OCTOBER 2014

Magie-Mabrey Eye Clinic, PA

Serving the Conway area for more than 40 yearS

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat2D — Sunday, October 12, 2014

Photo by Central Baptist College

Central Baptist College to host Business After Hours

Central Baptist Col-lege will be the host for the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce’s October Business Af-ter Hours. The network-ing event will take place Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 5-6:30 p.m. and will be held in the Story Li-brary on the CBC cam-pus.

Central Baptist Col-

lege’s Professional Adult College Education pro-gram (PACE) will be featured at the after-hours event.

The PACE pro-gram is a great pro-gram for working adults who want to finish or start a degree. The pro-gram aligns itself with the community’s Con-way2025 campaign of

increasing the num-ber of individuals with bachelor’s degrees in Conway.

Attendees are en-couraged to bring busi-ness cards, as Busi-ness After Hours allows members to network, strengthen professional relationships and devel-op new opportunities to work with fellow Cham-

ber members.The event is free

to Chamber members and their employees. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be pro-vided by Chef Jill Mc-Collum, CBC director of dining services.

For more information about Business After Hours, call the Cham-ber at 501-327-7788.

Every two years polit-ical candidates treat vot-ers to a chorus of promises to create jobs. The meth-ods by which they propose to do this are as diverse as the candidates them-selves. It seems that what-ever your policy proposal, the best way to get people to support it is to claim it will create jobs.

Sure, government pol-icies can influence busi-ness decisions. And some-times those decisions lead to new jobs. For exam-ple, we expect our elect-ed officials to help Arkan-sas compete by supporting the efforts of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. But most job creation is not driven by government policy. And most government policy doesn’t have a real impact on job creation. So what is a Faulkner County vot-er to do when their prima-ry concern is the health of their local economy?

Our advice is to look at the clearest nexus be-tween government and your local economy. In Conway, that’s pretty easy. The Conway Human De-

velopment Center employs 1,200 people. The Univer-sity of Central Arkansas now employs more than 1,500. AETN has almost 100 employees. These are three state agencies that have an overwhelming impact on local employ-ment, spending, construc-tion and just about every other measure of econom-ic health.

The governor and mem-bers of the legislature have a direct impact on the eco-nomic well-being of those institutions and their em-ployees. One step removed from those institutions and the direct influence of state government, are our public school teachers. And with Conway’s emer-gence as a destination for health care — you have to consider the fate of the private option as a local economic issue.

If you want to know how candidates will create jobs that directly affect you and your neighbors, ask them how they’re going to help the people and major employers listed here. It’s something they actually have influence over.

EDITORIAL

The politics of job creation

Four years after un-veiling the Conway2025 strategic plan at their 2010 Business Expo breakfast, leadership from the Conway Area Chamber presented a

four-year progress report on the effort at the 2014 breakfast. “Conway2025 Revisited” outlined a “representative sample of the progress” made to-ward achieving the goals

set in the original plan-ning document.

Conway2025 is a stra-tegic vision for the city of Conway that was led by the Conway Area Cham-ber in 2009 and 2010.

The plan was adopted by the city of Conway in 2011. During the plan-ning process more than 1,400 area residents were surveyed and established 12 priority focus areas

from 43 options. A group of 200 volunteers then determined the 132 goals outlined in the plan.

“As you look at these goals it’s impossible to not see the direct influ-

ence Conway2025 has had on the city,” said Ja-mie Gates, senior vice president of the Conway Area Chamber. “The plan

PLAN < 3D

Chamber ‘revisits’ Conway2025 plan

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, October 12, 2014 — 3D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

is becoming institution-alized within city govern-ment, non-profits, public agencies and some ele-ments of the private sec-tor. That’s the highest measure of its success.”

The “Conway2025 Re-visited” document di-vides the 132 strategic goals into four degrees of progress: Achieved, In Progress, No Action and Maintenance. Fifty-sev-en percent of the goals

were identified as having been achieved or show-ing progress, while 31% had yet to see any mea-surable action toward achievement. Gates said that the 12% of Con-way2025 goals labeled “maintenance” were val-ues and standards to pre-serve rather than objec-tives to achieve.

