over half the state covered by commercial forest; many lakes; poultry, soybeans, rice (the nation's leading producer), cattle, dairy, cotton; processed foods, electrical equipment, paper, timber products, chemicals; the nation's leading bauxite producer; petroleum, natural gas; a major tourist area; resistance to school desegregation made Little Rock a focus of world attention in 1957.

Arkansas (pronounced or ) is a Southern state in the United States.

Geography

See: List of Arkansas counties, List of cities in Arkansas, List of Arkansas townships, List of Arkansas native plants.

The capital of Arkansas is Little Rock. Arkansas is the first state in the U.S. where diamonds were found naturally (near Murfreesboro, Arkansas).

The eastern border for most of Arkansas is the Mississippi River except in Clay and Greene counties where the St. Francis River forms the western boundary of the Missouri Bootheel. Arkansas shares its southern border with Louisiana, its northern border with Missouri, its eastern border with Tennessee and Mississippi, and its western border with Texas and Oklahoma. Northwest Arkansas is part of the Ozark Plateau including the Boston Mountains, to the south are the Ouachita Mountains and these regions are divided by the Arkansas River; These include:

Arkansas Post National Memorial at Gillett
Buffalo National River
Fort Smith National Historic Site
Hot Springs National Park
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Pea Ridge National Military Park

The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail also runs through Arkansas.

History

The first European who arrived in Arkansas was the Spaniard Hernando de Soto, explorer at the end of the 16th Century. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the French or Catalan word for "downriver" people, a reference to the Quapaw people and the river along which they settled. The Five Civilized Tribes are the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole. Prior to statehood, it was known as the Arkansaw Territory.

On June 15, 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state of the United States as a slave state. Arkansas refused to join the Confederate States of America until after Abraham Lincoln called for troops to respond to the unprovoked attack of Fort Sumter by Confederates in South Carolina.

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1820	14,273	13,211	93%
1830	30,388	16,115	53%
1840	97,574	67,186	69%
1850	209,897	112,323	54%
1860	435,450	225,553	52%
1870	484,471	49,021	10%
1880	802,525	318,054	40%
1890	1,128,211	325,686	29%
1900	1,311,564	183,353	14%
1910	1,574,449	262,885	17%
1920	1,752,204	177,755	10%
1930	1,854,482	102,278	6%
1940	1,949,387	94,905	5%
1950	1,909,511	-39,876	-2%
1960	1,786,272	-123,239	-7%
1970	1,923,295	137,023	7%
1980	2,286,435	363,140	16%
1990	2,350,725	64,290	3%
2000	2,673,400	322,675	12%

As of 2005, Arkansas has an estimated population of 2,779,154, which is an increase of 29,154, or 1.1%, from the prior year and an increase of 105,756, or 4.0%, since the year 2000. It is estimated that about 48.8% is male, and 51.2% is female.

The five largest ancestry groups in the state are: American (15.9%), African American (15.7%), Irish (9.5%), German (9.3%), English (7.9%).

People of European ancestry have a strong presence in the northwestern Ozarks and the central part of the state. Its industrial outputs are food processing, electric equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, paper products, bromine, and vanadium.

In recent years, automobile parts manufacturers have opened factories in eastern Arkansas to support auto plants in other states (though Arkansas does not yet have an auto plant itself, it is rumored to be a future site for a Toyota plant as well as for a truck plant to be built by Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors).

Tourism is also very important to the Arkansas economy; the official state nickname "The Natural State" was originally created (as "Arkansas Is A Natural") for state tourism advertising in the 1970's, and is still regularly used there to this day.

The effect of Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart, J.B.

Transportation

Interstate highways

Interstate 30
Interstate 40
Interstate 55
Interstate 430
Interstate 440
Interstate 530
Interstate 540
Interstate 630

United States highways

North-south routes	East-west routes
U.S. Route 425 U.S. Route 49 U.S. Route 59 U.S. Route 61 U.S. Route 63 U.S. Route 65 U.S. Route 165 U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 167 U.S. Route 71 U.S. Route 371 U.S. Route 79	U.S. Route 412 U.S. Route 62 U.S. Route 64 U.S. Route 70 U.S. Route 270 U.S. Route 278 U.S. Route 82

Major Arkansas state highways

North-south routes	East-west routes
Arkansas State Highway 1 Arkansas State Highway 5 Arkansas State Highway 7	Arkansas State Highway 10

Airports

Little Rock National Airport and Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport are Arkansas' main air terminals. Huckabee, who had been elected lieutenant governor in a 1993 special election, became governor in 1996 when Governor Jim Guy Tucker, a Democrat, was convicted as part of the Whitewater Scandal. Tucker had been lieutenant governor under Bill Clinton and had become governor as a result of Clinton's election to the presidency.

