About Us

Arkansas Economic Development Commission

The Commission receives direction and guidance from the AEDC Commissioners. The Commission consists of 16 members appointed to four-year terms by the governor. These appointments are made with the advice and consent of the state Senate. At least three members are from each of the four congressional districts and four members are appointed at large.

The structure consists of a chairman and vice chairman of the Commission, an executive committee, a technology growth committee and a bond guaranty/small business loan committee that approves the guaranties of amortization payments on Act 9 bonds, as provided for in the Industrial Revenue Bond Guaranty Law.

Currently, the commission's chairman is Jack McNulty, and the vice chairman is Franklin McLarty.

List of current commissioners:

Richard L. "Dick" Barclay

(Chair, Bond Guaranty Committee/ Small Business Loan Committee)

  • CPA, Beall Barclay & Company PLC, CPAs Rogers, Arkansas
  • Board of Directors, United Bank
  • Board of Directors and Audit Committee Chairman, BNL Financial Corporation and Brokers National Life Assurance Company
  • 2005 Chair, Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Executive Committee, Northwest Arkansas Council
  • Chairman, Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (NARTI)
  • Former Director of Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration and Chief Fiscal Officer for the State of Arkansas
  • Former Executive Director of Legislative Affairs and Budget for Governor Mike Huckabee
  • Past President of Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce
  • Past President of Arkansas Society of CPAs

Joe Black

(Vice Chair, Bond Guaranty Committee/ Small Business Loan Committee)
(Executive Committee)

  • Senior Vice President Southern Financial Partners
  • Treasurer and Board member of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Coalition
  • Contract service provider US Treasury Department
  • Board member CHRISTUS Health Community Direct Investment Fund
  • Board member National Community Development Bankers Association
  • Fannie Mae Advisory Committee on development in the Delta

John Burkhalter

(Vice Chair, Executive Committee)
(Technology Growth Committee)

Bruce Burrow

(Bond Guaranty Committee / Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Principal of MBC Holdings, LLC®
  • President of Realty Associates Development Group
  • Chairman of Burrow-Halsey Realty Group, Inc.
  • First Community Bank, Craighead County Jail, Jonesboro Unlimited, Arkansas State University Foundation, Craighead Nursing Center Board of Directors
  • Editorial Advisory/Shopping Center Business Magazine
  • State Director of International Council of Shopping Centers
  • Cardiology Associates Foundation
  • Founder of National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives

Steve Edwards

(Executive Committee)
(Bond Guaranty Committee / Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Owner/president of GES; owns and operates Food Giant Supermarkets
  • Managing partner of EDPROP Developments Co., LLC, a commercial real-estate company
  • Managing partner of Edwards Properties, a residential real estate company
  • Member of Ice Timber Company, Warrior Hunting Club, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Kappa Alpha Order Alumni Association, Arkansas Retail Merchants and Grocers Association
  • Past director of Marianna-Lee County Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas Delta Commission, past commissioner on Arkansas Aeronautics Commission

Dr. Ben Elrod

(Executive Committee)
(Bond Guaranty Committee / Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Chancellor of Ouachita Baptist University (OBU)
  • Former president of OBU, Independent Colleges of Arkansas, Oakland City College in Indiana, and Georgetown College in Kentucky
  • Ordained Southern Baptist minister
  • Board member, Baptist Health Foundation Board of Trustees
  • Board member Arkadelphia 20-25 Commission
  • Former chairman of Consortium for Global Education

David Haak

(Bond Guaranty Committee/ Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Owner of First Tape and Label
  • Chairman of Texarkana Arkansas Education Foundation
  • Treasurer of Texarkana Regional Center on Aging Advisory Committee
  • Board member of Texarkana Regions Bank Advisory Board, Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, and Miller/Bowie Vision 20/20-Chairman
  • Arkansas State Representative 1999-2005
  • Past member of Texarkana, Ark. City Board of Directors

Paul Harvel

(Chair, Technology Growth Committee)

