Ep. 11 - Banking on Relationships: Ron Branscum's Playbook

Your banker can’t approve what they can’t understand and most business owners don’t realize how often the deal breaks down long before the loan committee meets. We’re joined by Ron Branscum, a University of Central Arkansas alum who has lived the full arc of finance in Northwest Arkansas: state bank examiner, commercial lender, market builder, business owner, and now a consultant helping companies tell a clearer financial story.

Ron shares what he learned on championship-level UCA basketball teams about attitude, roles, and leadership, then connects that mindset to community banking and relationship-based lending. We talk about why “community banker” is more than a title, how trust is built before the ask, and why you should never waste time chasing a loan that doesn’t fit your bank’s credit box. He also reflects on the region’s transformation, including the early days of Pinnacle Hills and the vision that turned dirt roads into an economic engine.

The conversation gets practical for entrepreneurs and operators. Ron explains what he looks for first in a set of financial statements, why the debt-to-equity ratio matters, and how cash flow pressure feels different when payroll is on you. He also breaks down the common mistakes that make small business loans harder than they should be and how a lender-ready financial packet changes the outcome. Finally, Ron connects business growth to education through his service as a Northwest Arkansas Community College trustee, including workforce development, construction trades, healthcare programs, and the funding challenge behind campus expansion.

If you care about small business finance, community banking, business consulting, and building a stronger Northwest Arkansas, hit play and take notes. Subscribe, share this with a business owner who needs it, and leave us a review with your biggest takeaway.

Transcript

Welcome To Central To NWA

SPEAKER_02 0:01

This is Central to NWA, a UCA podcast. I'm your host, Paul Gatling, and we are bringing the University of Central Arkansas to Northwest Arkansas. Each episode, we will talk with leaders, alumni, and innovators driving this region forward. People who are shaping industries and defining what is next for our state. Let's get started. Welcome back to another episode of Central to NWA. I'm Paul Gatling with the University of Central Arkansas, and today's guest is Ron Branscombe. He's a longtime, former longtime Northwest Arkansas banker, now a business owner and consultant, uh, somebody I've known for a long time, UCA graduate, class of of 1993. And he's he's really one of those guys who's uh you know he's seen the business from just about every side, the banking side and now advising businesses side. And um, so uh I think that's gonna give uh give us a perspective uh that people are really going to enjoy. Ron, good to see you. Thanks for being here. Thank you, Paul. I appreciate you having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah. Uh I'm excited to uh get a chance to visit with you.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Yeah, you as well. I mean, like I said, we've we've go back to the business journal days when I was there, and you had a couple of stints at Arvest Bank and the Citizens Bank and and all of that. And we'll we'll get into that, of course, a little bit later on.

UCA Basketball And Team Mindset

SPEAKER_02 1:18

But first, you know, UCA class of 1993, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. Great time to be a basketball player at UCA.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

It was. Yeah. Uh, you know, when uh Coach Dyer recruited me down there to to UCA, it was uh he said we we're gonna have a good team coming back uh the in 1990, 91 season. And uh, you know, I I'd been on some good teams, but I hadn't been on any teams that won any championships. Yep. And that was like, uh, you know what, there's a chance to win something here. And uh and we did. Yeah. We we had some good success there.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Got really, really close to winning the whole thing. Back to back, NAIA national runners up in 91 and 92, very close. I think one of those games in overtime. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you know exactly which game.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Both games we got beat by Oklahoma City. That's right. Same team. And uh yeah, the second one they we they got us in overtime. And uh if Joe Sikowski wouldn't would not have failed out in overtime, uh, I think we'd probably beat him.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Yeah, yeah. Great Northwest Arkansas connection there. Joe and George, um great fable high school players, great UCA players. Um we'll go back to the basketball in a minute, but first, you know, um, you were on some teams. Where did you grow up? Where did you grow up here in Arkansas and and how did you get involved with UCA?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Yeah, uh Jacksonville, Arkansas, right there where the air base, my my dad was in the military and the Air Force, and so used to spend a lot of time on the air base. And so just being in that central Arkansas area, I obviously knew about UCA. Yeah. And uh when I when I graduated from UCA, I went to North Ark Community College, which we'll we'll talk about the connection with community college, but uh played basketball up there for two years. And then when it was time to where am I gonna go next, yeah, you know, had that opportunity at UCA. I was very familiar with the school. Yeah. Uh so had a lot of connections there, a lot of friends there, so it made sense.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Did you move around a lot as a kid? I mean, uh, here the military were you always in Central Arkansas?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

