Episode 260

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Published on:

24th Jan 2024

Cultivating Legacy and Agricultural Innovation with John Conner, Jr.

In this week's episode we kickoff the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame series where we will showcase conversations with the 2024 honorees who will be inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame in February 2024. The first conversation is with John Conner Jr., President of Holden-Conner Company. John, who hails from Newport, Arkansas and comes from a legacy of Arkansas farmers. He discusses his lifelong commitment to farming and his leadership role at the Holden Conner Company. He touches upon the significance of relationships in business and the Conner family's multi-generational ties to the University of Arkansas. Brent also delves into John's approach to expanding his family's farming operations, his strategic insights into land development, and the hard work that has been instrumental in cultivating a successful agricultural enterprise in Arkansas. This episode is a celebration of John's contributions to the industry and the values that have propelled his family's legacy through five generations.

Transcript
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John Conner, Jr.: If you have the relationship with people,

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and you got the trust with the people you're doing business

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with, then they're gonna be a lot more likely to, to do

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business with you.

Brent Williams:

Welcome to the Be Epic Podcast brought to you

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by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of

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Arkansas. I'm your host Brent Williams. Together, we'll

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explore the dynamic landscape of business and uncover the

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strategies, insights and stories that drive business today.

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Well, today I have with me John Connor Jr. John is with Holden

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Connor Company, and is a member of the Walton College Dean's

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Executive Advisory Board. And most importantly, for this

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particular podcast is a member of the 2024 Arkansas Business

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Hall of Fame class, John, congratulations on being elected

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into the Hall of Fame.

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John Conner, Jr.: Thank you, Brent. It's quite an honor for

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myself for my family. And I certainly do appreciate it.

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Well, certainly,

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John Conner, Jr.: Confidence that the selection committee has

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shown in me and my family.

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Well, certainly, I think was a pretty obvious

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case, what you've done in business, and particularly,

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you've done it all in Arkansas, based out of Arkansas was was

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quite the compelling case. I want to get to your story,

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really, of building your businesses, primarily in

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agriculture. But first, let me start with the U of A and the

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Walton College if I can. Your family has a really, really long

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history at the University of Arkansas. And that's been really

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important to you.

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes, it has and I'm very thankful to have

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been able to go to university. I love the University of Arkansas.

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My grandmother graduated here in 1918 class, my dad graduated in

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1947. I graduated 1970. My son graduated in 1994. And my

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granddaughter graduated in 2022. So we five, five generations

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That's pretty unusual. There's not many

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families in this state I don't think that that can say that.

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And you know, what's kind of special here, right is to walk

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around this campus and get to see names on the sidewalks of

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all your of all your family members.

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes Brent, that was one of my goals, came

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up in the 50s with my parents, there's a Razorback games, and I

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saw those names, saw my dad's name honorable grandmothers, and

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I want to be on that wall and I was able to accomplish that. And

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then my brother and sister also graduated here too shortly after

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I did.

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Well, John, most people probably don't know this.

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I don't know why they would. But one thing we have in common is,

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is growing up in the same town, Newport over in Northeast

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Arkansas. And for those of you that don't know, Newport's a

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small town, a small town in the Arkansas Delta. And it's pretty

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easy to be pretty tightly connected. And here's one thing

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I remember knowing about you growing up, I can remember the

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one thing I've always known and my dad actually told me this,

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you know, years and years ago, of just how hard you worked. And

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it seems to me like hard work has really kind of been kind of

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the core of who you are and how you built the company and the

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people around you.

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John Conner, Jr.: Well, I want to think all worked hard, but I

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probably could have worked harder, but I grew up my

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granddad and my dad working hard. And I saw that and and I

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started working on a farm when I was in high school before real

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job, and I liked it and I came here to Fayetteville and I

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decided to go back home and work with my family. And that's when

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I got out of university in 1970. I went back started working on

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my dad and my granddad started farming then.

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And if I remember your story, right, your

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family at that time was farming 7, 8000 acres of farmland

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probably primarily in Jackson County. And then I think slowly

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over time, that's one place you focus a lot of your career was

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on the development of land in that area.

