The food is coming out at Neumeier's Rib Room in downtown Fort Smith, and I feel as if I'm having lunch with Kris Kristofferson. It would have to be a much younger Kristofferson, mind you. The actor, singer and songwriter is 82. Steve Clark is in his 50s. But Clark has the looks and intellect (Kristofferson was a Rhodes Scholar; he boxed, played rugby and began writing songs at Oxford) of one of my favorite performing artists.
Clark has something else that's rare--vision. His vision of what Fort Smith should be is clear. He has put his time and money behind that vision. And more people in western Arkansas are beginning to pay attention.
In 2015, the Sam Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas named Clark as its Entrepreneur of the Year. He founded Propak Corp., which provides logistical services, in 1999. The company now employs almost 2,000 people and has a headquarters staff of 60 people who work out of a restored building downtown. He's the man behind 64.6 Downtown, the nonprofit group that's transforming the state's second-largest city. He's also behind The Unexpected, the festival that has brought artists from around the world to Fort Smith.
Speaking last year to the Fort Smith Downtown Business Association, Clark said: "When Whirlpool left, we sat around for a while thinking that maybe that wasn't what was really going on, that maybe we had just fallen asleep, that it was a bad dream and that it would all take care of itself. Once you cross the bridge intellectually that there is no cavalry coming to save us economically, you're going to have to fight a little harder and do the things for yourself that maybe historically you waited on others--the city, civic leaders, whatever--to do for you."
Why The Unexpected, which has led to 33 works of art being produced on the sides of buildings across town during the past five years and has attracted international media attention to Fort Smith?
"Because that is the kind of city I want to live in," Clark told the downtown business group. "If you want to live in a city that has trails, that celebrates the arts or music or anything that makes the city rich in culture--if you're waiting on someone to do that, stop. Find a way to get engaged. Plug in."
As we dig into our barbecue, Clark says to me: "Art is a powerful thing."
He looks down the table at Trent Goins, the chief executive officer of poultry producer O.K. Foods. Clark wanted an Unexpected artist to paint murals on an old feed mill that O.K. owns downtown. Goins resisted at first, thinking of reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea.
"Trent is a compelling debater," Clark says. "But on that day, I was better."
The work of Guido van Helten on the silos at the feed mill draws visitors from across the country. He painted for two weeks in September 2016. Portrayed on the towers are three locals--Gene "Beck" Beckham, Edward Paradela and Kristina Jones. Beckham worked for O.K. for more than 70 years beginning in the 1940s.
In a documentary by fellow Australian Selina Miles, van Helten said of his art: "Before I create a work, I really want to learn about the people who live there. I want to really try and develop a work that speaks to them and belongs there even though I don't belong there."
When the work was finished in 2016, Goins said: "Gene spent more than 40 years working at this feed mill, and he embodies the spirit of our employees, both past and present. ... While our feed mill has stood as an economic contributor to the area for more than 50 years, it can now shine as a cultural inspiration that celebrates our community's past, present and future."
I pick up a copy of the Times Record, the local newspaper, and notice that all three front-page stories have to do with downtown development.
The first story notes that the Fort Smith Board of Directors voted 6-1 in favor of holding a March special election on a 1-cent sales tax. The tax would run from July 1, 2019, until March 31, 2020. The nine-month tax would generate $17 million that's needed to complete the U.S. Marshals Museum on the banks of the Arkansas River.
The second story covers a special meeting of 64.6 Downtown that was held the previous day at Propak headquarters. The meeting allowed the public to meet sculptor Spencer Schubert of Kansas City, who will create three statues for the new Gateway Park at the intersection of Garrison and Rogers avenues.
The third story is about the Central Business Improvement District's request that the Fort Smith Police Department provide bike patrols downtown.
Clark is as responsible as anyone for this renewed focus on downtown. He was raised in the area and is committed to the city. In addition to founding Propak, Clark was a founder of the digital media company Rockfish Interactive, which was sold in 2016.
"Rockfish taught me that you have to be a lifelong learner," he told the online publication Backstory 49. "Gone are the days when you can graduate from college and you're through. You have to expect to remake yourself several times throughout the course of your career. We cannot rest on what we have done. We must constantly be remaking ourselves."
While remaking himself, Clark is remaking the old blue-collar manufacturing city of Fort Smith.
"That's what you're supposed to do, isn't it?" he told Backstory 49. "You're supposed to make things better if you can. We have a right to be as good as we can be."
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Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.
Editorial on 01/02/2019