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2010 the Year in Review a Look Ahead to 2011

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A review and preview of business and politics in Arkansas. | 2011 2010 The Year in Review A Look Ahead to 2011 ONE TO WATCH: HOT SEAT: A TINY TECHNOLOGY FIRM INSURANCE COMMISSIONER JAY BRADFORD HAS HUGE POTENTIAL ON HEALTH CARE REFORM & ARKANSAS $6%(6726$%$7(0(1702/'5(0(',$7,21/($'3$,175(029$/ War Memorial Press Box Remodel ASU Student Union )HGHUDO&RXUWKRXVHDQG3RVW2IÀFH University of the Ozarks Walker Hall When dealing with dangerous contaminants like mold, lead and asbestos, choose the team with the credentials you can trust. 6Q\GHU(QYLURQPHQWDOFRPLQIR#6Q\GHU(QYLURQPHQWDOFRP Contents 2011 26 10 54 40 14 FEATURES One to Watch: A Big To-Do List: 10 NanoMech 40 2011 Legislative Preview It’s company motto is Which issues will dominate “ThinkSmall” but this tech the 88th General Assembly’s firm’s leaders are thinking agenda? global. By Talk Business Staff By Steve Brawner Hot Seat: Arkansas The Year In Review: 50 Insurance Commissioner 14 Business & Politics Jay Bradford 50 2010 was full of surprise, Health care reform’s state shock and splendor. enforcer gears up for a By Talk Business Staff volatile year. By Suzi Parker Q&A: A Blueprint For a 26 Reddening State Delta Dawning: Gov. Mike Beebe discusses 54 A Workforce In Progress state politics, session goals, Eastern Arkansas undergoes 6 YoungGuns and his ultimate legacy. an education and economic By John Brummett transformation. 10 OneToWatch By Michael Tilley 50 HotSeat 64 SixthSense COVER PHOTO: DIXIE KNIGHT 2 011 | TB&P www.talkbusiness.net 3 TB&PTB&T P| 20112011 www.talkbusiness.netwww.talkbusiness.net FromTheEditor 2011 SO WHAT KIND OF YEAR WILL 2011 BE? We start the new decade in a precarious situation as the recovery from the recession Talk Business & Politics is owned by River Rock of 2008-2009 is still far from complete. Political crosswinds have voters sending Communications and is published annually. pendulum-swinging signals every other cycle. For additonal copies, to be included on our mailing list, or for information about Nothing seems notably stable except for an uncertain future. advertising, please contact Stephanie Brock Unfortunately, I don’t see tremendous economic clarity revealing itself in 2011. Mid- at [email protected]. size and larger businesses seem to be surviving. Their customer bases have stabilized, even improved, and they are considering how to spend rising profits. Many public companies are buying back stock, paying healthy dividends and eyeing safe 2011 acquisitions. We’ve seen a big one in our own state with the $4.2 billion buyout of Baldor Electric. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF But smaller business owners are sending mixed signals. Some had their best year ever in Roby Brock 2010, while a larger number I’ve spoken to – all anecdotal evidence – are still searching for [email protected] a magic elixir for a rebound. One successful gentleman in particular shared with me that he has reduced his business ART DIRECTOR Bryan Pistole planning from five-year and one-year plans to monthly planning. That seems harsh, but he DesignMatters LLC contends it’s the only way he can manage his multiple business interests. [email protected] Politically, our newly elected officials, who campaigned on smaller government, organizing our finances, and creating jobs, havea tough challenge at every level. Even if ASSOCIATE EDITOR every policy decision from Congress to the Statehouse to City Hall were made to perfection Stephanie Brock to create a climate of economic certainty and improvement, it would take a year or more [email protected] for the results to be seen in a way to report them. TBQ STAFF WRITERS And it may take even longer for the optimism to sink into the public’s psyche. Michael Tilley Lest you think I’m just trying to bring you down with sour thoughts, hold on. [email protected] While I don’t see a go-go rebound in the near future, I also don’t see further Wes Brown deterioration – barring an unforeseen disaster. [email protected] In my adult life, I’ve seen the meltdown of the real estate market drag the economy in the tank. It improved in the ‘90’s thanks to technological innovation and the growth of the CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Larry Brannan Internet. The tech bubble burst and was supplanted by the housing market boom that led Steve Brawner to our latest bust. John Brummett Funny how history repeats itself. Jordan Foster It would appear that we will pull ourselves out of this economic quagmire in a manner Rex Nelson that current generations of grown-ups hardly have the patience for. It will take consistent, Suzi Parker steady dedication to the basics of business: providing services and products to customers PHOTOGRAPHERS with a need in a profitable manner. Dixie Knight What will