Nick Hobbs of J.B. Hunt Transport Services takes over as the presiding co-chair of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
An executive at J.B. Hunt Transport Services is the new presiding co-chair of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Nick Hobbs, the logistics company’s president of dedicated contract services, takes over for University of Arkansas Chancellor Joseph E. Steinmetz, who spent the past year leading the Council. The leadership transition was made at the Council’s annual meeting on Tuesday.
Hobbs is the second J.B. Hunt executive to serve in the Council’s highest position. Kirk Thompson, who was J.B. Hunt’s president and CEO, held the position in 2009.
Alice Walton led the Council, which was founded in 1990, in its formative years. U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt, who retired as a member of Congress in 1993, took over the chairman’s role that same year. He served until 2006.
The Council shifted to the presiding co-chair system that same year, inviting Northwest Arkansas leaders to take turns heading the organization in one-year stints. Previous presiding co-chairs were John Tyson, Lee Scott, Mark Simmons, Rosalind Brewer, Jim Walton, John A. White, David Gearhart, Donnie Smith and Thompson.
