Peacock named to agency board
Beverage control term to ’29
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will appoint Susan Peacock to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Sanders announced Monday.
Peacock is a vice president at Ingeborg with more than 15 years of experience across federal government and private sectors, the governor’s office said in a news release. She also chairs the board of Mercy Health Foundation Northwest Arkansas and sits on the boards of The New School in Fayetteville and Heartland Action.
Peacock’s term on the board will expire Jan. 14, 2029, and she will replace Fredrick Black of Lake Village, the governor’s office said. Sanders also has appointed board member Alex Blass of Rogers as board chairman to replace Black, who has served as chairman.
Sanders said Peacock’s “wealth of experience serving Arkansans and Americans in both the public and private sectors makes her the clear choice to serve our state in this capacity.
“Susan is a respected leader who will be an excellent addition to the Board in overseeing safe regulations and permitting while fostering economic development,” the Republican governor said.
Before joining Ingeborg, she helped launch the Heartland Summit, bringing together leaders from across the country to stimulate economic growth in the American Heartland, according to the governor’s office.
At Booz Allen Hamilton, she led communications change management efforts for the office of the director of National Intelligence and Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the governor’s office said. She was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Security Council of the White House and U.S. State Department, and she coordinated the evacuation of U.S. citizens from Lebanon during its 2006 military crisis. She also served as a congressional aide to U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Roy Blunt before joining the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign.
Other Alcoholic Beverage Control Board members include Pamela DePriest of Morrilton, Jamie Anderson of Scott and Steven Smith of Springdale, according to the board’s website.
Alcoholic Beverage Control Division attorney Michael Lewis is currently serving as the agency’s interim director.
Lewis joined the agency as an attorney specialist in February 2020 and was named interim director by Sanders on Feb. 24, according to state Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin. Lewis’ salary is $96,960 a year.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Division’s previous director, Doralee Chandler, resigned effective Feb. 18 after serving in the post since her appointment by former Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2018. She subsequently started work as deputy attorney general for the state agencies division under Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin.