Arkansas Urology is bringing the next evolutionin men’s health to Conway ...

And it’s Epoch! Mike Whitfield, Epoch Founder and Director of Business Development Tim Langford, M.D.

JULY 2014

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat2D — Sunday, July 20, 2014

Baptist Health held a ground-breaking ceremo-ny recently on a 37-acre site in Conway to mark the start of construc-tion on the new Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway. Baptist Health president and CEO Troy Wells, Gov. Mike Beebe, civic leaders, communi-ty members, local physi-cians and Baptist Health employees celebrated the official start of construc-tion for the 96-bed hos-pital that will be located on the west side of Inter-state 40 in Conway.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Baptist Health to expand servic-es to the residents of the Conway area,” said Wells. “Conway and the sur-rounding areas deserve the best in healthcare services, and we can’t wait to meet their needs in a state-of-the-art facil-

ity. Not only will this new hospital serve this com-munity’s health needs, but it will also contrib-ute to an increase in local employment and it will

help to attract new busi-nesses.”

The 216,000-square-foot Baptist Health Med-ical Center-Conway is projected to open in the first quarter of 2016 with 96 beds, eight operat-ing rooms and a Level III trauma-center emergen-cy room.

“This new, three-sto-ry medical center will address the healthcare needs of Faulkner Coun-ty and surrounding ar-eas, which have expe-rienced unprecedented population growth over the past 10 years,” add-ed Wells.

Baptist Health col-laborated on this project with more than 30 Con-way-based physicians to develop the new medical center. It will be operated as a not-for-profit, faith-based community hospi-tal offering comprehen-

sive clinical services. “Today’s ground-break-

ing is the culmination of years of hard work and perseverance by a dedi-cated group of physicians and steering committee who have worked closely with Baptist Health Ad-ministration on the de-velopment of this proj-ect,” said Dr. Ben Dodge, Orthopedic Surgeon and Chairman of the Physi-cian Steering Committee. “We are impressed with

Baptist Health’s profes-sionalism, integrity and insight into the health-care needs of Arkansans. We now look forward to construction and subse-quent opening of Baptist Health-Conway in early 2016.”

Design photos for the new Baptist Health Med-ical Center-Conway were unveiled to those in at-tendance at the ground-breaking. Several dig-nitaries, including Gov.

Beebe and community leaders, helped Baptist Health officials with the shovels to mark the be-ginning of construction.

The construction proj-ect is expected to gener-ate approximately 250 jobs. At the time of com-pletion, Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway will employ around 425 healthcare professionals and staff committed to improving the health of the community.

The estimated cost of the entire project is $130 million. GSR Andrade is providing architectural design services, and CDI is serving as the General Contractor.

“Baptist Health’s vi-sion is to improve the health of Arkansans by changing the way health-care is delivered,” said Wells. “We believe this new medical center will greatly benefit the res-idents of this area by ensuring a strong and sustainable future for healthcare.”

Baptist Health breaks ground for new hospital

BUYING POWERAre you looking to reach...• predominantly female customers?• household and health care decision makers?• income earners with an average salary of $40K?

If so, visit ConwayChamber.org to register for exhibit space. Space is limited!

ConwayArkansas.org

TEACHER BREAKFAST& EDUCATION FAIR

10TH

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Presented by

ELECTRIC • WATER • CABLE • INTERNET • TELEPHONE

Tuesday, August 12 | 7:00 – 8:45 a.m.Conway High School Cafeteria | 2300 Prince Street

Get your business in front of more than 3,800 incoming freshmen through the Smart Card!• Submit a promotion as a PDF to

Adena@ConwayArkansas.org by July 28, 2014.

• Chamber members can be a participating business on the Smart Card website at no charge.

If you’d like to feature your company’s logo on the card, contact the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce for sponsorship opportunities.

For more info:501.932.5414 | Adena@ConwayArkansas.orgConwayArkansas.org/SmartCard

University of Central Arkansas • Hendrix College • Central Baptist College University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton

Presenting Sponsors:

ConwayArkansas.org

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Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe was on hand for the ground-breaking cer-emony of the new Baptist Health-Conway hospital, which is slated to open in 2016 in Conway.

‘Baptist Health’s vision is to improve the health of Arkansans by changing the

way healthcare is delivered.’

—Baptist Health

president and CEO

Troy Wells

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, July 20, 2014 — 3D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

Apparel company Barefoot Campus Outfit-ter will host the Conway Area Chamber of Com-merce’s quarterly Busi-ness After Hours at its store on 2235 Dave Ward Drive.

