[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 24 (Thursday, February 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1127-S1128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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        TRIBUTE TO 2019 ARKANSAS BUSINESS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 
Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Class of 2019 and their contributions to 
industry, our State and beyond.
  Clairborne P. Deming, Joe M. Steele, Warren A. Stephens and John W. 
Tyson are icons and trailblazers. They shaped my home State of Arkansas 
and their business fields and industries where their influence 
continues to be felt today.
  The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas 
established the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame to recognize Arkansans--
by birth or by choice--who have been influential business leaders and 
ensure their reputations and achievements are enshrined for future 
generations. Currently, there are more than 80 Arkansans who have been 
inducted.
  This year's inductees are certainly worthy of joining the ranks of 
those who have the distinction of being named to the Arkansas Business 
Hall of Fame.
  Claiborne P. Deming, the former president and CEO and current 
chairman of Murphy Oil, started his career with the El Dorado-based oil 
company as a staff attorney after graduating from Tulane Law School in 
1979. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer 
at Murphy Oil before becoming the president and chief executive officer 
in 1994.
  During Deming's tenure as CEO the company expanded internationally, 
tripled its production and oil and gas reserves and started an 
important business relationship with Walmart, whereby Murphy built and 
operated gasoline stations and convenience stores in Walmart 
Supercenter parking lots. However, Deming's legacy extends beyond 
business.
  In 2007, he worked with the company's board of directors on a $50 
million proposal to create an educational scholarship for students 
graduating from El Dorado High School. The program, called the El 
Dorado Promise, awards all graduates a scholarship equal to instate 
tuition and mandatory fees for bachelor or associate college degrees. 
The Promise scholarship has provided funding to over 2,000 students 
over the 10 years since it was established. Deming retired as CEO in 
2008 and became chairman of the Murphy Oil Corporation's board of 
directors, a position he still holds today.
  Joe M. Steele established Steele Canning Company in 1924 while still 
a teenager, packing tomatoes inside a shed on his family farm in 
Lowell. By 1932, Steele's young business had outgrown the small plant 
and he moved his operation to Springdale where it continued to grow 
rapidly. During World War II, 70 percent of Steele's canning products 
were diverted to the Armed Forces and became a regular export to 
soldiers on every battlefront.
  Steele Canning was instrumental in several innovative marketing 
initiatives including sponsoring the Beatles' 1964 tour and increasing 
instore spinach sales with the addition of Popeye to its label. By the 
1970s, Steele Canning became the industry standard and

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was one of the largest canning companies in the Nation before its sale 
to Pioneer Food Industries.
  Steele's legacy also lives on at the Beaver Water District. In 1960, 
Steele and fellow community leaders joined forces to explore ways to 
supply Northwest Arkansas with a long-term supply of clean, safe water. 
Steele and his colleagues advocated for the U.S. Water Supply Act which 
passed in 1958 and paved the way for the establishment of the Beaver 
Water District. Because of his efforts, long-term, abundant and 
economical drinking water became a reality for Northwest Arkansas.
  Warren A. Stephens joined his father and uncle at Stephens Inc., a 
Little Rock-based investment bank and private equity firm, as a member 
of the corporate-finance department after graduating from Wake Forest 
University with his MBA in 1981. By 1983 he was named the head of 
corporate finance, and just three short years later he was named CEO of 
Stephens Inc. on his 29th birthday.
  In 2006, Warren acquired 100 percent of Stephens Inc. When the global 
economic crisis hit just a little more than a year later, Warren's 
leadership helped the company remain on sound footing and continue to 
grow. When Warren's tenure as CEO began, the company employed only 100 
workers and had just one location in Little Rock. Now, over 30 years 
later, Stephens Inc. has more than 1,000 employees and 28 locations 
across the country. In addition to his responsibilities at Stephens 
Inc., Warren currently serves on the board of directors of Dillard's 
Inc., is a member of the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Board and is 
the chairman of the Episcopal Collegiate School Foundation Board.
  John W. Tyson began his career in the poultry market during the Great 
Depression, hauling chickens from his family's farm to nearby cities to 
sell. When he learned that poultry prices were higher in the northern 
regions of the country, Tyson invested his savings and borrowed enough 
money to load up a truck full of chickens and drive them from Arkansas 
to Chicago. The long-haul trip proved to be successful.
  His young business expanded greatly during World War II. As food 
rationing drove up the demand for poultry, Tyson moved into the 
business of raising chicks and milling feed. In 1947, Tyson Feed and 
Hatchery was incorporated and provided chicks, feed and trucking 
services to local poultry farmers. The company reached new heights of 
success in the 1950s, and in 1952 Tyson's son, Don, joined the family 
business as general manager.
  In 1963, the company went public as Tyson's Foods Inc. and began a 
crusade of acquisitions that would grow Tyson Foods into a world-class 
protein producer. In 1966, Tyson named his son Don as president of 
Tyson Foods Inc but stayed on as chairman and chief executive officer. 
Today, thanks to Tyson's flexible business strategy, Tyson Foods is the 
largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork in the nation.
  The 2019 inductees are innovative leaders, successful entrepreneurs 
and determined job creators who have realized the rewards of taking 
risks. I congratulate Claiborne P. Deming, Joe M. Steele, Warren A. 
Stephens and John W. Tyson for their outstanding achievements in 
business and thank them for the positive impact they have had on the 
state of Arkansas. They are certainly deserving of induction in the 
Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.

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