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes, when I came back there, my family had

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about 8,000 acres and as I like to say my granddad left me a

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little bit seed corn to get started on. And, and so I

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started learning how to farm and farming and, and and started

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purchasing properties there in 72. And I bought the first

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property there in 72 is 520 acres and, and then I just kept

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buying property and kept buying property. And it worked out and

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we farmed part of it for a while. And then we rented part

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of it out. And to this, at this point in time, we're renting it

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all out to other producers, we got several tenants that farm

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rice, soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton.

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John, I think, you know, knowing how to, I

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guess buy the right properties, and know how to invest in those

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properties and and develop those properties takes a great deal of

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expertise. It seems like it's something you've studied pretty

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carefully.

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John Conner, Jr.: Well, I realized that after we went

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through that drought in 1980, which was brutal. For most

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people in agriculture, we didn't have the irrigation in eastern

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Arkansas we have today, I realized that it was going to be

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necessary to improve these farms. And so there during the

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80s, we started a leveling program and improvement program.

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And we've started grading our property. And we've we've got

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irrigation on about every 80 acres, we got a well, and we got

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it where the people that are farming it are able to count on

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making a crop because they know they got water and they got

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drainage and and they got things it takes to to make, make a good

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crop and make a good living.

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Well, you know, you kind of alluded to this, but

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you mentioned 1980 drought, which was pretty well known to

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be pretty, pretty devastating in many ways. Agriculture row crop

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in general, usually has some pretty big swings in in the

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cycle. And you've I guess, over a 50 year period, you've seen

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lots of those swings

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John Conner, Jr.: I have and of course it was 80 and then during

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up till about 85, six or seven, it was extremely difficult. We

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were having 20% interest rates, high crop loan rates to borrow

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but at that time I was farming and then they changed the farm

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programs up to where you had paba limitation. So I just ran

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my ground out and quit farming myself. And in in in the 90s we

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had some difficult times and then in the 2000s. But it

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agriculture's always been a cycle. And we've just thank

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goodness been able to weather the storms.

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Well, and you know, I guess you've well, we've

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we've primarily talked about, you know, your land holdings at

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John Conner, Jr.: We in 88

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this point and what you've built over over this period. But at

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some point, you know, you started to broaden out and and

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to go out into other industries that were connected to

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agriculture, and the the agricultural equipment industry,

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John Deere dealerships is is been a big part of your story as

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Okay,

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John Conner, Jr.: is when we had the first dealership there at

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well. When, when did you acquire your first Greenway dealership?

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Newport and operated that for a while and, and then in the

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middle of late 90s, we bought three more stores. And then

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Deere was changing their philosophy from being a one or

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two store operation to go in what they call the dealer of

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tomorrow operations, where they put several stores together. And

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I've they've allowed us to expand our franchise and grow to

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the footprint we have today. And the reason that the footprints

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important is because having the stores we can afford to have the

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better technicians, the better parts people the better AMS

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people that work with the technology we have today work

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with our farmers. And so by having that scale, we're able to

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give our customers better service and hopefully have a

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better place for our employees to work and a better environment

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for everybody concerned.

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And that's grown to how many dealerships?

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John Conner, Jr.: We have 32 open at this time.

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and that's Arkansas, Mississippi

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John Conner, Jr.: Arkansas and Missouri,

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Missouri

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John Conner, Jr.: We're John Deere stores in Arkansas and

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Missouri.

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Okay. What has you know, so, you know, started

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in 1988 with that and grown to 32 stores, you know, what have

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you seen as you have you built that business? Kind of maybe,

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you know, kind of the ups and downs of of that business as

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John Conner, Jr.: Well when we started expanding in the late

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well.

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90s, we decided to go with some more professional top

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management, Marshall Stewart came in with us. And he was a

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store manager for a while. And then he became the general

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manager of everything. And he's a partner in the Greenway

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Equipment Company. Now, he says the thing that we're able to do

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with getting a scale, we're not only able to get better people,

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to help our customers and our farmers, we're able to get

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better management people, we were able to built a team. And

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and we want to think we've got the best managed Deere operation

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in the entire Deere system. And, and hopefully we're giving the

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best service and to our customers, the best value for

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what they get what they are using,

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In terms of, you know, your scale in Greenway.

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It's it's one of the top franchises in the country, if

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I'm not mistaken

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes.

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You know, so land, Greenway, and maybe more

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recently, you've started to expand in to some other

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businesses as well.

