Jerry Cavness
Age: 76
Notable: Retired from Allen Canning and has lived in Siloam Springs since 1978. Has served on several boards in Siloam Springs, including the board of directors, the chamber of commerce board, housing authority board, Genesis House board and the parks and recreation board. Also has been involved with chamber ambassadors, served as chamber emcee for First Friday Coffee events and is a volunteer for Bridges to Wellness. Was named a 2017 Chamber of Commerce Pioneer Citizen, and was the Chamber volunteer of the year in 2009. In addition, attended the Arkansas Silver Haired Legislature, is public relations
officer and member of the honor guard for the American Legion and, among other positions and volunteer work, he’s the current president of the Civitan board and a deacon at the Flagstone Church of Christ.
Q: Why are you running for the board of directors?
Cavness: I’m heavily involved in community service and I love Siloam Springs. … I had the pleasure of working in the corporate world, probably 35-40 years counting even before Allen Canning, and the five years with the non-profits gave me exposure to all the different non-profits, especially in Siloam Springs. … It changed my life and the way that I look at things. I realized there is a lot of good work that is being done under the radar so to speak with our non-profits. After I left United Way, I decided to get in boards because I just felt like a lot of these organizations do a lot of wonderful work and there not getting the headlines type things. They’re non-profit, so they’re not in it for the profit. They’re in it for service to the community, so I became an advocate for non-profits. … I haven’t set out to receive any accolades for myself, but I am involved and want to be heavily involved. A lot of that comes about because, even though I was born and lived in Bentonville, my mom was born in Siloam Springs. I had an uncle and aunt who both lived in Siloam Springs, so as a kid, I would come and visit them in Siloam Springs. … Siloam Springs has always been near and dear to my heart because of my mom, who graduated from high school here back in 1927.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish while on the board?
Cavness: I want Siloam to continue to grow. If I’m elected, I want to be involved in things that will continue to provide a good, quality place to live and be serving for all of the citizens in the community. I know there is a need to improve roads. I know some people that that’s a hot topic for them. And I know some people want more of the parks and things like that. I’m certainly enjoying those and want to do those things, too. The way I look at that, if I am elected, is I’m going to look at how it impacts all of our citizens and what the schedule of all of the things is because there is a plan in place to do a lot of this stuff, whether it’s quality of life projects or working on the roads or improvements to our infrastructure as far as facilities and all of that, so that’s really what I want to do. I want to be a part of that and hopefully be bale to lend my input as a concerned citizen and listen to other people. But, ultimately if you’re elected, you have to come to those decisions based on everything that you have in front of you and do your job. I just want to serve.
Q: What makes you a strong candidate for the board?
Cavness: I really enjoyed that I got to serve on the board last year for about four months. It gave me a little bit of an insight, even though I was only there for a short period of time. But the thing I told them when I came in there is I told them that I’m all about logic and looking at things from that perspective to make decisions. I think that you have to have an understanding of what’s being said. I said, I will look at things from a common sense and a logical approach. Then, if I have to get outside information that will help me, then ultimately, I would be the one making the vote. I realize this is an at-large position and would be representing all of Siloam. But, to answer your question, I think I have the heart for it. I think I do have the background with multiple things I’ve done in the nonprofit and corporate world and outside things that I’ve been involved in that will help me weigh in on things by looking at the common sense and logical way of doing things. I haven’t been in politics. I don’t have an axe to grind. Really, it’s all about my heart wanting to serve Siloam Springs. If I win, I will do my very best to serve.
Q: What do you love about Siloam Springs?
Cavness: I love the heart of Siloam Springs. Having the opportunity to work at Genesis House and dealing with people who have and are dealing with difficult times with homelessness, or serving with veterans who have come through that have fallen on hard times, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity that has come across for them. For the most part, when there is a need in our community, people step forward and they step forward with open arms to try to help somebody lift themselves up. That’s what I love about it. I love the fact that this still has a small town feel. Siloam has my heart. I’ve never been around so many people that have that big of a heart and genuinely want to help people.