  • President & CEO of Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas
  • Past President & CEO of Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce (1985-2006)
  • Past Executive Director of Fifty for the Future
  • Formed Metro Little Rock Alliance (MLRA)
  • 2006 recipient of U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business development Agency Regional Director’s Advocacy Award
  • 2005 recipient of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives prestigious Chairman’s Award (designates top chamber executive in the nation for the year)
  • Past President and Board Member of Arkansas Chamber of Commerce Executives
  • Member: Southern Chamber of Commerce Executives, American Economic Development Council, Southern Industrial Development Council, Arkansas Industrial Development Association, Committee of 100 (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
  • Past CEO of Chambers of Commerce in El Dorado; Enid, Oklahoma; Midland, Texas; and Amarillo, Texas

Catherine Janosky

(Executive Committee)
(Bond Guaranty Committee/ Small Business Loan Committee)

  • President/CEO of Global Manufacturing, Inc., manufacturer of industrial vibrators and Air Blasters for national and international markets
  • Board member of UALR Engineering Technology Industrial Advisory Committee
  • Member of District Export Council

Tom Kirk  

Thomas J. "Tom" Kirk

(Bond Guaranty Committee/ Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Chairman and President of Tom Kirk Chevrolet, Inc. and Kirk Equipment Company (John Deere)
  • Managing partner of Kirk & Kirk Properties, LLC and Circle "T" Farms
  • Past chairman of the Paragould Regional Chamber of Commerce (2007-2008), Economic Development Corporation of Paragould (2005-2007), Arkansas Methodist Medical Center (1999-2001), Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association (1999-2000) and Mid-South Farm Equipment Dealers Association (1990-1991)
  • Active member of the Paragould Rotary Club: Chairman (1992-1993), Rotarian of the Year (1994), Citizen of the Year (2000) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2006)

 

Chester Koprovic

(Executive Committee)
(Bond Guaranty Committee/ Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Board chairman of Boyd Metals, Inc., a metal service center with locations in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma
  • Board chairman of B & C of Fort Smith, a general machine and welding shop
  • Board chairman of Kopco, Inc., a precision metal fabrication shop
  • Board member of Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce, Employer Health Coalition, Educational Public Facility in Sebastian County
  • Member of Small Business Compliance Panel of Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, Manufacturing Executive Association, Noon Exchange Club, Long-Range Planning Committee of First Baptist Church

 JohLipton.jpg 

John "M" Lipton

(Technology Growth Committee) 

  • Served a 10-year term on the Arkansas State Highway Commission
  • Served 12 consecutive terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives
  • Speaker of the House (78th Arkansas General Assembly, January 1991)
  • Chair, Legislative Audit Committee
  • Co-chair, Joint Performance Review Committee
  • Appointee of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on the 21-member National Advisory Council in Vocational Education
  • Chair, Arkansas Quality Management Board
  • Chair, Southeast Arkansas Regional Intermodal Authority
  • Chair, Southeast Arkansas Cornerstone Coalition
  • Co-chair, Correction Resources Study Commission

Franklin McLarty

(Chair, Executive Committee)
(Vice Chair, Commission)
(Technology Growth Committee)

  • Vice President and Board Member of McLarty Companies, a fourth generation transportation firm and holding company
  • Vice President McLarty Landers Automotive Group, an automotive retail concern with operations throughout the south central U.S.
  • Board member of Brazil American Auto Group
  • Advisory Board of The Seaway Group

Jack A. McNulty

(Chair, Commission)
(Bond Guaranty Committee / Small Business Loan Committee)

  • Partner in the Bridges Law Firm in Pine Bluff
  • Former president of the Arkansas Bar Association
  • Member of the Arkansas Bar Foundation, having served in several offices, including president
  • Fellow of the American Bar Foundation
  • Former board chairman of Economic Alliance of Jefferson County
  • Board member of Jefferson County Industrial Foundation
  • Former president of Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce
  • Member of Pine Bluff Fifty for the Future
  • Board member of Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce

Mike Roberts

(Technology Growth Committee)

Bill Schwyhart

(Executive Committee)

  • Principal, Pinnacle Group
  • Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce
  • past President of the Rogers Rotary Club and Co-Chair of the United Way
  • Chairman of the Finance and Development Committee for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority
  • Northwest Arkansas Council
  • the Northwest Arkansas Community College Foundation Board of Directors