Billionaires Behaving Badly

Ever feel disheartened by endless headlines about billionaires exploiting their wealth at society's expense? Scott Benedict offers a refreshing counternarrative straight from Northwest Arkansas, where wealthy families have transformed prosperity into community treasures.

What makes Northwest Arkansas special isn't just its natural beauty, but the legacy of families who view their success as a responsibility rather than a privilege. 

Throughout the region, the evidence is unmistakable - parks, libraries, art museums, performance venues, academic institutions, hospitals, and community centers bearing the names of benefactors who chose to reinvest in their communities.

The transportation industry has given us philanthropists like Jones, Shaw, and Hunt, whose names grace vital community infrastructure. From the food industry, Tyson, Hudson, and Simmons have made their mark on regional development. 

Perhaps most visible is retail's influence, with the Arendt, Glass, McMillan, Scott, Shoemaker, and Walton families establishing centers for art, education, and technology that benefit everyone.

These families demonstrate that commercial success and community responsibility aren't mutually exclusive - they can be powerfully complementary when guided by the right values. Their example reminds us that while finding role models in today's society might seem challenging, sometimes we just need to look in our own communities to discover those using their good fortune to lift others up. 

Next time you visit a community center or local museum, take a moment to appreciate the vision behind the name on the building.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello everyone, I'm Scott Benedict.
You know, as I was driving inmy car and listening to the news
recently, I was overwhelmedwith some of the stories of that
day and those that have becomeseemingly commonplace that I
could all kind of place orcategorize under the heading of
billionaires behaving badly.

(00:24):
It seems that stories of someof the more affluent members of
our society using their wealthto benefit themselves at the
expense of others has becomeincreasingly commonplace these
days.
Thankfully, since I was in thecar already, it wasn't long
before I was reminded of howfortunate we are here in
Northwest Arkansas withcountless examples of families

(00:48):
that view their good fortune asa responsibility to be utilized
for the benefit of others,particularly communities that
gave them their start.
From parks and libraries to artmuseums and performance venues,
from academic institutions tohospitals, medical schools and
community centers, our communityis blessed by families that see

(01:11):
their success as a means ofgiving back to the communities
that they love and to teachsubsequent generations of their
families to use their wealthresponsibly for the benefit of
others.
From the transportationindustry, names like Jones and
Shaw and Hunt can be found onwonderful community centers,

(01:32):
parks and hospitals in ourregion, names like Tyson,
hudson's and Simmons from thefood industry are also prominent
in facilities to support thequality of life here in our area
and in retailing.
Names like Arendt, glass,mcmillan, scott, shoemaker and
yes Walden are associated withart centers and museums and

(01:55):
adult education facilities andtech centers that bear their
family names.
Now, as frustrating as the newscan seem, these days it might
seem hard to find examples offamilies that use their good
fortune for the benefit ofothers, not just for themselves.
But at a time where the searchfor role models in our society

(02:16):
and in our community is becomingmore difficult, I've noticed
recently that you really justhave to know where to look.
There are, in fact, many tofind and to appreciate.
I'm grateful that a number ofthem got their start in our
community and are tied to theretailing community that I've
always been proud to be a partof.
That's one of the things I'vebeen thinking about.

(02:38):
I'm Scott Benedict.