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John Conner, Jr.: Well, about seven, about 10, 12 years ago,

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I assume with you know, so petroleum business,

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Marshall and I bought a small fuel company in Jackson County

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farmers oil together. And we operate that for a while. And

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then I'd been friends with a man named Sulles, got to know Scott

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we haven't talked about I think you got a construction company.

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Petroleum, it'd been in Mississippi. And he called me up

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one day and says why don't you come down here and buy this. He

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said, I'm my family wants to be sell it, my age is 84 years old,

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and I need to do something. So we went down there and talked to

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You got land, you got the the Greenway Equipment Company, all

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him. And we worked out something and we expanded into

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Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas with a fuel business,

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which was separate than a Newport Jackson County

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operation. And we've since then combined them and bought some

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other fuel companies that are in central South Central Stuttgart

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are pretty adjacent to agriculture. And I assume that

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area. And in northern, the Northeast Louisiana part. And

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then also here in Northwest Arkansas. We have Anderson Propane.

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that there's some synergy across those?

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes, we had done business with Frank A.

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Rogers company in Newport for my dad had in the had since I'd

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been back there, built, built commercial buildings, for us

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shop buildings, for us grain bins, for us and various and

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under construction projects. And they people that owned it, or

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the Scoggins family had decided to divest of it and sell it. And

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so Marshall and I bought that. And we've run that now as a

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separate independent business. And actually, we gotta U of A

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graduate.

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That's right.

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John Conner, Jr.: Taylor Maherd running that business now doing

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a really good job. And and it's been a good, a good operation

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Absolutely. Well, you know, as you've built

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for us.

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this company, these companies, might be the better way to say

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it over the last 50 years. You know, being in Northeast

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Arkansas, how did you know finding capital to do that, you

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know, is, you know, probably an art of its own. You probably

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know, every banker in the state if I had to guess.

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John Conner, Jr.: That's a really good question. I probably

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been in many banks, just about anybody, you know, and you just,

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it's a land the land business is very capital intensive business.

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And it takes a significant amount of capital. And then when

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you start improvement work, it takes a whole lot more capital.

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And so so yes, I was always gauge short, capital short,

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looking for money every day, seven days a week, lot quieter

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for many, many, many, many years. And it's, you've just got

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to establish the relationship with your bankers and you got to

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do what you say you're going to do, and, and get the track

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record to where you have the relationship where they believe

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in what you're going to do and they go along with you, I've

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have had several bankers who believed in me and I've got the

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good team and a good organization and I couldn't have

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done all the things I've been able to accomplish without the

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team I've gotten and all the people from the top to the

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bottom who've helped me do this. And, and then also, I've had

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many bankers that believed in me, and we re in or had been a

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big help in getting it done. And many suppliers that have been

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helpful there when I needed it to get my farms improved or make

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the needed adjustments where we need to make them. And so it's

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it's been a it's been a long journey. And it's it's just

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because I had a lot of good people in the organization and

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the team and there to help.

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Well, I'm sure all that's true, I think, I

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think some vision and leadership on your part was also in that

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mix. And, you know, it can't be understated, that the power of

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relationships to fuel business, and it doesn't matter if you're

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in finance, or supply chain, or agriculture, to really grow

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successful companies, it takes great teams, and it takes great

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external relationships.

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John Conner, Jr.: I think you're exactly right. And I think that

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sometimes people don't don't put enough emphasis and enough

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importance on the relationship with different people. Because

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if you have the relationship with people, and you got the

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trust with the people you're doing business with, then

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they're gonna be a lot more likely to, to do business with

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you. And it's just when you're extremely capital intensive

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business, like the equipment business is and the farming

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business is and, and, you know, pretty much the fuel businesses

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too, because if you go from $2.50 cent fuel to $5 fuel, it's

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just takes a lot more capital. So, so you've got to have

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relationships to have, have your credits worked out.

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Well, you know, kind of pivoting on

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relationships just a little bit. I know, I know, family is one

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thing, that's, that's pretty important to you. And I think

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you you know, few, the younger generations are starting to get

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involved in your business I know which is which is got to be

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really exciting.

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes, my granddaughter graduated in 22,

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with an accounting degree here from the University of Arkansas.

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And she came back this past April, and started working with

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me and glad to have her in the business. Now I've got a family

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member that's involved in the business. And so far, she says

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she likes it and was glad she came back. So I think it's

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working well.

