Speakers Circuit: Randy Ort to speak at Rotary Club meeting
Randy Ort, assistant chief for administration of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, will be the guest speaker when the Rotary Club meets at noon Monday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
Ort is a graduate of North Little Rock Northeast High School and the University of Arkansas, and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in marketing.
Ort began his career with the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department in the Public Affairs Office in 1988. He advanced to public hearing specialist, assistant public affairs officer and public affairs officer over the next 14 years. In 2002, he transferred to the Environmental Division. In 2003, he returned to what is now the Public Information Office and was promoted to public information officer. For most of his career, he served as the primary spokesperson for the department and represented the agency at many local, state and national events.
In early 2015, he was promoted to the department’s assistant chief for administration. In his new role, Ort oversees many of the non-engineering functions of the department, including the human resources, computer services, fiscal services and equipment and procurement divisions.
Ort was born, raised and still resides in North Little Rock. He is a lifelong member of the Lakewood United Methodist Church. He and his wife, Charlene, are the parents of four children and four grandchildren. Scott Reed, head football coach for the El Dorado High School Wildcats, will be the guest speaker when the Civitan Club meets at noon Thursday at Kozy Kitchen.
Reed led the Wildcats to three consecutive state championships in Class 6A in 2009, 2010 and 2011, to the state playoff game in 2012, again to win the state championship in 2013 and more semifinal games.
Reed graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1991, and attended the
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville from 1980 to 1987. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education/math from Memphis State University in Tennessee in 1991.
He coached for the Forrest City High School Mustangs from 2005 until he accepted the head football coach position at EHS. He served as assistant football coach at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas from 2002-2005 and worked at Bartlett High School in Tennessee from 1994-2002 as head football coach and math teacher.
From 1991 until 1994, he served as assistant coach at Houston High School in Texas and was a student assistant under Ken Hatfield at the University of Arkansas from 1984 to 1987. He was a walkon member of the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1980 and played quarterback for four years under head coach, Lou Holtz.
He participated in three bowl games – the 1980 Hall of Fame Bowl, 1981 Gator Bowl and the 1982 Bluebonnet Bowl. At Jacksonville High School, Reed received three letters in football, two letters in basketball and two letters in golf. He played on two championship football teams and was named 1978 All-Conference and AllState Quarterback.
Reed and his wife, Connie, principal at Hugh Goodwin Elementary, have two sons, William Taylor and Charles Lucas.
Organizations interested in listing a speaker in Speakers Circuit should send information about the speaker to editorial@ eldoradonews.com. A club member should provide background information on their speakers in writing or by e-mail to the News-Times. The deadline for submitting background information is 5 p.m. on Thursday for the following Sunday’s newspaper.