The chamber also an-nounced that the “Con-way2025 2.0” planning effort would be launched in January of 2015. “It’s

time for our community to reconvene and either re-commit, re-prioritize or re-think the goals we set in 2010,” said Gates. “This is the appropriate time to make course cor-rections to what we think is still a very good plan-ning document.”

Area residents who are interested in partic-ipating in Conway2025 2.0 or reading the “Con-way2025 Revisited” docu-ment can visit www.Con-way2025.com.

PLAN from 2D

Gov. Mike Beebe pre-sented the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence to Conway Regional Health System during the 20th annual Awards Celebration for the Governor’s Quality Award on Monday, Sept. 15. The governor made a personal presentation of the award to the Conway Regional staff on Sept. 18.

In all, 28 organiza-tions from throughout the state were present-ed quality awards dur-ing the celebration at the Marriott Hotel in down-town Little Rock.

Conway Regional was the only healthcare or-ganization achieving the Governor’s Award, which is the highest award be-stowed by the quality awards program. Con-way Regional is also the first organization from its five-county mar-ket area (Faulkner, Per-ry, Van Buren, Cleburne and Conway counties) to achieve this presti-

gious award. Conway Regional was awarded the Achievement Award, the second highest level, last year in its first year to apply.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to the physicians, employees

and volunteers who are the heart and soul of our health system. This tre-mendous achievement would not be possible without their dedication to quality,” said Jim Lam-bert, Conway Regional’s President and CEO. “We

strive every day to make Conway Regional a qual-ity organization — that is the very heart of our mission — we live it and breathe it. We continual-ly strive to improve how we provide our patients with the best healthcare

possible, delivered with sincere compassion and sensitivity.”

More than 400 busi-ness and civic leaders from throughout Arkan-sas also attended the cel-ebration.

The goal of the Gover-nor’s Quality Award Pro-gram is to encourage Ar-kansas organizations to engage in continuous quality improvement, which leads to perfor-mance excellence, and to provide significant recog-nition to those organiza-tions. Created as a not-for-profit organization, the program is dedicat-ed to assist in building a strong infrastructure for Arkansas business-es. That dedication is re-flected in the program’s vision to be a catalyst for excellence in orga-nizational performance. The Governor’s Quality Award program partners with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.

Conway Regional Health System provides

complete, compassion-ate health care services to the growing communi-ties of north Central Ar-kansas.

The 154-bed, not-for-profit medical cen-ter serves patients with comprehensive care in-cluding the state’s top rated cardiovascular surgery program, as well as cancer diagnosis and treatment, women’s ser-vices, and rehabilitation therapy services. Addi-tional components of the Conway Regional Health System include an all-digital outpatient im-aging center, an outpa-tient surgery center, a free-standing rehabili-tation hospital, several primary care clinics and one of the largest hospi-tal-owned fitness centers in the nation. Close to 1,800 babies were born last year at Conway Re-gional and the Emergen-cy Department is one of the busiest in Arkansas averaging close to 40,000 visits annually.

Conway Regional earns governor’s top award

Gov. Mike Beebe along Dr. Mark Enderle, Medical Center Director of Veterans Healthcare Center of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, presents the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence to Jim Lambert, President and CEO of Conway Regional Health System.

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat4D — Sunday, October 12, 2014

COVER STORY

Magie-Mabrey Eye Clinic, PAServing the Conway area for more than 40 yearS

Magie-Mabrey Eye Clinic, PA is the largest, most compre-hensive eye care clinic in not only in Conway and Faulkner County but in the state of Ar-kansas. The team of doctors and staff at Magie-Mabrey pro-vide a superior health care ex-perience to patients in a com-fortable environment.

Magie-Mabrey Eye Clin-ic was founded by J.J. Magie, M.D., in September 1970. His son, Stephen K. Magie, M.D., joined the practice in 1986 af-ter completing his Vitreoreti-nal Fellowship at Touro Infir-mary in New Orleans.

