Speakers Circuit: Terry Stewart, MAD CEO, to speak at Rotary
Terry Stewart, Murphy Arts District chairman and chief executive officer, will be the guest speaker when the Rotary Club meets at noon Monday at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.
Stewart previously served as the president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio and has held several high-profile positions during his career. He is probably best known for his stint as the top executive at the Rock Hall from 1999 until his retirement in 2013. Stewart holds the distinction of being the longest-running CEO of the Rock Hall, which opened in 1995.
Prior to joining the Rock Hall, Stewart served as president and chief operating officer of the comic-book company, Marvel Entertainment Group. Marvel became a public company in 1991. Stewart was named Marketing Executive of the Year by CNBC that same year.
Stewart has also served as a governor of the board of the Chicago Chapter of the Recording Academy and vice chairman of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in Philadelphia. In his new role, Stewart, a native of Alabama, will be tasked with establishing El Dorado as a cultural and entertainment destination in the southern region of the U.S.
Murphy Arts District (MAD) is a mission driven 501(c)(3) company founded to create the “Festival City of the South!” Embracing the spirit of Southern arts and culture, they are looking to engage new economic opportunities for the city through the creation of an Arts & Entertainment District in the southern core of the city of El Dorado’s nationally recognized downtown.
The Arts & Entertainment District being created by MAD, will have three music venues, a farm-to-table restaurant, farmers market and children’s playscape. The project is scheduled to open Sept. 27, with national touring acts such as Brad Paisley, ZZ Top and Migos.
••• Rebekah Wagner, employment and training coordinator for South Arkansas Community College Adult Education, will be the guest speaker when the Kiwanis Club meets at noon Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church.
She accepted the position in July 2017 and said she hopes to positively impact the community by helping to reduce systemic
poverty through educational opportunity. She studied history and public administration at Southern Arkansas University and earned a bachelor of arts and master of public administration degree.
She previously worked as an author and news-writer, in events at Crystal Bridges Museum and as a proponent of judicial reform in her position as an alternative sentencing resource officer for SAU Tech and the 13th Judicial District.
Wagner is the wife of Sgt. Joshua Wagner, an Army veteran who served with the 101st Airborne Division Headquarters Command in Bagram, Afghanistan. She is also the mother of three toddlers – Malachi, Mia and Micah.
Robby Hanry, general manager of Conifex in El Dorado, will be the guest speaker when the Civitan Club meets at noon Thursday at Kozy Kitchen in El Dorado.
Hanry is a proven leader in wood product manufacturing. He has a unique skill set that brings together mechanical knowledge, manufacturing knowledge, business knowledge and the ability to surround himself with good people, empowering them to reach objectives, while holding them accountable for their performance and insuring a safe work environment.
He began as a cleanup worker in a sawmill and worked his way through college to become the youngest plant superintendent for the Georgia Pacific Corp., at the age of 28, then as plant manager. His 32 years of experience in wood product manufacturing include: plant management, multiple capital projects of 50M plus, traveling the U.S. troubleshooting facilities, environmental auditing, safety auditing and chairing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration Voluntary Protection Program Committee to which the facility received an OSHA VPP Star Rating.
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 noon Thursday for the following Sunday’s newspaper.