The networking event will take place Thursday, Aug. 21, from 5-6:30 p.m.

The Texas-based com-pany sells “Southern hip” boutique wear and col-lege-approved apparel in college towns across the South. The University of Central Arkansas li-censed its official logo to Barefoot Conway, which

opened in early 2014.Attendees are encour-

aged to bring business cards, as Business After Hours allows members to network, strength-en professional relation-ships and develop new opportunities to work with fellow Chamber members.

The event is free to Chamber members and their employees. Compli-mentary hors d’oeuvres will be provided.

For more information about Business After Hours, call the Chamber at 501-327-7788.

Barefoot Conway to host Business After Hours

Barefoot Campus Outfitter will host the Chamber’s quarterly Business After Hours on Aug. 21. The apparel store held its grand opening in March 2014.

Conway-based Rock-Pond Solutions has ex-perienced exponential growth in personnel, customers and real es-tate since its founding in 2000. The business-intel-ligence software compa-ny has grown from three to 15 employees in the past three years, experi-enced a 300 percent in-crease in revenue, ser-vices providers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and has expanded its of-fices at 1002 Front St., to occupy the entire top floor.

Rock-Pond Solutions works with home-infu-sion and specialty phar-macies to translate loads of data into the informa-tion and ultimately in-telligence health care providers need to sur-vive and succeed in to-day’s changing health-care landscape. A former IT specialist for a hos-pital, founder and pres-ident Pete Tanguay ex-perienced firsthand the growing importance of technology in the health care field. He entered

the home-infusion indus-try in 1987 and found an untapped niche market.

“Our customers are home-infusion and spe-cialty pharmacies that provide pharmacy ser-vices in the home,” Tan-guay said. “When most people think of pharma-cies, they think of a re-tail pharmacy. Home In-fusion therapy is the administration of med-ication in the home, in-travenously through a needle or catheter that is used when oral medica-tions are not sufficient.”

Specialty pharmacy is one of the fastest grow-ing areas of the pharma-cy industry. It focuses on providing high cost drugs to treat complex condi-tions. Advances in med-icine are providing new drugs to treat and cure conditions such as can-cer, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and HIV are be-ing distributed through specialty pharmacies.

Tanguay said Rock-Pond Solutions is the leading business-intel-ligence company for the

home infusion and spe-cialty pharmacy indus-tries.

“Rock-Pond Solu-tions began as a consult-ing company to help pro-viders solve technology and business problems they faced. Our custom-ers didn’t have the in-formation they needed to make decisions. Solv-ing this problem one cus-tomer at a time using a consulting model gave us the experience and tools needed to transition to a software company, help-ing customers on a much broader scale.”

Rock-Pond is also very involved in the Con-way community as a member of the Conway Downtown Partnership and Chamber of Com-merce. “We’re very excit-ed to be located in Con-way and enjoy hosting customers and business partners in our unique downtown location. Hon-estly, with our broad cus-tomer base we could re-locate anywhere in the U.S., but have no plans to leave any time soon.

Conway is affordable, at-tractive and convenient — there are several plac-es to have lunch with-in walking distance. Be-ing downtown has been good for us: it’s good for me personally, it’s good for our employees and it’s good for our custom-ers who visit.”

As tenants relocat-ed from the building on Front Street, Rock-Pond Solutions occupied more space until their offic-es eventually took over the entire top floor. Rock-Pond Solutions eventual-ly purchased the build-ing and leases out the bottom floor, except for an area that was trans-formed into a fitness center for employees to have a place to shower if they choose to ride their bike to work or want to work out at lunch. In ad-dition to the Conway lo-cation, the company has a development office and data center in Scotts-dale, Ariz.

To learn more about Rock-Pond Solutions, visit rock-pond.com.

Conway company helps health care providers with business performance

Rock-Pond’s revenue has grown by 300% over the last three years. The company has also added 12 employees to their downtown location.

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat4D — Sunday, July 20, 2014

Perhaps no indus-try has changed more over the last decade than healthcare. Innovations in pharmaceuticals, sur-gery and even business models have changed the way all of us receive health care. One thing that hasn’t changed is men’s historical reluc-tance to see a doctor, es-pecially for preventa-tive care. Mike Whitfield thinks he can change that.

