PAST WINNERS
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PERSON OF THE YEAR
2021
Jay Chesshir
Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce
In 2021, Jay Chesshir led the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce’s efforts with public and private sector leaders to support and expand economic development in metro Little Rock. These efforts had a significant impact on commercial real estate through development, financing, and construction beyond the benefits of jobs to the community. Also, in 2021, the Ford NGL Program, now called the Academies of Central Arkansas, implemented the career curriculum into Pulaski County Junior High Schools. Jay and his team have been successfully orchestrating this venture since 2019.
2020
George Gleason
Bank OZK
Mr. Gleason's decision for Bank OZK to invest nearly One Hundred Million Dollars in a new headquarters campus in Little Rock was a continuation of decisions he has made over the last quarter century to base the bank's operations in Arkansas's capitol city. This newest iteration of Bank OZK's headquarters opened in 2020 and cemented the northwest Little Rock location of The Ranch as a commercial real estate submarket. Bank OZK's campus has a long-term plan for expansion and development that will compound other growth in the Highway 10 corridor of Little Rock. The 2020 completion of the nearly 250,000 square feet headquarters building will long be viewed as a watershed event for commercial real estate development in Little Rock.