KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News is looking back over 2016 at the headlines and events that changed and shaped the Twin Lakes Area, beginning with a look the local business community.
RON PIERCE DIES AT 81
Former Mountain Home mayor, business leader, outdoorsman, Chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Baxter County Airport Commission, Ron Pierce died in early December at the age of 81. Mountain Home Mayor Joe Dillard, who was Baxter County Judge during Pierce’s term as mayor from 1977 to 1985, refered to Pierce as a great leader when recalling his accomplishments as mayor.
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An entrepreneur, Pierce and his wife Jan began Bass Cat Boats, considered one the industry’s highest quality bass fishing boats, in their two car garage. Today the company, which is run by Pierce’s son Rick, is located in a Midway industrial park with over 100 employees.
CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP AT MOUNTAIN HOME CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
In early November it was announced Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Eddie Majeste had been relieved of his duties and would be leaving the chamber after 13 years of service. Majeste expressed regret at leaving the chamber, but says he is proud of his accomplishments, which include the development of Focus Mountain Home in 2012.
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In late November the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce announced the hiring Jeff Pipkin would be joining the chamber as CEO/Economic Developer. A native of Bald Knob, Pipkin brings 25 years experience to the chamber, according to Scott Copeland, chairman of the local chamber board of directors.
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A certified Professional Community Economic Developer and an International Economic Development Council Certified Economic Developer, he is a graduate of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and holds a certificate from the Institute of Organizational Management from the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. He spent 11 years with ENTERGY as an industrial recruiter in their economic development department working with a number of Arkansas communities on industry development projects. From ENTERGY he joined the chamber of commerce in Russellville in a similar capacity.
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Pipkin says tourism and retirement need a continued focus. He also wants to bring new industry to Mountain Home and believes the area is well suited for call centers, data centers, back office operations and corporate headquarters.
Pipkin officials joins the chamber on January 2.
NABORS LANDFILL
The sale of personal property owned by the Ozark Mountain Waste District’s NABORS landfill and Rossi Road office locations, which are no longer in operation, was approved by a Pulaski County circuit court judge in early December.
According to court records, the bid of $461,000 from a Huntsville businessman was approved Thursday by Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox. The proceeds will go to Bank of the Ozarks, trustee for the bondholders and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, who filed suit against the waste district to recover an over $11 million debt. It is not clear how the proceeds will be used and/or if any will be applied to the outstanding debt.
A day prior to the announcement of the property sale, the board members of the waste district, made up of judges and mayor of cities in Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties who comprise the district, heard a recommendation by the receivers for the recovery of the entire $11 million debt. The recommendation, which will be considered by the Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge in late January, is for an annual assessment of $18 on the nearly 69,000 residential and business structures within the six county district. Although the members expressed their displeasure of the recommendation, they agreed to take no action until more information was available.
The assessment, which is expected to total nearly $1,242,000 each year, would continue until about 2035, when the entire obligation would be repaid.
AMERICAN EPOXY SCIENTIFIC, LLC OPENS FORMER EPOXYN PRODUCTS FACTORY
The former Epoxyn Products factory was open for business again in mid-May. Nearly 11 months after purchasing the facility on East 16th Street in Mountain Home, American Stitchco President Steve Luelf and his founding team created American Epoxy Scientific, LLC.
American Stitchco purchased the facility, which was closed in March of 2015 when its owners sold the business to Durcon in Texas, for $1.3 million in July of the same year. Luelf says he and his team went to liquidation sales across the United State to restock the factory to again manufacture laboratory countertops resistant to chemical spills.
American Epoxy Scientific currently has 29 employees, and all but two are former employees of Epoxyn. Their goal is to create 100 new jobs within the first year of business and expand production from one oven to an additional two or three.
The next segment in this series will look at local government.
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