Whitfield, a Conway resident, is the found-er and business direc-tor of Epoch Health (pronounced epic). Ep-och Health is the first and only men’s health care chain in the coun-try that focuses on com-plete health care for men. The first Epoch Health opened in Little Rock in 2012. In 2013, Epoch Health was acquired by Arkansas Urology, Ar-kansas’ largest urology practice. Today, there are open locations in North Little Rock; Springfield, Mo.; and a new tempo-rary clinic in Conway. Epoch is currently build-ing a new flagship clin-ic in Little Rock and ren-ovating a permanent space in Conway. Nation-ally, Epoch is developing new Locations in Colum-bia and St. Louis, Mo.; Chicago, Ill.; and Anchor-age, Ak., with many more on the horizon.

Scott Davis, CEO of Arkansas Urology ex-plained the strategy that

drove the 2013 acquisi-tion. “There has been a proliferation of testoster-one clinics in this coun-try. The reality is patients were leaving tradition-al urology clinics or their primary care physician to go into these retail type clinics,” said Davis. “The unfortunate trade-off was that they were frequently leaving be-hind the physicians who were best prepared to as-sess their total health.”

Davis said that Arkan-sas Urology was in the process of developing its own clinic or business to compete with that trend. “Fortunately, we were able to acquire the Ep-och brand. This differen-tiates our model of care from every other “Low T” (low testosterone) fo-cused clinic in the state. In a marketplace filled with trendy and some-times nonmedical solu-tions Epoch Health pro-vides an environment where men can feel confi-dent in the safety of their treatment through legiti-mate medical practices.”

Dr. Tim Langford, president of Arkan-sas Urology echoes the strength of the model. “The services offered by Arkansas Urology com-plement Epoch Health’s brand. We’re merging de-cades of men’s health ex-perience into one organi-zation. It’s a combination of Arkansas Urology’s physician expertise and Epoch Health’s ability to

reach and screen large numbers of patients.”

Those screenings may be the single biggest dis-tinguishing factor of the Epoch Health experi-ence. “Our model isn’t designed around getting guys on testosterone. It’s designed around preven-tative care and identi-fying the causes of the symptoms men are feel-ing to place them on the proper treatment to live healthier and feel bet-ter,” said Whitfield. “It’s about true men’s health and improving quality of life, not just testosterone therapy.”

Whitfield said that the screenings are compre-hensive and test signs of colon, bladder and pros-tate cancer. They also

seek to diagnose mal-nourishment and nutri-tional deficiencies, sleep disorders, heart health and much more. “Epoch is comprehensive men’s health care. Though many men we see are candidates for testoster-one therapy, we look at everything we can. Our approach is about a lot more than hormonal is-sues. We don’t consid-er it safe to jump into treatment without doing a full and proper screen-ing. The best part is, we are affiliated with a non-profit that allows for our initial screening to be completely free to any man who walks in the door. ”

On June 16, Epoch Health opened a tem-

porary Conway location to serve area patients. The temporary office is currently open on Mon-days only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is next door to their permanent lo-cation at 800 Exchange Ave. (the corner of Ex-change Avenue and Dave Ward Drive, across from Acxiom). Renovations to their permanent location should be complete ear-ly this fall. Even though Epoch has only been open a month and only sees patients one day a week, Whitfield says the response has been excit-ing. “The volume of pa-tients is increasing every week. We’ve not ‘offi-cially’ opened our loca-tion or marketed in this area and already dozens

of men are coming in. We anticipate seeing be-tween 500 and 600 guys per week when we’re ful-ly operational.”

The Conway clin-ic will be overseen by Dr. Richard D’anna of Arkansas Urology and staffed by Dr. Thom De-Graff. Dr. Degraff is a men’s health specialist, a preventative health care expert and a Unit-ed States Air Force flight surgeon. Once in their permanent location, the clinic will see patients Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Whitfield says that Epoch Health can offer speed and con-venience without sac-rificing quality of care. “We’ve created a hybrid clinical model. People as-sociate specialists and specialized care with long waits. With a com-bined visit and wait time of only about 20 minu-ets, we are going to be a convenient health care provider that men want to come see. There is no such thing as a ‘man doc-tor.’ There aren’t physi-cians designed for specif-ically for them. That’s the niche we want to fill — to become the men’s health specialists. With the free screening service we pro-vide to the community, there is no excuse for any man to skip coming in to get checked out, it could just save his life”

For more information about Epoch Health visit EpochMensHealth.com.

COVER STORY

The next evolution in men’s healthEPOCH’S FOCUS ON COMPLETE CARE EXPANDS TO CONWAY

Epoch Health is currently seeing patients in a temporary Conway location on Monday’s from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Their new location at the corner of Exchange Avenue and Dave Ward Drive will open this fall.

