The Arkansas Capital Corporation Board of Directors has appointed Sam Walls III as its Chief Executive Officer effective Jan. 1, 2022, the company announced in a press release Monday. Walls, who has served as Arkansas Capital’s president and COO since 2015, joined the company nearly 20 years ago as vice president.
“Sam has proven himself to be a true leader and was more than ready to take this next step to the CEO role,” said Kevin Burns, chairman of the board at ACC.
Walls replaces Rush Deacon, CEO of the company since July 2013, who will continue with ACC as managing director of Pine State Regional Center, a subsidiary of Arkansas Capital approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for project finance activities through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
As CEO, Walls says he is eager to continue to build upon the company’s reputation and success as a driver in economic development and small business growth.
“ACC has a great board and a fantastic team that will continue to provide capital to entrepreneurs and job creators for years to come,” Walls said. “We also want to be even more impactful in addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion issues regarding access to capital for small businesses.”
Arkansas Capital is a nonprofit finance company formed in 1957 by Winthrop Rockefeller and other business leaders in Arkansas who sought to transform the state from an agricultural-dominated economy to a more diverse commercial economy. Arkansas Capital partners with commercial banks, small businesses, and others from the private and public sectors to maximize its lending and project finance products to create and preserve employment opportunities and stimulate economic development in Arkansas and its bordering states. The company is certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution and by the Arkansas State Bank Department as an Economic Development Enterprise. Since 1957, Arkansas Capital and its project financing partners have deployed more than $2.34 billion in capital to small businesses and economic development projects.
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