Both of Arkansas' U.S. Senators are Democrats: Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. Three seats are held by Democrats—Marion Berry (map), Vic Snyder (map), and Mike Ross (map). font-size: 95%;">

**Presidential elections results**
Year	Republican	Democratic
2004	54.31%572,898	44.55% 469,953
2000	51.31%472,940	45.86% 422,768
1996	36.80% 325,416	53.74%475,171
1992	35.48% 337,324	53.21% 505,823
1988	56.37%466,578	42.19% 349,237
1984	60.47%534,774	38.29% 338,646
1980	48.13%403,164	47.52% 398,041
1976	34.93% 268,753	64.94%499,614
1972	68.82%445,751	30.71% 198,899
1968*	31.01% 189,062	30.33% 184,901
1964	43.41% 243,264	56.06%314,197
1960	43.06% 184,508	50.19%215,049
*State won by George Wallaceof the American Independent Party, at 38.65%, or 235,627 votes

The Democratic Party holds super-majority status in the Arkansas General Assembly. The Arkansas General Assembly has not been controlled by the Republican Party since Reconstruction and is the fourth most heavily Democratic Legislature in the country, after Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Connecticut. its voters passed a ban on gay marriage, the Arkansas Constitution protects right to work, and the state is one of a handful that has legislation on its books banning abortion in the event Roe vs. Office holders are term-limited to two full terms plus any partial terms prior to the first full term.

Some of Arkansas' counties have two county seats, as opposed to the usual one seat. The same section states that the variation are-KAN-sas "is an innovation to be discouraged."

See also : List of Arkansas Governors
See also : United States presidential election, 2004

Important cities and towns

Alma
Arkadelphia
Batesville
Bella Vista
Benton
Bentonville
Blytheville
Bryant
Cabot
Camden
Conway
El Dorado
Eureka Springs
Fayetteville
Forrest City
Fort Smith
Harrison
Helena-West Helena
Hope
Hot Springs
Jacksonville
Jonesboro

Little Rock
Lonoke
Magnolia
Maumelle
Monticello
Mountain Home
North Little Rock
Paragould
Pine Bluff
Pocahontas
Rogers
Russellville
Searcy
Sherwood
Siloam Springs
Smackover
Springdale
Stuttgart
Texarkana
Van Buren
West Memphis

Education

Public school districts

List of school districts in Arkansas

Centers of research

Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center website
National Center for Toxicological Research website

Colleges and universities

University of Arkansas System
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
- University of Arkansas at Fort Smith
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
- University of Arkansas at Monticello
- University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Arkansas Baptist College
Arkansas Tech University
Central Baptist College
Harding University
Henderson State University
Hendrix College
John Brown University
Lyon College
Ouachita Baptist University
Philander Smith College
Southern Arkansas University
University of Central Arkansas
University of the Ozarks
Williams Baptist College
Arkansas State University System
- Arkansas State University - Jonesboro
- Arkansas State University - Beebe
- Arkansas State University - Mountain Home
- Arkansas State University - Newport
- Arkansas State University - Marked Tree
- Arkansas State University - Heber Springs
- Arkansas State University - Searcy

Miscellaneous topics

Symbols

The following state symbols are officially recognized by state law.

State Anthem: Arkansas by Eva Ware Barnett
State Beverage:Milk
State Bird: Mockingbird
State Cooking Vessel: Dutch Oven
State Flower: Apple Blossom
State Folk Dance: Square Dance
State Fruit: South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato
State Gem: Diamond
State Historical Song: The Arkansas Traveler by Sanford Faulkner
State Historic Cooking Vessel: Dutch oven
State Insect: Honeybee
State Mammal: White-tailed Deer
State Mineral: Quartz Crystal
State Motto: Regnat Populus (The People Rule)
State Musical Instrument: the Fiddle
State Rock: Bauxite
State Soil: Stuttgart Soil Series
State Songs: Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me) by Wayland Holyfield and Oh, Arkansas by Terry Rose and Gary Klass
State Tree: Pine
State Vegetable: South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato

The designation of a variety of tomato as both the state fruit and the state vegetable is correct. it was the state song before 1949 and from 1963 to 1987, when it became state anthem and the other songs gained their present status. all four songs are either copyrighted by the state itself or in the public domain.

Famous Arkansans

Politics

Dale Bumpers, former United States Senator and Arkansas Governor; born in Hope, Arkansas.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, member of the United States Senate and former First Lady of the United States; former First Lady of Arkansas.
Orval Faubus, fomer Arkansas Governor.
Mike Huckabee, current Arkansas Governor.
Wilbur Mills, powerful former member of the United States House of Representatives; born in Kensett, Arkansas.
David Pryor, former United States Senator and original Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service; Born in Oklahoma, but created Wal Mart in 1962, in Rogers, Arkansas.