We were we were a rare breed in that we stayed, my dad was uh stationed in in uh Jacksonville for the the length of time that that he was basically about 10 years, which is very rare. And he retired at that point. I remember we had orders to go to England at one time. He had gone over Not England, Arkansas. Not England, Arkansas, the country England. He he had uh left, went over there, found a house, uh, had us a house to rent. We put up our house back in Jacksonville and sold it, and then last minute they got canceled. Wow. And so we had uh I remember scrambling the my parents to find another house there in Jacksonville, and they did. And so yeah, we stayed there the whole time, which is really rare.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Yeah. Okay. So yeah, UCA besides the basketball, which we'll go back to. What did you study? Did you have any idea about what kind of uh work you wanted to do, or what were you interested in there as an undergraduate?

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Well, I I knew I wanted to do something in business, and uh I'd gotten some advice from a high school teacher that accounting would be a good profession to go into. So that was the direction I wound up going, was was in and getting my undergraduate in accounting, which really gave me some great fundamentals for for down the road.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Right. So when I think of those UCA teams, and I'm I'm in high school at this time, uh, I think of Clifton Bush. Yes. Um, besides Scottie Pippen, uh, probably one of you know he's on a very short list of the best UCA basketball players that ever that ever played there. What do you remember about that run, those two years? A lot of wins.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, a lot of wins. Uh what I loved about Clifton was every day for practice, he showed up. Yep. He didn't take a day off. I could I remember one practice where he took a day off. But outside of that, you you know, you didn't want Clifton guarding you, you didn't want to guard Clifton. He was he was our leader. He was the one that set the tone. And you know, the expectation was when we went to practice, we had to match Clifton Bush's uh his his his willingness to want to put it all out there. He was the first in line, he ran the fastest, he beat everybody in all the drills. He could have easily taken things off at times. Yeah. And so I always thought very highly of Clifton and the fact of that's what made him so good.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

What kind of teammate were you? I was I was probably the uh uh encourage your cheerleader best that you could be, find my role uh wherever I can find a role. Right. Um, you know, I wasn't the most talented player, uh, but I I found a spot where I could help the team at moments and and I did the best that I could.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Well, and that attitude right there, I mean, is a perfect example of things that uh I would think stay with you as you grow up and get and enter into the business world and become a uh a business leader and uh and a husband and all of those things. What did being a teammate mean to you as you progress through your life?

SPEAKER_01 6:10

That's it's a great question. And my senior year, uh the coaches awarded me uh best attitude on the team, which really at that time I thought, well, you know, you'd always want to be like the best player of the year or best player on the team, but you know, that wasn't going to be the case. But having the best attitude really set the tone for me, any team that I've been involved with, if it's on a board, um, within a company, uh, even just within within family of understanding, like, hey, I've got a role to play, and I need to play that role and and pull my own in regard to what it means to be a teammate.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Yeah. Okay.

Entering Banking Through Examination

SPEAKER_02 6:49

So you leave you leave that environment uh with an accounting degree, a good teammate, and now you're going into uh an entirely new team now, starting a banking career, finance career. What was the first step in your career after you're leaving uh campus in Conway?

SPEAKER_01 7:05

You know, uh I I went and seeked counsel from three different individual bankers. I knew that I had the accounting degree, but I wanted to get into banking. Uh growing up, I remember the bankers in Jacksonville. They were always involved in the community. And so I just knew that was something that really kind of intrigued me and that I wanted to be involved with. So I knew banking was a direction I wanted to go. So I asked three different bankers, hey, what's the best way to get in banking? And each one, totally separate, they didn't know any of the previous conversations. Each one told me you need to go be a bank examiner.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

And so I started applying with the FDIC, state of Arkansas, the Federal Reserve. Uh, I had an uncle who is a distinguished alumni, Herbie Branscombe, with ECA. He had a connection. Uh, one of his partners, Rob Hill, was on the board of the State Bank Department. And so he was able to get me an interview. And uh, so I interviewed with the state of Arkansas, got a job as a bank examiner, and they had it's it's kind of funny, Paul. I they had they gave me two options. We've got an opening in Fayetteville and one in Jonesboro. I really didn't care much about the, I think they were the Indians at the time. That's right. Arkansas State. Yeah. I was I followed the Razorbacks more. Yeah. I wished I could tell you that I did all my homework, knew what was going on in Northwest Arkansas, didn't have a clue, and I made the decision based on, hey, I'll I'll go up there because I'm familiar with the Razorback. Right. That's what brought me to Northwest Arkansas. Yeah. And what year was that? That was in '94. Summer of 94. And so got up here and really got my doctorate in banking through being a bank examiner. Okay. It was uh it was it was a good four year spent. And if of anybody who's wanting to get into banking or is in banking, but is really wanting to to develop and grow, seek out a bank examiner job. Because you get to see how bankers operate. You think that they're all pretty much the same, but they are a lot different. Yeah. And then you get to see the different management styles.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

I I've always wondered, um, you know, you mentioned that you didn't really know what you were getting into in Fayetteville, but in 1994, when you're coming to Fayetteville, it's I mean, you're in a way you're still coming to the hinterlands of uh Northwest Arkansas. You're certainly not coming to Benton County, right? I mean, you didn't go past Fayetteville, you know, 30 some odd years ago. So State Banking Department, and then, you know, a couple of stints with Arvest Bank, and you led a bank market entry, uh, I believe, Citizens Bank, yes, from Batesville. Um, one of my favorite questions at the Business Journal was asking bankers, because we hear the term and you sort of alluded to it, community banking, community banker. What does community banking mean

What Community Banking Really Means

SPEAKER_02 9:55

to you? What does a community banker do that separates from other bankers?

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Great question, Paul. Uh Sam Walton, when he started getting into banks, when he started buying banks, you know, his comment was the bank is going to be only as good as the community is. And the community is made up of the individuals that are there, obviously. And so one of the roles of any banker is to be involved in the community, to be help provide leadership, uh uh guidance and direction uh from an economy standpoint to be not only holding the information, but being willing to share because it helps all. And so that's what really stuck out to me, and that was something I strive to do in regard to giving back to the community. And that can look in a lot of different ways of serving on boards, uh, which I've done my fair share and I really enjoy it. Uh, but also too, just being being of the mindset of I'm gonna share what I know to help you so that you will take it and help somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

So if you were to share what you know about the importance of relationship building to a young banker, to someone who's just starting or maybe just taking their first job as a bank examiner, uh, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 11:15

It's all about relationships. It really is. Uh, really in banking, you're a relationship manager. Yeah, uh, one of the first things you really need to strive to do, and I try to apply this in my business now, is you got to develop the relationship first before you can even ask for the business. And I think a lot of people rush to let me help you business wise, when really you should be just trying to develop that relationship so that they understand where you're coming from, you get a chance to know them. Because sometimes you might not want to really have that relationship from a banking standpoint. It might not be a good fit for the bank. Uh, you might spend a lot of time and effort developing that, and then you get to the to the loan committees and you realize our bank's not looking for this type of relationship. Right. And you waste a lot of time. So, really, the relationships, though, are very key. Uh you never really want to burn a bridge, but you really want to develop relationships.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

Yes. Dun, uh I kind of glossed over your timeline, but just give us like the 30,000-foot view of your of your timeline here uh from leaving the bank department to first joining your bank and then just kind of the way you worked up the ladder here in Northwest Arkansas.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yep.

Arvest Growth And NWA Visionaries

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yep. So when I was with the bank department, I was a senior bank examiner, and uh there was uh an ad out with First National Bank and Rogers, which was owned by the Walton family. And at that time you had McElroy, Bank of Bentonville, separate charters. They were all owned by R Vest, but nobody knew the name Rvest. It was all the holding company. And so I went to work for them as their senior credit analyst and just got all types of learning experience because I had one side of the desk of as a bank examiner what to look for. Now I'm on this side and it's really starting to make a lot of sense to me. Yeah. And um, and so with with First National Bank, uh, just had a lot of opportunities, grew into a commercial lender. And at that time, too, we the the bank was merging into the name of Rvest. Uh there was many days ago where the the Rvest name, it might be a First National Bank check, but the Rvest name was a little bit bigger each year. Right. And you and eventually we all folded under the Rvest umbrella. And so at that point, uh I not only got the experience of being a commercial lender, but I also got to be uh have the experience of managing a commercial lending team. So I had a group that reported to me, and it was my job to help the bank find all of the commercial opportunities that were out there. And it was like the wild, wild west at one time. There were a lot of things going on, a lot of opportunities. And I look back and I think, man, what a blessing to experience all of it.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Yeah, it's it's been great. I've lived here 25 years, you've lived here over 30 years, and uh when you say those names like McElroy and uh the Bank of Bentonville and First National Bank Rogers and all of those banks from from years gone by, I mean, it really does bring back a lot of memories. I imagine it probably still does for you too.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

It does. And I think of you know, every time I come up the Pinnacle Hills Boulevard, uh I I distinctly remember the day of being in Gary Combs' truck with him. I don't know if you that's a proposition in itself. It is truck with Gary Combs. But Gary was married to to Carla Tyson, but he was developing uh property there for a while. So he developed the commercial Pinnacle Hills Boulevard. And I remember being in his truck where they just cut the dirt, and so we're riding down the dirt road talking about this area being the epicenter of the epicenter, you know, and that was like Gary, I hope you don't drive off the road here, but also too, what vision he had. Yeah, uh Collins Haynes, Bill Schwehart, uh Carmen Lehman, uh even then JB Hunt got involved. It was just a lot of visionaries really helped get this area off the ground.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

You've got to have um an imagination that's boundless to be sitting in that truck where you were and listening to these plans that Gary's talking about and where you're looking around and what you're looking at. And it's just um none of it was here.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah. None of it was here. It's hard to compute. Yeah, it's hard for me to you know drive by the mall over there and the promenade mall. And yeah, that would that mall wasn't there. Right. But I remember when those deals were being made to get that mall here. Yeah. And uh I remember when John Q. Hammonds and bought the land from that very group I talked about, Combs and Schweihhart and them, bought the land to put the uh embassy suites and convention center in. And he told that group, you're not thinking big enough. And that's when he put that uh convention center and the hotel in, and it was like he was a visionary too.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

Yeah, I'll share a story similar to that. I remember I I just moved up here in 2001 and uh I was doing a freelance article for the State Golf Association magazine, and it was connected with uh Mr. Reeves, Charles Reeves, who developed Shadow Valley. He was just getting, they had just started moving dirt and kind of cutting some fairways. I mean, it was very, very early on, and um he put me in his truck one morning uh to go, you know, show me where we're gonna go from one, and here's number two, and here's number three, and we were just it would feel you can imagine. And it was early in the morning, and I guess I'd had too much of a breakfast, and um I got sick. I said, Mr. Reeves, I need you to stop this truck. And he can't he stopped and looked in, so I opened the door and he was just kind of chuckling. I said, Okay, I'm I'm okay now. Yeah, but yeah, when you think, I mean, because Shadow Valley is now what on you know, phase 15 or whatever they're on of the houses, hundreds of houses out there, beautiful golf course. And to um it's uh it's it's fun to think back on those memories of the way this place used to look. Yeah. Um uh from the people who lived it like you. You were right there in the very middle of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yeah, so Charles, so he you know, before Shadow Valley, he had uh Highland Knowles and Chris Meadows, he had developed that, and uh he was very instrumental in Southwest Rogers Road. Uh very instrumental. And then he did the Pleasant Grove, you know, that's where the Walmart Super Center is now. And you know, it was interesting. There was a time when he thought he had the mall coming into that particular area. Yeah. And this other group had the mall coming here to promenade. They were both seeking that particular mall as to as to how important that was. And uh, you know, Charles missed out. And uh but uh Charles was he didn't miss out too badly. No, Charles did Charles was a very, he was he was on our bank board, very smart man, very smart man, uh, really had great common sense to him.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Yeah. Okay. That's wonderful memories.

Leaving Banking For Therapy Business

SPEAKER_02 18:00

All right. So you step out of banking for a little bit and you go to work, not really go to work, you went to lead a business that you own uh with your wife, regional therapy services. Tell us about that career and how you uh evolved into that that role.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

You bet. I'd be remiss if I didn't uh bring up that the value of UCA is where I met my wife. Oh, okay. UCA. So we we dated down there, and then when I moved up here for a bank examiner's job, we we dated for another year and got married and got her up here to Northwest Arkansas and she finished at the U of A, but you have to convince her? Oh no, not at all. She was she was ready to go. Yeah. Um and I will say with her, she's she's very adventurous. Um there's never been uh a question of well, why would we do that? She she loves the adventure of it. So moving to n moving to new terrain was very exciting. It was an adventure. It was it was uh but uh yeah, went to she used to always I you know I had a gr great opportunity in the banking career. Arvis was always good to me, but she'd always uh always every once in a while say, I wish you'd take this company over. I wish you'd jump in and and and help run it. And I would always be, D, I'm I've got this banking career. I'm going in this direction. Um one of the things, Paul, when I was in banking, I used to just especially the older clients, I would always ask them, hey, what would you do differently? And every time I would ask that question, the answer was always I wished I'd spent more time with my family. Every answer. Red Hudson, you know, um all the various people that I would ask that to would give me that answer. So I knew in the back of my mind, I thought, you know, family is very important to me and I hear what they're saying. And but here I am running this direction. So when she when we would have those conversations, well, it just finally stuck with me one day. What would it look like? And uh and so we as an adventure decided we're gonna we're gonna I'm gonna uh discard the banking career and and head this direction and we're gonna basically do business together. And wouldn't say there's not there's not a better business partner than my wife. Uh not a better friendship, and that just doing business together helped bring us even closer together. And so it's not always easy, but it's very uh very valuable and very enjoyable.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

And so regional therapy services is what does it do and who does it do it for?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

So Deedra uh initially is a speech therapist, that's what she got her master's in and was originally just doing speech, but uh speech uh regional therapy now does speech, physical, and occupational therapy, uh, works with pediatric clients, birth to five. Um back when I stepped out of banking and into the shoes of of helping her with regional therapy, there were three employees. Two of them were part-time. And fast forward to today, uh north of 50 employees. And so uh she's done an excellent job with it. Uh I'm on full-time consulting with her, you know, in regard to helping wherever needed. Uh, but it's been fun really putting that business together.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

What did you learn about um, you know, you went from financing businesses to running a business? I mean, what was what was that mindset like getting into that chair and not this chair?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

You know, never had to worry about a a paycheck when you're working at the bank, especially working for the Walton Finn. You didn't have to worry about pay. You really learned real quick payday is very important. And to uh, you know, when it gets to you're messing with other people's paycheck, it's very, very Very important. So the responsibilities of managing the cash flow, which really came natural to me, but now it's like it's in your hands. You know, if uh if if if you make a poor decision, there there are ramifications. Uh back in banking, if you made a poor decision, you were able to learn from it and move on to get to the next one. Uh so that was uh that was one thing. I think the other thing that I really learned, this was working with all the clients that I did, is how important culture in a company is. And uh that's one of the things we were able to put in place is develop a culture with uh RTS. And it's really key that you know once you establish that, you got to continue to uh to just keep it in front of all the employees, keep it active, and you got to keep living it out.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

I would imagine that also changed um maybe the way you felt uh about risk um being you know the banker. Like you said, you didn't necessarily have to worry about a paycheck, you didn't have to worry about a lot of things, but as a business owner, you had to worry

Returning To Banking In A New Era

SPEAKER_02 23:10

about several things and risk being one of those.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Yes. Yeah, most definitely.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Yeah. So you go back to um you did that for how many years?

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Did that for six years. Okay, and then an opportunity to return to the banking. I was I was approached by uh the the the folks with Citizens Bank out of Batesville about coming in and uh and taking on the Rogers market. And for some reason at that time, it just felt like, you know what, uh maybe I need this new risk of or maybe I just need to be re-energized in in in regard to trying this particular venture out. And so yeah, I got back into banking.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Did you find that you'd been re-energized? I mean, was it a different from 1.0 to 2.0 in your banking career?

SPEAKER_01 23:57

It was, you know, relationship keys were always the same. That was always the same, but the banking industry had changed night and day. Yeah. Just within that six-year time period. How so? What's the most I just remember, but one of the very first loans back at Citizens Bank had a customer call and they were wanting to do it was a simple request, wanting to do a home equity line of credit, second mortgage on their home, and they were going to use it for for uh for business or for I think they were gonna do remodeling with it. And I were sure we can do that, no problem. Uh I'll I'll walked it over to my loan assistant. Hey, we need to get this put in place. And I I mistakenly told the customer, you know, we should be able to get this done in about two weeks. Banking had changed a lot. And uh so when I shared that with my assistant, she looked at me like, what did you tell them? Yeah. Uh, you know, it's a it was a 30 to 45 day process just for a little home equity level. And so the banking regulations and and everything had really, really just totally swung in a in a in another direction. And so that was the that was the the one of the things. It was like, okay, this is a lot different. It's not as it's not as customer friendly, even though the regulations were supposed to help protect the customer and help benefit the customer, it really added no value to the customer. It just created more documentation.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Do you feel like I mean that that's a byproduct of a lot of things, regulatory things, and we could go down that path all day, but it was it also a byproduct of just um the region's growth here? I mean, community banking, I would think has changed meaning today from what it meant 20 years ago in this, in in that we are not necessarily a community anymore. Not that that's good or bad or negative, but we're just we're getting bigger, we're larger, we're we've evolved into something maybe past a community where you don't necessarily know your your banker and your customer as well as you did. Has that got some validity to that?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Yes and no. I do think so there are certain niches within banking that I think still need to be met and can be met. And so uh you can have the big national banks uh you which are going to provide a lot of security. You can have the regional banks that uh probably don't have as much flexibility, but they can be really, really sharp on their loan rates and and have some really aggressive products. And then you still need that community bank that knows who am I doing business with and knows that hey, uh I'm willing to to take this risk on this individual because I know their character, I know who they are. Um, I know that they've been through the fire on things and they've they came through every time. So I still think there is a niche for community banking. The regulations make it really tough to be a community bank, though. They really do. Yeah. Because they start lumping you in with some of the regional banks and trying to get you to that point. Now, I can understand back when I go put my old bank examiner hat on. I remember those days of, you know, hey, safety and soundness, you're trying to trying to protect the banking industry. And so I understand that, but I think I think it's still there's still a niche that can be met as a community banker.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

Okay.

