Sam Walls Retires from Arkansas Capital Corp.

This is news of interest mostly to a fairly small number of business insiders, I’d guess, but noteworthy. Sam Walls is retiring after 24 years as head of Arkansas Capital Corp., a private business lender that has encouraged business development in Arkansas through a variety of lending and tax credit programs. Details follow. No word on his permanent successor or if Rush Deacon, the acting chief executive, is a candidate.   Sam Walls, who served as the chief executive officer of The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group, has retired after 24 years of service. “I truly believe that the intersection of my path with this company was an extraordinary event,” Walls said. “I needed this company and it needed me. And as I enter retirement, my greatest hope is that the culture and personality I have cultivated will carry on and grow.” Under Walls leadership, The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group expanded its lending activities to grow from an organization that managed a small portfolio of business loans to an organization that has facilitated more than $1.4 billion in loans to Arkansas businesses. Walls also diversified the organization to include entrepreneurship education, New Markets Tax Credit allocations, high-speed Internet advocacy and a program facilitating foreign investment in Arkansas. Walls was the visionary behind the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup collegiate business plan competition, which has awarded more than $2 million in cash prizes to students and faculty since its inception in 2001. Click here to read the full article from the Arkansas Times: Sam Walls Retires from Arkansas Capital Corp.