African-American Entrepreneurs in Arkansas

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Throughout its successful lending history, Arkansas Capital saw an emerging need to promote and foster the development of innovation and entrepreneurship. In honor of Black History Month, we want to pay tribute to a few of the great African-American entrepreneurs from our state.

Garbo Hearne, Hearne Fine Art

Founded in 1988, Hearne has grown and evolved her art gallery into a dynamic conduit for the preservation and promotion of African-American fine art. “Most people do not think of art and the creative economy in the same sentence, but everything that happens has a start with a creative spirit.”—Garbo Hearne

African-American Entrepreneurs in Arkansas

John H. Johnson (1918-2005), founder of Ebony and Jet magazines

Johnson was the first African-American to be named to the Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans. On September 9, 1996, he was awarded the “Medal of Freedom” by then President Bill Clinton.

Sherman E. Tate, President and CEO of Tate & Associates Management

Tate has many firsts. He was the first personnel director of the state Legislative Council and its first employee of color. He was the first person of color to head the state Office of Personnel Management. He was the first person to develop and implement a comprehensive marketing plan for Arkansas/Louisiana Gas Company.

The Abraham Carpenter Family, Carpenter’s Produce in Grady, Arkansas

The Carpenter family has provided Arkansas-grown produce and unrivaled customer service to Arkansans for more than 40 years. Carpenter’s Produce employs around 35 family members and an additional 40 to 50 seasonal workers during the peak planting and harvesting times of the year. As such, they are one of the largest employers in Lincoln County.

Al Bell, Former Owner of Stax Records, President and CEO of Al Bell Presents

In the 1970’s, two of the largest African-American owned businesses in America were Motown Records and Stax Records. Bell, who owned Stax, introduced marketing and promotional innovations that changed the music industry.

This month we celebrate these African-American entrepreneurs past and present, the leaders that came before them and the leaders still to come.

To learn more about Arkansas Capital’s resources for entrepreneurs, visit our website.

Why Students Should Be Taught Entrepreneurship

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arkansas entrepreneur In most fields, a lack of innovation usually results in a downward spiral of the entire industry, and the same is true of education. For too long, children have been taught their ABCs and 123s without enough education on how their knowledge will apply in the real world, and too many unique teens with different goals, talents and gifts have been forced down the same conventional path like it’s a one size fits all solution. While many things need to change to fix this problem, there’s one great place to start: teach entrepreneurship to students. Here’s why: [Read more…]

4 Myths About Startups Everyone Thinks Are True (But Aren’t)

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arkansas startupsFor those who have spent their careers working for companies in traditional 9 to 5 roles, startups are shrouded in mystery. This often leads to the general public painting their own (and at times misinformed) pictures of what startup life must be like. While some of these common ideals may be accurate, a few couldn’t be further from the truth. Here, we’ve listed out 5 of the most common misconceptions about startups, and why they’re not true. [Read more…]

Your Small Biz Tax Tips

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3 Tax Tips   Tax season can be a headache, especially for startup and small business owners. With what seems like millions of forms to fill out and decisions to make, you can quickly begin to feel over your head, even if you’ve hired an accountant or other financial professional to help. We may not be able to make doing taxes for your business fun, but the three tips below will make the whole processes more efficient and less stressful. [Read more…]

How to Think Like a Great Innovator

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innovation, business

Innovation has become a ubiquitous term in the realm of entrepreneurism. So what does innovation really mean and how can an entrepreneur leverage the power of innovation to solve problems and create a profitable business? Work to incorporate these strategies into your own creative development to improve the level of innovation within your organization.

Go With the Trends, but Against the Flow

According to Merriam Webster, innovation is “the introduction of something new. A new idea, method, or device.” By this definition, much of the innovation that receives greatest promotion and coverage in the media and in our society is simply clever imitations or iterations of products or services already on the market.

So what does it take to truly innovate? Wayne Gretzky, one of the greatest hockey players of all time is purported to have said, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” In the same way, a good entrepreneur creates value where the trends in the market are. A great innovator sees the trends and creates solutions where the trends are going to be.

A great innovator is the person who recognizes the trends in the market, but recognizes that the greatest opportunity lies at the point in the future where the trends are leading. A true innovator instinctively goes against the flow because he recognizes where the flow is going and creates a strategy to move there more quickly and more creatively.

Think Like an Innovator

If you are not a natural innovator, that is okay. All human beings are creative. And all of us can harvest that creativity. If you want to become a better innovator, first of all you must become an observer. Next, you must ask questions. Finally, seek out different opinions?

Be smart. Surround yourself with intelligent people you trust and respect who think differently than you do. If you are a creative mind, find some analytical colleagues. If you are an MBA, hang with some MFA’s (Master of Fine Arts).

People of differing socioeconomic, cultural and religious backgrounds have different worldviews. They recognize different problems. They seek to solve these problems in different ways. This is where true innovation happens.

In his little-known play, Back to Methuselah, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’”

At the end of the day, the true innovator develops the vision to dream of things that “never were.” The great innovator has the confidence to not only ask, “why not?” but to take action to prove whether those things are possible. And when he finds that what was never dreamed of is, in fact, possible, our world changes. Those types of innovations are written language. The printing press. The cotton gin. The steam engine. They shape the foundations of our society and it is transformed by them.