Consulting For Better Borrowing Decisions

SPEAKER_02 27:25

So fast forward then, you you've you've seen business from from multiple angles, regulator, banker, and business owner. And so in terms of niches, you I guess see a niche that you can fill with a consulting firm, right? And you decide to to launch your own consulting business. What led to that decision?

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Well, you hit you you hit it right on the head there, Paul. Um, as a banker, I no telling how many phone calls I got of, hey Ron, I need to borrow some money. Well, I'm like, hey, I that's what I'm here for. Yeah. I want to I want to loan it to you. But we need some financials. We need some some information to back me back this decision up. And so it was pretty much it. Every banker, when I describe this to current bankers now, they say, Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. And so it's, hey, I need these financials. And then you're dragging to get that information. You do get it, and then it's not put together in the best format. It's really up to the banker to try to make sense of it. And usually when it gets to that point, the answer usually is no. Or it's a challenging yes. And so I saw that play out all my career, even to today, I see it. And so what I provide is let me help get you a packet or get your financials in line in a position to where you're presenting and you're way ahead of the game. Uh, if you're having to present after the fact your financials, even when you're needing to borrow the money, it's not a good feeling for the bank. And so having that experience, bringing that to the business owners is really where I try to bring value.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

What is a broad, a general picture of your client at strategic business consulting?

SPEAKER_01 29:16

It's uh somebody who's been in business three years or more, um, might have a bookkeeper CFO uh prefer that they do. And so that I come in and help kind of give an oversight where I'm not necessarily doing the books, but I'm giving guidance on the financials and then helping the business owner understand here's how the bank's gonna look at it. Uh, here's how we need to present this and help guide them through that process.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

Let's say I'll bring you a potential uh client tomorrow business. What's the first thing you look for to determine um if that business is healthy financially or how how healthy it is?

SPEAKER_01 29:58

How healthy it is? The very first thing I I usually look at is what is the debt to equity ratio? How much debt compared to equity do they have? And that tells me how leveraged are they? Or is there room for leverage, or is there room for growth? A leverage company is really gonna struggle. It's it's the that's the biggest challenge is understanding for a business owner to understand, hey, I've got money in the bank, but yeah, your balance sheet is way out of whack right now. We gotta get, we gotta get some capital into the company one way or another. Usually the best way is to retain it. So when you're making money, it's always nice to, you always want to take it out, but it's better if you leave it in and get yourself some some area to grow.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Yeah. If there's a small business owner, medium-sized business owner listening right now, uh, what's the first thing you would tell them they should go check in their business?

SPEAKER_01 30:55

To go check in their business, they want to make sure they understand the numbers, the financials. What are the financials telling them? Uh one of the easiest questions for them to answer when I ask how much money did you make last month? If they don't give me an answer, then I know they don't know what's going on with their business. They should be that in tune to know each month how much they made. And how did that compare to what they thought they were going to make, what they budgeted. And a lot of times business owners, they don't have the time necessarily to do that. And so that's where I try to help come in and teach them and help instruct them on hey, this is pretty much the fundamentals you need to live out. Once you learn that, you'll start getting into a rhythm and you'll find yourself having a much better business.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

It sounds like, and I can tell that you this has been a rewarding part of your career. That's been a very satisfying. What's been the most challenging part of this this part of your career starting your own business?

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Well, you know, I started it in the middle of COVID.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Yeah. Stop, full stop.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Right there. Actually, that was a blessing, though, because it was almost like a restart for a lot of things. And uh and so once you kind of you know take that mask off, literally, uh, you get a chance to kind of reconnect on things. Um, it's always with any consulting, is just the ups and downs of hey, you got opportunities today, you don't have opportunities the next day, just trying to keep that leveled out. So one of the things that I'm working on right now is to get my certification for business valuations. So that way I can help uh bring something to the table of hey, I've got a client. One of the things a business owner is eventually always going to be dealing with is how do I exit? And so the ability to value a company, which I feel like I can value companies right now, but I just need the certification to go along with it.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

