Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
BUSINESS PEOPLE
Mike Malone, president and chief executive officer of the Northwest Arkansas Council, was appointed to the Illinois River Watershed Partnership’s board of directors. He has led and steered water quality and regional initiatives for the past 10 years.
Cliff Gibbs was appointed to the Illinois River Watershed Partnership’s board of directors. He is a former farmer who owned and operated breeder-hen and cow/ calf operations in the area. For the past 30 years, he has worked for Arvest Bank and serves in a regional management position there.
Jason Bramlett, a lawyer and partner with Friday, Eldredge & Clark, was appointed to the Illinois River Watershed Partnership’s board of directors. He represents banks in commercial real estate, creditors in corporate bankruptcy restructuring and in a variety of other legal matters.
Rhett Bedwell joined Arvest Asset Management as a client adviser at the Sugar Creek Center location in Bella Vista. He has six years’ experience as a financial adviser in Northwest Arkansas. Bedwell earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational management from John Brown University in Siloam Springs.
Layne Chastain was promoted to director of meat and seafood operations at Harps Food Stores Inc. He started with Harps 37 years ago as an apprentice meat cutter in Mountain Home. He was promoted to the market manager position in Yellville in 1988 and was awarded Meat Manager of the Year five times. He was promoted to meat merchandiser in 2005 and to category manager of meat and seafood operations in 2014.
Sam Horton was promoted to district manager of Harps Food Stores Inc. He began working at Harps in Marshall as a high school student in 1985. He entered the Harps Manager Trainee Program in 1987 and worked as a grocery manager in Bentonville, Fayetteville and Mountain Home stores. He was promoted to store manager in 1999. He was promoted to grocery merchandiser in 2013.
Bill HagenBurger was elected chairman of the Southwest Section of the
American Water Works Association. He is plant engineer for Beaver Water District.
Nicole Bridges was elected chairman of the Young Professionals Committee of the Southwest Section of the American Water Works Association. She is a laboratory analyst at Beaver Water District.
Jesse Burch was appointed to the American Water Works Association’s Treatment Plant Operations and Maintenance Committee. He is operations supervisor at Beaver Water District.
Bill Robertson, director of operations of Credit Counseling of Arkansas in Fayetteville, achieved certification as a consumer credit educator. He was a member of CCOA’s Community Action Board before joining the organization three years ago as a volunteer, working community events and presenting financial education classes, including home buying. He served as a financial counselor for three years at Freedom 5:one Ministries and has been conducting financial education for six years.
Jeff Cude joined BancorpSouth as senior vice president and senior lender and will work at the bank’s Fayetteville branch. He has worked 26 years in the financial industry, focusing on commercial banking. Cude earned a bachelor of science in business administration, financial management degree from the University of Arkansas in 1989. He attended the American Bankers Association commercial lending and graduate schools and the association’s lending and general banking schools. He is a registered mortgage loan officer with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.
Greg Martin was named Northwest Arkansas community president for Simmons First National Bank. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in 2001. He is a graduate of the Leadership Fayetteville program.