Our practice along with Con-way has grown into not only Conway’s largest, most com-prehensive eye care clinic but also the largest in the state of Arkansas. Our clinic has ex-panded from one Ophthalmol-

ogist and couple of employ-ees to a staff of 36 employees. We now have seven Ophthal-mologists and two Optome-trists. Our Conway physicians are Stephen K. Magie, M.D., William T. Mabrey, M.D., Mel-anie F. Smith, M.D. and Jus-tin W. Charton, M.D. Our Little Rock physicians are Bradley M.Hughes, M.D., Cedric S. Pratt, D.O. and Stephen J. Da-vis, M.D. Drs. Stephen Magie and William Mabrey also prac-tice in the Little Rock location. Our Optometric physicians in Conway are Jeffrey J. Stross-ner, O.D. and B. Scott Koontz, O.D.

OphthalmologyDrs. Magie, Mabrey, Hughes

Pratt and Davis are certified by the American Board of Oph-thalmology and have completed

fellowships in retinal disease. The primary focus of their prac-tice is retinal related disease in-cluding macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and reti-nal surgery. We have the exper-tise to diagnose and manage all retinal problems. Whether the treatment requires surgery, or just medical management, our team of doctors will work to im-prove and maintain your vision. We offer the latest advances in treatment of all types of retinal diseases. They have full time services available in Conway, Little Rock and Fort Smith.

Dr. Smith and Charton are board certified by the Ameri-can Board of Ophthalmology and practice in our Conway of-fice. They specialize in all as-pects of comprehensive Oph-thalmology including laser eye surgery and cataract surgery.

OptometryDrs. Koontz and Strossner

are our Optometric physicians. Dr. Koontz graduated from Southern College of Optom-etry in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Strossner graduated from Northeastern State University College of Optometry in Tahl-equah, Oklahoma. They com-plete our eye care team pro-viding comprehensive primary eye care including routine ex-ams, contact lens, glasses and medical eye care.

Full-Service Optical ShopWe also have a full-service

optical shop with a licensed optician on staff. We carry a large selection of popular name brand frames, sunglasses and safety wear. We can help with choosing a new frame that best suits your needs as well as

with any type of repair or ad-justment. We have been in the same location since 1986.

We offer multiple types and brands of contact lenses to fit your visual needs and life-style. Our doctors will help you choose what is right for you. We carry a large inventory of contacts for the convenience of our patients.

Our team of doctors and staff are dedicated to providing a su-perior health care experience in a comfortable environment. We are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All our doctors are accepting new patients. We would love to take care of your family’s eye care needs. For more information about Magie-Mabrey Eye Clin-ic, visit www.mmeyeclinic.com. To schedule an appointment, call 501-327-4444.

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat6D — Sunday, October 12, 2014

Toad Suck Daze re-ceived top honors for its children’s programming, LaunchPad event, and food and beverage pro-gram during the 59th Annual International Festivals & Events As-sociation’s (IFEA) 2014 Haas & Wilkerson Pin-nacle Awards Ceremony. The ceremony is part of IFEA’s annual conven-tion and expo, held this year in Kansas City, Mo., from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1.

Toad Suck Daze took home the Gold Pinnacle Award in the categories of “Best Children’s Pro-gramming,” “Best Event (within an Existing Fes-tival)” and “Best Food & Beverage Program.”

“A core value of Toad Suck Daze is to provide a family-friendly festival with an emphasis on ac-tivities for children of all ages, so we’re honored to receive the Gold award for Best Children’s Pro-gramming,” said Mary Margaret Satterfield, di-rector of events and Toad Suck Daze at the Conway Area Chamber of Com-merce. “Toad Suck Daze has been recognized by IFEA for our children’s programming three out of the last four years, winning Gold in 2011 and Silver in 2013.”

The Toad Dome and Toadal Kids Zone are specific areas of the fes-tival dedicated to chil-dren’s activities, ranging from the World-Famous

Championship Toad Rac-es at the Toad Dome to live performances and hands-on activities at the Toadal Kids Zone. Oth-er activities for children are located throughout the festival grounds and also occur prior to the festival.