Sure. Yeah, just that extra layer of uh the stamp you could put on it.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Yeah. Okay. And then the opportunity, too, of being expert witness testimony within the court system. Uh I've had a chance to experience uh being a receiver from the court system. That was a that was a great experience. And so uh just looking for those opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

You mentioned earlier, um, and you have been, you've been involved in a lot of different, you know, nonprofit boards and board work and and community uh related uh functions,

NWACC Workforce Development And Growth

SPEAKER_02 33:30

but one of the most high profile is your is your co-word. Right now, you're a board of trustees member for the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. Just tell me why you decided to run for election and invest your time at IDWAC.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Great question. Uh, kind of go back to when we kind of first started. Uh, you know, I spent two years at North Ark Community College playing basketball up there. The just the fact of I don't know if I would have been as successful if I'd went directly to a four-year school. Smaller campus, a little more personal instruction. Uh, those first two years of college are really key. And uh and so I knew when you know, when I got involved in this community, uh always had the the draw and the and the feel of I want to get involved with the community college here. And so I have served on the board for uh close to 10 years now and and won re-election. Yep. Thank y'all so much for voting.

unknown 34:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Uh but it's uh it's been a great experience and just just the value to or the the the ability to give back to the community in that essence is I know you're you're helping students uh achieve their dream of being successful. And uh I just want to play a role within the college to help with that.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

So playing off of that, what is particularly in 20 in the year 2025, NWAC has been around since what, 1990, I think, 91, somewhere somewhere in that part cap. In the year 2025, which in Northwest Arkansas, everything is it's a different planet now than what it was in 1990. What is what is the role of Northwest Arkansas Community College in this region right now?

SPEAKER_01 35:18

I think uh helping with workforce development is a big key. Um there's still a lot of students who don't necessarily want to go the full college route, but they are needing a job uh coming out of high school, uh looking for some type of skill to cut their teeth on. I think the college can definitely play a bigger role in that. Our our construction uh department uh has just gone gangbuster. And as you can imagine, you see a crane everywhere around here. Right. The construction companies have a hard time finding employees. And so that those particular students that go into that program are able to walk out and go work for a crossling or an abholz. And they're walking into those companies, bringing value right away. So that's one area. Uh-huh. The heat and heat and air area, uh, electrician, that's uh that's another area that's really key.

SPEAKER_02 36:13

Right. Where are some gaps? I mean, I know health care is a popular workforce development topic as it relates to community college and four-year colleges, you know, UCA, we've got um, I think the number is somewhere close to we've got about 10,000 students, and I think right at about 20% of all of our students are on some sort of health care related degree path, whether that's the the behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, pre-dental hygiene. Those jobs are in demand, right? And so um where what where is NWAC's uh role there? Are they filling that gap there on campus?

SPEAKER_01 36:49

We do have a nursing program and a physical therapy assistant program. Um it would probably be uh wise for the college. Challenge is always instructor-wise, trying to find the instructors to provide this, but from an occupational therapy standpoint, providing an assistant program would be helpful. The nursing program's been very successful. It's been a great feeder and uh to the community. Um it's you know, healthcare is so so evolving. Yeah, the AI industry, the college, has been really proactive with that. And I do think there'll be some opportunities to help AI within the healthcare community. Yeah. And uh I know Dr. Riddle is really excited about that opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

Yeah, that and there's also you uh you read more about uh you know growth at NYG, just like everything else. The enrollment's growing, and now there's some discussions and some plans to to grow the campus foot uh quite considerably.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Yeah. It's always the biggest challenge though, because you got to have a dollar to build something. That's right. That's exactly right. So, you know, the the and the the the college is there's so much growth opportunities around here. Um you know, you gotta really fight, fight for that dollar to find how are we gonna get the funding to do these things. And so that's the biggest challenge, is we do have great plans uh of expanding the campus. Um, it's just okay, how do we get the funding mechanism to come along with it?

SPEAKER_02 38:20

Yeah, great plan, grant plans, really. But yeah, you've got to you've got to pay for it. So let's go back, let's talk about

Faith Family And Redefining Success

SPEAKER_02 38:26

your family. You you uh rightfully so mentioned your your wife of over 25 years, I think, and you and your family. How do you, and you've got a lot going on personally and professionally, the board service and your job, how do you stay grounded and with your family with all that you have going on?