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Well, I know personally, that she's quite

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bright, and was glad to see her join the company and apply the

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skills that she's gotten into Walton College not too long ago

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and start applying those in the business. You know, John, is

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you're just looking forward, you're looking forward to kind

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of at your, at your industry. What are what do you think is

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coming in agriculture? What's the what's the change that sort

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of has you interested in and excited?

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John Conner, Jr.: Well we seem to still continue to have more

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consolidation. And I guess that's good and bad, really, you

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don't have as many small family farmers as you once had, by any

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means. Some of these guys are getting so big that it's it's

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hard to manage the large large operations on a tenant basis

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when they're when are running these large operations. And so

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there'll be some challenges going forward. And as we have

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more consolidation, it's gonna change this industry, I just

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don't know how it's gonna look and another 50 years.

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I do, I do know that some of the recipes will

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look different. But some of the things that won't change is, is

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is needing really smart people, you know, back to that, like the

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right teams and the right relationships will still that

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won't change.

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes, you know, talking about the changes we've

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had, John Deere has developed a sprayer that will go through the

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field at normal speed, and pick out a particular weed you don't

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want and spray that one plant and not spray the rest of them.

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So that technology's changed so much and it'll be changing more.

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But that's just one example of a pretty significant change that

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we've seen. And so we're gonna see more and more probably at a

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more faster clip than we've seen in the past.

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Yeah, technology right technology is whew, moving

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really fast, I think particularly in agriculture, I'd

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say some of the challenges workforce wise is, you know,

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having, having people prepared and able to operate and, and

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deal with that technology.

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John Conner, Jr.: Yes, yes. And you'll probably wind up having a

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better trained workforce, in the not too distant future, to run

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some of this equipment that you're talking about. Many of

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these pieces are coach machinery today are $600 to a million in

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so you need people who are more skilled probably to run these

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machines, and not taking anything away from people we've

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had in the past. It's just, they're becoming more and more

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technical.

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Yeah. Well, you know, John, kind of kind of

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wrapping up a little bit. Just kind of looking back, you know,

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I mean, any, is, if you were talking to the future

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entrepreneurs, which you do, you know, when you're when you're

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here on campus with us, any advice for them?

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John Conner, Jr.: Well, there's not anything that takes place

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hard work. And then probably the other thing has helped me as

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much as anything has been persistence. It's, it can't give

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up don't met those bankers while ago. If you get a no here, just

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go across the street. And til you get a yes, somewhere, may be

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next town or two towns down or something you can't give up.

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Don't ever give up

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The hard work and persistence.

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John Conner, Jr.: Probably served me fairly well.

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Yeah, well, I can say that it has. And I can

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say, as the Walton College one first we're really proud of the

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career that you've had, the companies you've built. And

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we're thankful you're an alum, and that you've stayed engaged.

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So thank you for serving on the Dean's Executive Advisory Board.

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I appreciate that for sure. And then more broadly, just

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congratulations on being recognized in this state as one

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of the leading business people, you know, throughout its

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history, I think this year's class will be the 25th class,

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inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, I think

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that'll be in total about 100 people. And to be one of those

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100 is, it's truly quite an honor so congratulations.

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John Conner, Jr.: Well, thank you, Brent. And I do feel very

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honored. And it's just a big honor for myself as well as my

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family and, and it's probably more recognition then we're due

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or entitled to. We just been hard working people and tried to

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do the things we thought were right for our family and our

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community and our employees and our team and our associates. And

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that's what we want to do and moving forward and have a good,

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strong organization.

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Well you certainly made a big impact on

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this state, this university. Look forward to seeing everybody

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on February 16.

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John Conner, Jr.: We're looking forward to it will be there.

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Thanks, John.

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John Conner, Jr.: Thank you, Brent.

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On behalf of the Walton College thank you for

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joining us for this captivating conversation. To stay connected

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and never miss an episode, simply search for Be Epic on

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your preferred podcast service.

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About the Podcast

Be EPIC Podcast
Welcome to the Be Epic Podcast featuring Brent Williams, interim dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. In each episode, you will hear from guests that will inspire you to be epic. As experts in their field, they will emphasize strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship. This programming will highlight innovation and cutting-edge information that will leave you wanting more. Be sure to connect with Brent Williams on LinkedIn to join the conversation, access show notes and discover fantastic bonus content.