ultimately transform our next decade? When we look back 10 years from [email protected] now, we might not point to any single transformational moment, product or trend. Bob Ocken It may just be old-fashioned, sleeves-rolled-up, hard work and perseverance. A little luck [email protected] will help, too, but that doesn’t mean you can build your business model on the hope of buying a winning lottery ticket. PRINTER John Parke Best wishes for a busy and productive 2011. Democrat Printing & Litho [email protected] Sincerely,Sincerely, River Rock Communications 8308 Cantrell Road RobyRoby BrockBrock Little Rock, AR 72227 Editor-in-ChiefEditiChif 501/529-1737 telephone 2 011 | TB&P www.talkbusiness.net 5 Blake Rutherford, 32 Arkansas Attorney General | Chief of Staff | Little Rock By RobyBrock Talk Business Editor-in-Chief He really had little choice. He has always been mesmerized by movies and one day, while Growing up in a political household, Blake Rutherford was peering across the River Market, the thought dawned on him that destined to carve a niche in Arkansas politics. movies in the downtown amphitheater along the Arkansas River “I grew up in a pretty political family. For as long as I can would be a worthwhile endeavor. remember, politics was a topic of conversation at my parents’ “I made some calls, put a volunteer group together and made a deal dinner table,” says the son of Skip and Billie Rutherford. to do it if we could raise the money,” Rutherford said. Blake got the political bug at an early age – 8th grade – when he But his big caveat was he wanted the experience to be free. volunteered on the 1992 Presidential campaign of native son, Bill He tells the story of a middle-aged man with two younger kids Clinton. Rutherford trekked to the old Arkansas Gazette building who regularly attended the movies one summer while his wife was at after school to help at the headquarters. UAMS receiving long-term cancer treatment. With few resources and That led to his first paid political job four years later. He delayed the need for an outlet, they had seen a flyer for the free movies and going to college for a semester to work for Clinton-Gore ’96 in the made it a regular social stop. communications and political shops, later joining the inaugural “For a couple of hours at night, they could live in the world of committee staff. fantasy that movies provide and hopefully find a little joy, and that At the age of 18, Rutherford found himself coordinating VIP passes made it all worth it,” said Rutherford. to the Washington, D.C. gala – a task that taught him an early lesson His other claim to fame involves his now defunct blog, Blake’s in juggling the egos of the political elite. Think Tank. For 3 1/2 years, he was a progressive voice of politics “I got to learn a lot real quick on that one,” he grins now. and defender of a number of Democratic policies at the local, state After completing his degree at Middlebury College in Vermont, he and national level. returned to the state and gained a J.D. from the University of His work was picked up by The New Republic, Politico and The Arkansas School of Law. Huffington Post. Rutherford also appeared regularly as a political That led to a three-year stint at the prestigious Wright, Lindsey & commentator on local television and radio. Jennings law firm, where he focused on commercial transactions and More than anything, it was a creative outlet for the political junkie election law. He served as general counsel to the Democratic Party and it elevated his profile as a leader and newsmaker in Arkansas of Arkansas and was part of the legal team advising General Wesley politics. Clark’s 2004 Presidential bid. He humbly sums up the effort by saying, “I hope it was a More recently, Rutherford served as Director of Public meaningful contribution to a broader conversation.” Communications for advertising/PR powerhouse Stone Ward before Yes, he’s having withdrawals from blogging, but he’s still engaged landing in his current post with Arkansas Attorney General Dustin and paying attention. McDaniel. At 32, Rutherford is likely to evolve in additional political roles - “To participate in public service is a tenet of the Rutherford family, maybe. Married to news anchor Jessica Dean in October 2009, he and so when given that opportunity, I of course leapt at it,” he says of says his wife’s career is of equal importance to him, so who knows his current five-month role as chief of staff. what the future holds. Rutherford’s daily duties cast a wide net across the office. He is “My number one priority is to be as fully engaged in every day life involved in communications, scheduling, community and public as I can be, which means to have a career that is motivating and that affairs, working closely with the legal side of the staff, and advising is inspiring and that I can do well in,” he confides.
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