Toad Suck Daze re-ceived Gold for Launch-Pad, a new event in 2014. LaunchPad was a “Shark Tank” style pitch competition for business

and tech entrepreneurs. It was held the Satur-day of the festival and was judged by a panel of celebrity judges from the highest ranks of en-tertainment and tech-nology, including Satur-day night headliner MC Hammer (Stanley Bur-rell). LaunchPad’s pur-pose was to bring new audiences and interest to Toad Suck Daze and the Arkansas startup culture.

The food and beverage program at Toad Suck Daze earned the festi-val its third Gold award in 2014. Known for its “food-on-a-stick,” the food and beverage program consists of two main components: food conces-sions and drink booths. Independent vendors are contracted to provide concessions and sell food and some drinks. Select nonprofit groups operate drink booths on behalf of

Toad Suck Daze and are paid by the festival.

In keeping with a community festival at-mosphere, approximate-ly 10 nonprofits either run a food concession or are paid to work a drink booth as a fundraiser for their organization. Addi-tionally, at least 25 per-cent of food concession vendors are local busi-nesses.

Toad Suck Daze was also recognized for its merchandise, TV pro-motion and new spon-sorship opportunity. It received the Silver Pin-nacle Award in the “Best Overall Merchandising Program” category and Bronze awards in the “Best TV Promotion (ad spot or PSA)” and “Best Single New Sponsorship Opportunity” categories.

The Pinnacle Awards draw entries from among the world’s top festivals and events. Winning en-tries came from organi-zations as diverse as the Kentucky Derby Festi-val, Memphis in May In-ternational Festival, 500 Festival in Indianapolis, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the National Cherry Blossom Festi-val in Washington, D.C., and the Luminato Festi-val in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

International con-tenders included such diverse event organiza-tions as the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotter-dam, Netherlands; Mis-

teria Paschalia Festival in Krakow, Poland; Hero Insolito in New Del-hi, India; World Gour-met Summit, Singapore; Festival Lent, Maribor, Slovenia; and the Seoul Cartoon & Animation Festival in Seoul, South Korea.

“It is an honor to represent Toad Suck Daze on an internation-al stage at IFEA and to learn best practices from world-renowned festi-vals,” said Satterfield. “It is also encouraging to see that while we can al-ways improve, we have an award-winning festi-val here in Conway that we can be proud of.”

About the International Festivals & Events Association

Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the Inter-national Festivals & Events Association of-fers the most complete source of ideas, resourc-es, information, educa-tion and networking for festival and event pro-fessionals worldwide. In partnership with global affiliates under the um-brellas of IFEA Africa, IFEA Asia, IFEA Austra-lia, IFEA Europe, IFEA Latin America, IFEA Middle East (MENASA) and IFEA North Amer-ica, the organization’s common vision is for “a globally united industry that touches lives in a positive way through cel-ebration.”

Toad Suck Daze receives top awards at international convention

Mary Margaret Satterfield, director of events and Toad Suck Daze at the Conway Area Chamber of Com-merce, displays Toad Suck Daze’s three Gold Pinnacle Awards from the 2014 International Festivals and Events Association annual convention.

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, October 12, 2014 — 7D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

Unemployment RateAugust

Seasonally AdjustedUS ................................................6.1%Arkansas ......................................6.3%

Not Seasonally AdjustedUS ................................................6.3%Arkansas ......................................6.2%Faulkner County .......................... 5.4%Conway .........................................5.4%

Sales Tax CollectionsConway*

July2014 .................................$1,901,4172013 .................................$1,808,224Percent Change 5.2%

Year to Date (July)2014 ...............................$13,138,8452013 ...............................$13,336,487Percent Change -1.3%

Annual2013 ...............................$23,235,8912012 ...............................$22,944,163Percent Change 1.3%*Tax Rate 1.75%

Faulkner County*July

2014 ....................................$720,5102013 ....................................$696,366Percent Change 3.5%

Year to Date (July)2014 .................................$4,934,4562013 .................................$4,944,819Percent Change -0.2%

Annual2013 .................................$8,588,8352012 .................................$8,465,686Percent Change 1.5%*Tax Rate 0.5%

Restaurant Sales*August

2014 ...............................$14,138,1652013 ...............................$13,768,043Percent Change 2.7%

Year to Date (August)2014 ............................ $116,293,1182013 ............................ $110,448,443Percent Change % 5.3