Faulkner County Business Journal To subscribe call (501) 329-2927 • Log Cabin Democrat6D — Sunday, July 20, 2014

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The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for the 2014 Minority En-terprise Development awards. These awards celebrate the achieve-ments of minority entre-preneurs as well as the individuals and organi-zations committed to ad-vancing minority-owned businesses.

The Chamber of Com-merce established the MED committee to foster growth and sustainabil-ity of minority business-es and as a way to recog-nize minority businesses and their supporters. The awards will be presented at the MED awards gala, which will take place Thursday, Sept. 18, at 6:30 p.m. in UCA’s McCa-stlain Hall.

The five categories of MED awards are as fol-lows:

Access to CapitalRecognizes an indi-

vidual, organization or business that has dem-onstrated outstanding leadership in the finan-cial community by pro-viding working or invest-ment capital to minority businesses.

Advocate for Opportunity

Recognizes an indi-vidual, organization or business that has dem-onstrated significant ac-complishments in edu-

cating and advocating for minority business enter-prises.

Lifetime AchievementRecognizes an individ-

ual who has played an integral role in the cre-ative, technical or profes-sional progress of minor-ity business development over the course of his or her life. It celebrates high standards of excel-lence, dedication and ac-complishment over a sus-tained period.

Outstanding Minority Business of the Year

Recognizes a business that has had a significant impact on the communi-ty.

Outstanding Young Minority Professional

Recognizes an individ-ual between the ages of 21-39 who has committed himself or herself to busi-ness and community ser-vice.

The Chamber is ac-cepting nominations for the awards now through Monday, July 28. To sub-mit nominations, vis-it ConwayChamber.org and click on the MED icon at the top of the page. For questions about the awards or the call for nominations, contact Whitney Cummings, di-rector of events, at 501-932-5411 or at Whitney@ConwayArkansas.org.

Chamber nowaccepting noms for MED awards

Faulkner County Business Journal Sunday, July 20, 2014 — 7D Log Cabin Democrat • Find our online edition at www.thecabin.net

Unemployment Rate*November

US ............................................... 7.0%Arkansas .................................. 7.5%Faulkner County .................. 6.8%Conway .................................... 6.9%*Faulkner County & Conway not Seasonally Adjusted

Sales Tax CollectionsConway*October

2013 ............................... $1,938,1562012 ............................... $1,849,793Percent Change 4.8%

Year to date (October)2013 .............................$19,072,2322012 .............................$18,926,125Percent Change 0.8%

Annual2012 .............................$22,944,1632011 .............................$22,366,464Percent Change 2.6%*Tax Rate 1.75%

Faulkner County*October

2013 ...................................$711,4872012 ...................................$681,433Percent Change 4.4%

Year to Date (October)2013 ............................... $7,082,5572012 ............................... $7,039,323Percent Change 0.6%

Annual*2012 ............................... $8,465,6862011 ............................... $8,279,301Percent Change 2.3%*Tax Rate 0.5%

Restaurant Sales*November

2013 .............................$13,422,7402012 .............................$12,724,484Percent Change 5.5%

Year to Date (November)2013 .......................... $137,612,1712012 .......................... $135,096,301Percent Change 1.9%

Annual Sales 2012 .......................... $151,611,4082011 .......................... $147,820,786Percent Change 2.6%*Including mixed drink sales

Hotel SalesNovember

2013 ............................... $1,277,1172012 ............................... $1,206,392Percent Change 5.9%

Year to Date (November)2013 .............................$17,480,2192012 .............................$17,526,682Percent Change -0.3%

Annual Sales2012 .............................$18,683,6762011 .............................$18,662,136Percent Change 0.1%

Conway Building Permits

Single Family HomesAnnual

2013 ..............................147 Permits2012 ..............................186 Permits 2011 ..............................153 PermitsPercent Change 2012-13 -21.0%

Average Construction Cost*Annual

2013 ...................................$228,2752012 ...................................$207,5372011 .................................. $204,387Percent Change 2012-13 10.0%*Not including land or lot im-provements

Average Square Footage*Annual

2013 .......................................... 3,0022012 .......................................... 2,9102011 .......................................... 2,814Percent Change 2012-13 3.2%

Average Construction Cost Per Square Foot*

Annual2013 ........................................$76.042012 ........................................$71.332011 ........................................$72.64Percent Change 8i2012-13 6.6%%* Total under roof

Lottery SalesFaulkner County

Annual2013 .............................$17,038,2772012 .............................$16,943,9092011 .............................$16,768,678Percent Change 2012-13 .06%

Total StateAnnual

2013 .......................... $432,932,7992012 ......................... $452,245,2152011 .......................... $474,879,701Percent Change 2012-13 -4.3%