Entertainment

Joey Lauren Adams, an actress best known for her role in Chasing Amy, born in North Little Rock, Arkansas on January 9th, 1968. Born in Kingsland, Arkansas.
Floyd Cramer, famous musician most known for his piano instrumental "Last Date". Born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in Huttig, Arkansas in 1933.
Jimmy Driftwood, famous Folk Music and Country Music personality. Born in Mountain View, Arkansas.
Gil Gerard, actor most famous for his role as Buck Rogers in the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, was born January 23, 1943, in Little Rock.
Gail Davis, film actress, best know as Annie Oakley from the 1950's television series. Born July 24, 1980 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she was also raised.
Daniel Davis, an actor best known for his role as "Niles the butler" on the television series The Nanny, was born on November 26th, 1945 in Gurdon, Arkansas.
John Grisham, author and attorney, best known for his books that were later transformed into popular movies, such as The Pelican Brief, A Time To Kill, The Client, The Rainmaker, The Firm and The Chamber. He is a founding member of The Band.
Buddy Jewell, a Country musician born in Osceola, Arkansas.
Alan Ladd, a film actor most famous for his leading role in Shane. Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Tracy Lawrence, a Country musician born in Atlanta, Texas, raised in Foreman, Arkansas.
Ne-Yo, a R&B musician. Born October 18th, 1982 in Camden, Arkansas.
Dick Powell, a film actor, producer and director, best know for 1930's films such as 42nd Street and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Born in De Queen, Arkansas.
Mary Steenburgen, Academy Award-winning film and television actress. Born in Newport, Arkansas and raised in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Billy Bob Thornton, famous film actor born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and raised in Alpine, Arkansas and Malvern, Arkansas.
Conway Twitty, a Country music legend. Born with the name Harold Jenkins, he took his stage name from the towns of Conway, Arkansas and Twitty, Texas.

Arts

Maya Angelou, poet, actress, and civil rights movement leader. Born April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, raised in Stamps, Arkansas.

Sports

Earl Bell, 1984 Olympic Bronze Medalist in the Pole Vault; Attended Arkansas State University.
Lou Brock, member of the |National Baseball Hall of Fame, considered to be the greatest base stealer of his era. Born in El Dorado, Arkansas.
Paul "Bear" Bryant, legendary University of Alabama football coach. Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Maurice Carthon, former NFL and USFL running back for the New Jersey Generals, New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts. Former assistant coach for New England Patriots, running backcoach/assistant head coach for the New York Jets, offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. Attended Arkansas State University.
John Daly, PGA golf champion. Born in California, raised from age 5 in Dardanelle, Arkansas.
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean, member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Born in Lucas, Arkansas.
Derek Fisher, NBA basketball player. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Joe Johnson, NBA basketball player. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Jerry Jones, owner of the NFL team Dallas Cowboys. Born in North Little Rock, Arkansas and raised in Rose City.
Matt Jones, NFL football player and 2005 1st round NFL draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Al Joyner, 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in the Triple Jump. Born in Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas
Mark Martin, NASCAR race car driver. Born in Batesville, Arkansas.
Sidney Moncrief, retired NBA star who played for the Milwaukee Bucks and who set several college records with the University of Arkansas. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Scottie Pippen, former NBA legend who played for the Chicago Bulls championship teams, named as one of the 50 Greatest Players. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Barry Switzer, former head coach of the NFL team Dallas Cowboys. Born and raised in Russellville, Arkansas.

Inventor

Freeman Owens, former World War I combat camera operator, who later perfected the art of putting sound on film as a pioneer in cinematography.
John Hanks Alexander, the first African American to hold a regular command position in the US Armed Forces and the second African American to graduate from West Point. Britt World War II soldier, Medal of Honor recipient, and Lt. Governor of Arkansas
Wesley Clark Retired Army general, once NATO Supreme Commander, best known for his leadership during the Kosovo conflict, was born on December 23rd, 1944, in Illinois, and was raised in Little Rock.
Carlos Hathcock, a US Marine often referred to as the most famous American sniper in history, the subject of two biographies, "Marine Sniper" and "Silent Warrior", and who achieved fame for his service during the Vietnam War and his later training as well as his instruction of military and police snipers in Quantico, Virginia, was born on May 20th, 1942, in Little Rock.

Outlaws

Bill Doolin (1858 ? August 24, 1896), noted old west outlaw, once member of the Dalton Gang, and the subject of the rock band the Eagles song, Doolin Dalton, was born in Clarksville, Arkansas.
John Joshua Webb, noted Old West gunfighter, died of smallpox in Winslow, Arkansas in 1882.
John Selman, an outlaw and lawman best known for murdering outlaw John Wesley Hardin in 1895, was born on November 16th 1839 in Madison County, Arkansas, where he lived until 1858.

Additional topics

Company HistoryFinance: Holding Companies

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