Annual Sales 2013 ............................ $164,989,5862012 ............................ $161,318,563Percent Change 2.3%*Including mixed drink sales

Hotel SalesAugust

2014 .................................$1,532,2122013 .................................$1,543,708Percent Change -.07%

Year to Date (May)2014 ...............................$13,486,5762013 ...............................$13,339,126Percent Change 1.1%%

Annual Sales2013 ...............................$18,556,9112012 ...............................$18,683,676Percent Change -0.7%

Conway Building Permits

Single Family HomesYear to Date (September)

2014 ................................... 80 Permits2013 .................................113 PermitsPercent Change -21.0%

Annual

2013 .................................147 Permits2012 .................................186 Permits 2011 .................................153 PermitsPercent Change 2013-2012 -21.0%

Average Construction Cost*Annual

2013 ....................................$228,2752012 ....................................$207,5372011 ................................... $204,387Percent Change 2013-2012 10.0%*Not including land or lot improve-ments

Average Square Footage*Annual

2013 .......................................... 3,0022012 .......................................... 2,9102011 .......................................... 2,814Percent Change 2013-2012 3.2%

Average Construction Cost Per Square Foot*

Annual2013 ........................................ $76.042012 ........................................ $71.332011 ........................................ $72.64Percent Change 8i2013-2012 6.6%%* Total under roof

Lottery SalesFaulkner County

September2014 .................................$1,040,9982013 .................................$1,174,495Percent Change -6.1%

Year to Date (September)2014 ...............................$10,786,6062013 ...............................$12,228,501Percent Change -12.0%

Annual2013 ...............................$17,038,2772012 ...............................$16,943,909Percent Change .06%

Total StateJuly

2014 ...............................$30,630,2112013 ...............................$32,483,166Percent Change -5.7%

Year to Date (July)2014 ............................ $242,573,2712013 ............................ $266,770,723Percent Change -9.1%

Annual 2013 ............................ $432,932,7992012 ........................... $452,245,215Percent Change -4.3%

Natural GasSeverance Tax Distribution

ConwayYear to Date (October)

2014 ....................................$311,2992013 ....................................$233,512Percent Change 33.3%

Annual2013 ....................................$199,2652012 ....................................$149,833Percent Change 70.2%

Faulkner CountyYear to Date (October)

2014 ....................................$253,5682013 ....................................$189,535Percent Change 32.9%

Annual2013 ....................................$224,4552012 ....................................$131,418Percent Change 70.8%Information provided by Pulse of Conway

EconomyGlance

The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business Expo and Taste of Conway, presented by Southwestern Ener-gy, took place on Thurs-day, Oct. 9, at the Con-way Expo Center and Fairgrounds. The event included a breakfast, a business-to-business trade show and conclud-ed with Taste of Conway.

At the breakfast, Ja-mie Gates, senior vice

president at the Conway Area Chamber of Com-merce, provided an up-date on progress made toward the goals set forth in Conway2025, the city’s long-range strategic plan. Following the Conway2025 presen-tation, Brad Lacy, pres-ident and CEO of the Chamber and Conway Development Corpora-tion (CDC), announced the CDC’s $25,000 in-

vestment to Central Baptist College’s Pro-fessional Adult College Education (PACE) pro-gram. The money will be distributed over the next five years and will sup-port marketing and pro-motion efforts for the PACE program.

The business-to-busi-ness trade show followed the breakfast and contin-ued throughout the day and evening. This year’s trade show featured more than 100 booths from local businesses.

Attendees had the op-tion to attend two in-formative lunch pre-sentations. At the first presentation, Scott Ben-nett, director of the Ar-

kansas State Highway and Transportation De-partment, provided up-dates on highway devel-opments in Conway and Faulkner County. Ja-mie Gates delivered the second presentation on Chamber Insights, a new data-driven marketing tool powered by My Acxi-om Partner.

The day concluded with Taste of Conway. From 5-7 p.m., 25 res-taurants and caterers distributed samples of their best menu items.

This year’s theme was “The Greatest Expo on Earth.” Many vendors incorporated a circus theme into their booth decorations.

COnway COrpOratiOn

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