Natural GasSeverance Tax

DistributionConwayAnnual

2013 ...................................$276,5232012 ...................................$162,4572011 ...................................$254,822Percent Change 2012-13 70.2%

Faulkner CountyAnnual2013 ...................................$224,4552012 ...................................$131,4182011 ...................................$204,052Percent Change 2012-13 70.8%

EconomicGlance

Information provided by pulseofconway.com

By RoGER LEwiS

A college education in Conway used to be cheap. In 1960, a year’s tuition at ASTC (now UCA) was $150. At Hendrix the fig-ure was about $430. A summer job at minimum wage ($1/hour) could pro-vide funds for a year’s tu-ition. Not so today.

This fall, tuition and fees for undergraduates at UCA amount to $7,889 per year, a figure that is in line with other public four-year universities in the state.

It now costs approxi-mately $20,000 per year for tuition, fees, room and board, books and other expenses for an instate undergraduate student to attend and live on cam-pus at UCA.

Several factors have contributed to this esca-lated cost to students, in-cluding lack of state sup-port, increased security measures, Internet and computer services, com-petition for quality fac-ulty and amenities that must be offered to attract students. To finance their education, most students rely on a combination of scholarships, student loans, family resources and work.

In the old days the budget of Arkansas’ pub-lic universities and col-leges was funded approx-imately 20% from tuition and 80% from state ap-propriations. But today this ratio is flipped.

UCA’s 2013-14 general education budget of $131 million was funded 55.1% from student tuition and fees and 43.6% from state

appropriations (and 1.3% from other sources). Thus, the main factor in the as-tronomical increase in tu-ition is the failure of the State Legislature to ade-quately fund higher edu-cation.

While tuition has es-calated, financial aid in the form of scholarships has waned. In 1991, the state instituted Academic Challenge Scholarships, which were funded en-tirely by state appropri-ations. The state legis-lature continues to fund the program at $20 mil-lion per year, a figure that has not changed for more than a decade.

Instead, the state has come to rely almost en-tirely on the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery as the major funding source of scholarships. In its nearly five years of opera-tion, the Arkansas Schol-arship Lottery has pro-duced $2.2 billion in sales. Approximately 20%, ($430 million) of that rev-enue funded the bulk of the Academic Challenge Scholarships.

However, beginning in 2012, sales started to de-cline by approximately 7% each year as shown on the graph. This trend is not unlike that in many

states where lottery sales have declined over time. If the decline continues, sales will be less than $400 million for fiscal 2015 and the funding of scholarships may be re-duced for the third time.

An educated work force should be a very high priority of state gov-ernment; it is essential to the economy of Arkansas. Unfortunately, among the 25- to 34-year-olds in the nation, Arkansas has the second lowest percent-age of college graduates (28.6%), edging out only Nevada. The national av-erage is 38.8%.

It is time to consid-er other revenue sources to fund scholarships and to finance public colleg-es and universities. Taxes of one sort or another are the source of all state rev-enue. When revenues are reduced or do not grow, invariably it is higher ed-ucation that gets short changed. Other agen-cies such as K-12 educa-tion, Medicare/Medicaid and prisons are mandato-ry funding. They account for the bulk of the states’ general budget, leaving higher education to the will of the legislature.

The most regressive tax is a sales tax, but it is

the easiest to pass in Ar-kansas because it requires only a simple majority, whereas other taxes re-quire a 75% majority. Re-placing the lottery fund-ing of scholarships with a sales tax would require approximately a 3/10 of one-cent rate, raising the state sales tax from 6.5% to 6.8%. A dedicated sales tax would be expected to produce more revenue each year, unlike the de-clining lottery revenue.

Unfortunately, Arkan-sas already has one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation. It is unlike-ly that the current legis-lature would consider in-creasing it. Some consider the lottery a voluntary tax and some say it is a regres-sive tax since a dispropor-tional number of low-in-come people play it. I look at it as a tax on hope.

I believe that we are boxed in to the lottery as a revenue source, but leg-islators need to find ad-ditional sources. An ex-cellent source of revenue is for the US Congress to pass the Market Place Fairness Act, providing a means for states to collect sales tax on Internet sale of goods. Another possibil-ity is to review all of the exemptions that exist for sales tax, income tax and property tax. Certainly a few tens of millions can be recaptured there.

More information on Arkansas Scholarship Lottery can be found at Pulse of Conway website, pulseofconway.com

I thank my friend Chris Spatz for editing and helping me with this article.

State of Arkansas college scholarships