February 2014
Newsletter
Chamber Calendar
Thursday | February 20
• SYPN Networking Event
5:30 p.m.
El Canaveral
Friday | February 21
• Chamber Board Meeting
11:30 a.m.
Chamber office
Thursday | February 27
• SIDC Board Meeting
12 noon
Chamber office
Tuesday | March 4
• Stuttgart Unlimited
10:00 a.m.
Chamber office
WEDNEsday |March 5
• SYPN Meeting
12 noon
Chamber office
March 5-6
• Aerospace Summit
All Day
Little Rock
George Dunklin named Citizen of the Year
n George Dunklin, Jr. was
honored as the 2013 Citizen
of the Year at the 74th annual
Membership Meeting & Banquet of the Stuttgart Chamber
of Commerce.
He was recognized for his
years of community service to
Stuttgart, the state of Arkansas
and the nation.
He is currently serving as
president of Ducks Unlimited,
an international non-profit
organization dedicated to conservation of wetlands and waterfowl habitat with 597,000
members.
Among his many activities,
he has served on the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission,
University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences Foundation
Board, Arkansas Rice Research
and Promotion Board, Arkansas Rice Council, Agricultural
Council of Arkansas and the
Waterfowl Advisory Committee of the USA Rice Federation.
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR — Stephen Bell and Bethany Hodges
congratulate 2013 Citizen of the Year George Dunklin, Jr.
He has served on the Board of
Trustees for the Museum of the
Arkansas Grand Prairie, Phillips Community College of the
University of Arkansas Stuttgart Foundation, First United
Methodist Church of Stuttgart
Administrative Board, and the
Stuttgart Regional Medical
Center Board of Directors.
He owns Five Oaks Duck
Lodge & Wildlife Services and
is chairman of the board of
Black, Inc.
Stuttgart Young Professionals Network meets
Wednesday | March 19
• Bowling for Business
5:30 p.m.
Rice Bowling Center
Contact Us
Chamber of Commerce
507 S. Main | P.O. Box 1500
Stuttgart, AR 72160
(870) 673-1602
Stephen Bell
Executive Vice President
[email protected]
Bethany Hodges
Director of Programs
[email protected]
SYPN MEMBERS — The Stuttgart Young Professionals Network held its first meeting of 2014 and
has a number of community projects planned for this year. Amber Wiggins is chairman of SYPN.
Stuttgart will be represented at Arkansas Aerospace Summit
n Stephen Bell of the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce
and Carl Humphrey of the
Stuttgart Industrial Development Corp. will be attending
the 2014 Arkansas Aerospace
Summit and Business-to-Business Expo in Little Rock.
CAVU Aerospace, located at
Stuttgart Municipal Airport,
has become an important aerospace industry for the City of
Stuttgart.
The 6th annual Arkansas
Aerospace Summit will be held
March 5-6.
This year’s summit will bring
together experts who are working to advance the industry in
Arkansas and across the South.
It will include those from the
aerospace business community, government, and education.
Valuable business-to-busi-
ness opportunities with companies from Arkansas, Oklahoma and other surrounding
states will be offered to all
guests.
The expo will feature dozens
of companies and organizations from all sectors including
aerospace, aviation, defense
and education.
The Arkansas Aerospace Alliance is a group of public and
private aerospace companies,
government agencies and educational institutions dedicated
to growing the aerospace and
aviation in Arkansas.
CHAMBER BANQUET — Renee Robison, director of the Grand
Prairie Center, visits with Stuttgart Mayor Marianne Maynard and
Cody Dertow of local radio station Country 97.3 FM.
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR — Jamie Chlapecka of BancorpSouth
visits with Laura Cunningham, the 2011 Citizen of the Year, during the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce Banquet.
NETWORKING — Senator Jonathan Dismang visits with Keith
Konecny and Kelsi Konecny of Konecny Insurance during the
annual Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce Banquet.
CHAMBER STAFF — Krista Harrison and Sarah Bowen of the
Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce greeted members and guests
at the annual Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce Banquet.
Chamber Banquet
CHAMBER BANQUET — C.K. Patel, owner of the Days Inn &
Suites, attended the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce Banquet
with his daughter Rihanna and his wife Khyati. The Stuttgart
Chamber of Commerce held its 74th annual Membership Meeting & Banquet in January at the Grand Prairie Center.
CHAMBER VOLUNTEER — Kelly Houghton, chairman of the
Teacher Appreciation Luncheon Committee, was honored by
the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce staff, Stephen Bell and
Bethany Hodges, as the Chamber Volunteer of the Year.
Local Economy
City sales tax revenues
FESTIVAL AWARDS — The Arkansas Festivals & Events Association
recently recognized the 78th annual World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest & Wings Over the Prairie Festival with a number of awards,
including an ALFie Award for Best New Idea for a Beanie Baby duck used
to promote the festival this year. Stephen Bell and Bethany Hodges of the
Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce accept the awards from Trina Mitchell,
executive director of the AFEA during the association’s annual banquet
held in Little Rock.
Current Year
Previous Year
January
443,713
400,206
December
369,370
400,130
November 350,144
343,369
October
361,381
384,861
September
380,058
339,274
August
343,997
352,642
July
356,249
331,136
June
333,562
363,297
May
373,220
358,001
April
349,183
370,043
CHAMBER BANQUET —
The 74th annual Membership
Meeting & Banquet of the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce
was held in January. Among
those attending were (from left)
Sonya Ward, Renee Robison,
April Herring, 2014 Chamber
President Susan Luebke, and
Kim Kirby.
STUTTGART CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
P.O. Box 1500
Stuttgart, AR 72160