Economics Arkansas honored Sissy Jones and Charles Morgan with the Legacy in Free Enterprise Awards and First Security Bank obtained the Leadership in Free Enterprise Award March 27 at the DoubleTree Hotel at Little Rock.
Jones, who founded Sissy's Log Cabin jewelry stores in Pine Bluff, is the first female to receive the LIFE Award. Morgan is chairman and chief executive officer of First Orion, a telecommunications technology provider. The LIFE Award honors those who promote success in the free market, according to a news release.
First Security Bank was recognized with the LIFE Award for its commitment to business excellence and instilling financial knowledge and skills in every generation.
"Sissy Jones and Charles Morgan received the Legacy in Free Enterprise Award for their vision and entrepreneurial spirit, and their profound economic impact on the state," according to the release.
The awards were presented by Randy Zook, Economics Arkansas board member and president and CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.
"At Economics Arkansas, we work every day to prepare the next generation to be smart consumers, wise investors, and informed voters," said Kathleen Lawson, executive director of the educational nonprofit.
The vision of Economic Arkansas is for all Arkansas students to master an understanding of economics and personal finance and apply that knowledge for success in the free enterprise system. The nonprofit provides teachers statewide with the tools and confidence to integrate economics into their classrooms.
Students from Gibbs Magnet Elementary in the Little Rock School District demonstrated how they're learning economics and personal finance skills first-hand through in-school banking. First Security Bank has sponsored student-run banks at several LRSD schools and starts students off with $5 to open their first savings account. They were joined by their principal Tina Greenwood, who thanked the organization's supporters for ensuring teachers receive the training, resources, and encouragement to prioritize economics in the classroom.
Previous recipients of the LIFE Award include Tommy May (2022), Warren Stephens (2019), Don Munro, Charles Nabholz, and Robert Young in 2017, Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, Kenneth Pat Wilson, and Mike Wilson in 2016, the Ford Family (2015), and Charles H. Murphy, Jr. (2014).
Economics Arkansas is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan educational organization founded in 1962 by Dr. Arch Ford and led by Dr. Bessie B. Moore to promote economic literacy in Arkansas. Its mission is to equip PreK-12 schools with standards-based resources and professional development to teach economics, personal finance, and the free-enterprise system using practical, innovative, and inspiring methods so that Arkansas students can master an understanding of economics and personal finance.