Crystal Kemp, chief marketing officer at Conway Corp, is the 2020 Diamond Achievement Award recipient. The 2020 Outstanding Women in Business are Vickie Crutchfield of Arkansas Property Brokers, Julie Goodnight of Julie’s Sweet Shoppe, Cate McConnell of Smith Ford, and Denise Perry of Sandstone Real Estate Group. Dr. Shaneil Ealy of the University of Central Arkansas is the 2020 Outstanding Woman in Nonprofit.

Ten individuals and businesses will be recognized at the 2020 Annual Meeting later this year. William C. “Bill” Adkisson, founder of Faulkner County Title Company and longtime law partner at Graddy & Adkisson LLP, together with Conductor founding director and former Acxiom executive Jeff Standridge, Ed.D., are the recipients of the Guy W. Murphy Distinguished Service Award.

Velda Lueders, Donna Seal, Jamisa Nuness-Hogan, Rebekah Fincher, Cinda Montgomery, Rita Birch, and Melissa Allen were recognized at the 2019 event.

Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway Development Corporation (CDC), reflects on the CDC's 60th anniversary.

This past April, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed into law the Transformation and Efficiencies Act of 2019, bringing about a historic transformation and reorganization of state government agencies, boards, and commissions – the first reorganization of state government in nearly 50 years. A cornerstone of this effort was the reduction in cabinet-level agencies from 42 to 15, resulting in a more modern and efficient way to operate state government without cutting any services. Fifteen cabinet secretaries were appointed to lead each agency, and seven of these 15 positions are held by women.

Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway Development Corporation, has been named to Arkansas Business’s 2019 list of Arkansas’ 250 Most Influential Leaders.

The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce presented the Minority Business of the Year Award to Chris Hervey of Christopher Hervey: Allstate Insurance; the Outstanding Young Minority Professional Award to Dr. George Parks Jr. of New Hope Baptist Church; the Minority Executive of the Year Award to Marcus Elliott of Conway Regional Health System; the Advocate for Opportunity Award to Robert “Bunny” Adcock Jr. for his work with Opportunity Matters Arkansas; and the Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Charlotte Green.

Lindsay Henderson, chief revenue officer at the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, has been awarded the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives inaugural 40 Under 40 award.

Laura Davis, account executive at the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, received the IOM graduate recognition in July from the Institute for Organization Management.

Centennial Bank (“Centennial”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Home BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: HOMB) (“Home” or “the Company”), opened its doors 20 years ago this month in Conway, Arkansas, as First State Bank.