Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Business Of The Year Named
FARMINGTON CHAMBER BANQUET INCLUDES MYSTERY THEATER BY DRAMA STUDENTS
FARMINGTON — Northwest Arkansas Collision Center was named the 2013 Farmington Business of the Year for its participation and support of chamber and community activities.
The business has shown a “positive presence” in the community, said Jodi Hendricks, president of the Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce, in announcing the award at the chamber’s annual banquet, held April 16 at the Class Event Center in Farmington.
Collision Center owner Ken Rue accepted the award, saying he believes that by taking care of his employees, “then our people take care of our customers.”
Business is going so well, Rue said, that the collision center is planning to open a second shop in Rogers later this year. The new store will be on Hudson Road, east of Northwest Arkansas Community College.
“We believe there’s a great oppor- tunity up there,” Rue said.
The collision center has 18 employees and has been in Farmington for 11 years.
The chamber banquet included a mystery theater presented by the high school drama department.
Farmington school Superintendent Bryan Law was the featured speaker and he discussed future plans for a new Farmington High School.
Law, who has been with Farmington for 13 years, said enrollment has grown during this time from 1,400 students to 2,300 students. During the past 13 years, Farmington has built two new elementary schools, a middle school and will begin the first phase of a new high school this summer, a new fine arts center and competition basketball arena.
The second phase will be education space and Law said school officials are discussing how the new high school will look, as far as the curriculum is concerned. He showed a short video about a new concept of education at Mountain Home High School and said, “This is not what we are doing, not where we’re at but it is the type of thing we’re looking at and thinking about.”
Mountain Home has three career academies – engineering, communication and healthcare – and students are in one of these academies based on their interests and how they are best able to learn. As part of the program, 100 business leaders have committed to come one day a month to mentor the students.
“Building a high school is more than just the construction of a building, more than brick and mortar,” Law said. “Our school district certainly has brick and mortar and textbooks and everything that goes with it but our school district, we hope, is about the people.”
Law said taking Farmington to a level similar to the program in Mountain Home “is very exciting.”
He said it would require a change in mindset and school officials are surveying students to see their interests in career academies. The next step would be to survey business leaders to determine how they can be involved in the academic process, Law added.
“We need your help. For this high school to function properly, it’s got to be more than just Farmington High School and the school that runs it. There has to be a sense of community, a sense of ownership in those academies,” Law said. Law expressed his appreciation to the chamber for its support of the school district.