The board of directors of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) has voted to build its Supply Chain Hall of Fame in Rogers, Arkansas.
The CSCMP board’s action follows a suggestion by Remko Van Hoek, a clinical professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, which is located in nearby Fayetteville.
The Walton College will host the Hall of Fame for an initial period of five years. “The Hall of Fame will highlight achievements and innovations in supply chain,” said Matt Waller, Walton College dean and the Sam M. Walton Leadership Chair in Business. “Northwest Arkansas is the hub of supply chain innovation and research. We thank Remko for having the vision to get CSCMP to establish the Hall of Fame here.”
Van Hoek will serve as the Hall’s first executive director.
“Through exhibits, education and events the Hall is also meant to educate and inspire future leaders in supply chain,” Van Hoek said. “By engaging our students and entrepreneurial region, we can bridge the greatest of the past with the best of the future.”
The Hall will be built as a multi-function exhibit and meeting space on top of the Northgate Building, which is currently under construction in Rogers. It is expected to be completed by early 2020.
Waller said the Hall was made possible thanks to the generous support of Johnelle Hunt, the co-founder of J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., with her husband J.B. Hunt. J.B. Hunt Transport is headquartered in nearby Lowell, Arkansas. Support for the Hall of Fame also came from Gus Blass III, general partner of Capital Properties LLC and a board member of 10 other companies, and Alex Blass, a partner in Sage Partners LLC. Both Gus Blass and Alex Blass are alumni of the Walton College.
The Hall of Fame will feature space devoted to rotating exhibits about inductees and also will be used for lectures, roundtable meetings and functions for as many as 100 attendees. Construction of the Hall of Fame was announced at the CSCMP’s Edge 2019 Annual Conference in September.
Founded in 1963, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals has been providing networking, career development, and educational opportunities to the logistics and supply chain management community.