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Well, first of all, it's gotta be led by faith. You know, I'm very uh very driven by my relationship with Christ. And so being faith-driven has has really been the key because if if Deedra and I are not seeking the Lord, then you know it's a little bit lopsided at that point. But if we're on the same page there and we're seeking the Lord, um, then I think we're on the same page and we're ready to lead a family. And that's been the blessing of it. We got seven kids. They range from 23 down to nine. So I still got kids in the household. I still got a lot of kids in the household. Yeah. Uh, but uh, you know, family is very important to me. Uh, but uh relationship with Deedra, uh that to me is a big uh key to success. And I'm not I'm not talking success business financially, I'm just talking about enjoyment of life is uh you know, your relationship with your spouse. And so uh that's been a big key for for her and I. Well, we're gonna be celebrating 31 years. Oh wow, this year. Yep. And uh, and so that's been a big key. Family is very important to me, though. And uh I never seem to uh um uh have solved the where do you where do you spend the time other than you just you just you do the best you can and let the Lord fill in the gaps.

SPEAKER_02 40:08

Has your definition of success um changed over time? I mean you you use that word. I mean, what are the things that are important to you 20 years ago, are they important now?

SPEAKER_01 40:17

They're not, Paul. Um and that's uh that's one of those things where how I viewed success was hey, I want to be a I want to be a bank president. You know, if I can obtain that, then I will have obtained success. But really at the end of the day is to have a uh a family where we're just all uh growing and developing, and uh, you know, Deidre and I are meeting our kids' needs, and that to me is for them to spring off into the future is the success. Yeah, you know, whatever that looks like. Uh if they are able to, you know, take some of the very things we've taught them and go develop their own families, then that'll be the that'll be the success. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Yeah. Wow, it's that say that age range again for me, you know. 23 to nine. 23 to 9. So that's it. Every two years. Every two years. So unique dynamic. All right. All right, just a few rapid fire questions for you

Best Advice Hard Calls Rapid Fire

SPEAKER_02 41:22

as we uh round up. Business wise, best business advice you've ever received.

SPEAKER_01 41:28

Um great question. I I I would think uh sitting down with Red Hudson, uh, he said uh you need to manage to the balance sheet. Okay. Now, some people might be like, what does that mean? He understood, he knew it, he'd experienced it. And you know, we don't I don't hear the name Hudson family around here as much, but you know, the Hudson's were huge in this community. Yes. And Red Hudson built a company, a big company, and was able to sell it off to the Tysons. But Red knew managing to the balance sheet, you know, knowing how your balance sheet is structured, being able to, when you make a decision within your company, it is gonna have an impact on the balance sheet. And that balance sheet, when I talk debt to equity ratio, that's those are the types of things where you gotta know how your financials work.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Yep. Hardest or most challenging uh business decision of your career.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

Um got back in the oh nine, oh ten time period when the market had tanked, we also we not only had the real estate, but we had the yeah, the stock market that took it took a di uh dive. Our bank had a big client that uh it was the village on the creeks property, and so I inherited that relationship, and that was a very challenging time in like how do we gonna navigate this? Because it was a big loan, but it had dropped in value considerably based on the market, and so having to deal with that was you know a challenge. Now looking back over time uh and dealing with that particular customer, she and I really had a great relationship. Uh after after all the water had had uh uh passed under the bridge, she'd call me any day, ask if I needed any help, or I could call her, ask her if she needed help. Uh there was really a unique friend friendship there, which is pretty rare. That's a relationship. That's a relationship. Absolutely. I always felt like even as a banker, there's gonna be tough decisions of foreclosing on folks. Um, it's still a human, that's still a person that. you can still have a relationship with. Yeah. And depending upon how you handle it, we'll determine how that relationship goes. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 44:07

Uh aside from your 31st wedding anniversary, what are you most excited about right now?

SPEAKER_01 44:13

Oh right now. Uh getting down to the beach for spring break. Top of mind. No, I'm really I'm really looking forward to uh uh getting this business valuation certification to see like what what can that do in regard to uh my company for for uh consulting because it will open some doors that I'm looking forward and I think really fits my niche really good. So sure.

Final Thanks And How To Follow

SPEAKER_01 44:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 44:40

Well listen Ron really appreciate you doing this you've had a really unique um career path here in Northwest Arkansas that started at UCA and so did Conway. And so um I really think people are going to take a lot of this so I appreciate you sitting down with me. Thank you, Paul. I've really enjoyed it. All right great conversation. All right and that is it for this episode of Central to NWA. We appreciate you tuning in. Until next time, go Bears. That's it for this episode of Central to NWA a UCA podcast. I'm Paul Gatling, Senior Director of Northwest Arkansas Engagement for the University of Central Arkansas. Be sure to subscribe to the show and follow UCA on all the appropriate social media. I'll see you next time on Central to NWA