Times Staff The Northwest Arkansas Council has been the force of regionalism and the expediter of change in the area since 1990.
The council has 61 members, including Tyson Foods retired chairman Don Tyson and Wal-Mart heirs Alice and Rob Walton. With a combined worth of $23 billion, the three are listed on Forbes Magazine's 1998 ranking of the 400 richest people in the United States.
This group, which reads like a Who's Who of the wealthy and powerful, also includes chamber of commerce representatives, utility executives and past and present officials from every tier of government.
Council officers are: former congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, chairperson; Fayetteville banker John Lewis, vice chairperson; Llama Co. vice president and state Rep. David Hausam, secretary/treasurer; and Llama Co. founder Alice Walton, chairperson emeritus.
Other members are: Jay Allen, Rick Allen, Dick Barclay, J. Neff Basore Jr., George Billingsley, Jim Blair, Ed Bradberry, Frank Broyles, Raymond Burns, Dean Cannon, Paul Carter, John Cooper Jr., Charles Cosby, Lynn DeVault, Tommy Deweese, John Elrod, Vic Evans, Ken Ewing, Robert Ferrell, Bill Foreman, Bob L. Gaddy, Sheridan Garrison, Ann Henry, Michael Hudson, Red Hudson, J. B. Hunt, Emmett Jones, Bob Lamb, Curt Loyd, Rick Lorence, David Malone, Bill Mathews, David Matthews, Clark McClinton, David McClinton, Rusty McKee, Charles McKinney, Ron Montgomery, Lloyd Peterson, Buddy Philpot, John Sampier, Archie Schaffer, Charles Scharlau, Mark Simmons, Don Smothers, Kirk Thompson, Walter Turnbow, Don Tyson, John Tyson, Fred Vorsanger, Rob Walton, Steve Ward, Robert Weaver, Perry Webb, George Westmoreland, John A. White and Doyle Z. Williams.
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