| Name | Title | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|
Susan Whistler |
Director of Workforce Development | Profile |
The history of Arkansas began millennia ago when humans first crossed into North America. Many tribes used Arkansas as their hunting lands but the main tribe was the Quapaw who settled in Arkansas River delta upon moving south from Illinois. Early French explorers gave the territory its name, a corruption of Akansea, which is a phonetic spelling of the Illinois word for the Quapaw.[1] This phonetic heritage explains why "Arkansas" is pronounced so differently than "Kansas" even though they share the same spelling.[2] What began as a rough wilderness inhabited by trappers and hunters became incorporated into the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and became Arkansas Territory in 1819. Upon gaining statehood in 1836, Arkansas had begun to prosper under a plantation economy that was heavily reliant on slave labor. After the Civil War Arkansas was a poor rural state based on cotton. Prosperity returned in the 1940s. The state became famous for its political leadership, including President Bill Clinton (Governor, 1979−81 and 1983−92), and as the base for the Walmart corporation.
The Department of Financial Services supervises and regulates the activities of approximately 1,500 banking and other financial institutions with assets totaling more than $2.6 trillion and more than 1,400 insurance companies with assets of more than $4.7 trillion. They include more than 130 life insurance companies, 1,300 property/casualty insurance companies, about 100 health insurers and managed care organizations, and 300,000 individual insurance licensees, 122 state-chartered banks, 80 foreign branches, 10 foreign agencies, 14 credit unions, 13 credit rating agencies, nearly 400 licensed financial services companies, and more than 9,600 mortgage loan originators and servicers.
Town Of Spencer is a Spencer, MA-based company in the Government sector.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency`s jurisdiction. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. CPSC`s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Act 254 of 1959 placed responsibility for the "sale of securities" under the jurisdiction of the State Bank Department, and provided for a State Securities Commissioner. The Securities Commissioner was to be appointed by the Governor and subject to the supervision of the State Bank Commissioner, and operated as a division of the State Bank Department. Act 38 of 1971 transferred both the State Bank Department and the State Securities Department to the Department of Commerce. Each division continued to function independently of the Commerce Department with regard to the prescribed statutory powers, authorities, duties, and rulemaking responsibilities they had prior to the transfer. Act 471 of 1973 amended Act 254 of 1959 to provide that the Securities Division was no longer a part of the State Bank Department and the Securities Commissioner was no longer subject to the supervision of the State Bank Commissioner. The Act further provided that the Securities Division be renamed the Arkansas Securities Department and that all Acts previously regulated by the Securities Division be transferred to the new agency effective July 1, 1973. In early 1975, it became apparent that the special revenue fund balances transferred to the Department by the Bank Department pursuant to Act 471 of 1973 would not be sufficient to continue operation of the Department at its current level. Act 863 of 1975 amended all Acts administered by the Department to reclassify all revenues received by the Department as general revenues. Thus, effective July 1, 1975, the Department ceased being a special revenue agency and became a general revenue agency with all expenditures paid from the general revenues of the State. Act 691 of 1983 abolished the Department of Commerce. Section 3 of the Act directed that the State Securities Department shall function as an independent agency. The Securities Commissioner is appointed by the Governor and serves at the pleasure of the Governor. Act 659 of 1993 created on the books of the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State and those of the State Treasurer a fund to be known as the "Securities Department Fund." Such fund is to be used for the maintenance, operation, support and improvement of the State Securities Department. Portions of the filing fees collected under the Securities Act are designated as special revenue and deposited into the Securities Department Fund. Currently, the maximum amount of fees deposited into such fund is limited to $2.5 million in each fiscal year. The remainder of the filing fees are deposited into General Revenues. Act 759 of 2003 created the Investor Education Fund. The Investor Education Program is funded from administrative fines assessed under the Securities Act. Fines received in excess of $150,000 are deposited into General Revenues. Pursuant to the Cemetery Act for Perpetually Maintained Cemeteries, as amended, the Securities Commissioner served as a voting member and Secretary of the Cemetery Board. Effective July 1, 2018, the Cemetery Board was merged into a newly created board with the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers and the Burial Board. The new board in under the Insurance Department. Pursuant to the Savings and Loan Association Act, Act 227 of 1963, as amended, the Securities Commissioner acts as the Supervisor of savings and loan associations. In 1997, the Savings and Loan Association Act was amended to do away with the Savings and Loan Association Board and transferred the Savings and Loan Associtions Board`s power and authority to the Securities Commissioner.