Nominate a deserving company!
We are delighted to announce the upcoming 16th Annual Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Global Trade, which recognizes excellence among Arkansas Exporters and serves to inspire the exporting community.
The awards will be presented during our annual gala luncheon at the Robinson Center in downtown Little Rock.
We are requesting nominations of companies for these prestigious awards from their colleagues, such as Chambers of Commerce, banks, logistics providers, and trade attorneys.
Use the button below to fill out a 4-minute questionnaire for each company that you wish to nominate. Companies may also nominate themselves.
The nomination deadline is Monday, June 15, 2026, at 5:00PM CT. Those nominated will then be asked to fill out a longer application for the Awards by Friday, July 31, at 5:00PM.
Winners will also receive:
–a FREE Website Globalization Review from the USCS Rural Export Center,
–a promotional video of their company,
–press recognition across the state and
–feature stories on our website and social media.
For an overview of the application process, watch this recording of our informational meeting.
Questions? Please contact Vice Chair Brittany Scott, office@smartrepro.com.
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Eligibility: All Arkansas-based companies actively selling in international markets are eligible to be nominated. Companies with facilities and employees in Arkansas that can provide export sales data from within the state are eligible to be nominated or apply. Companies need not be headquartered in the state of Arkansas to be nominated or apply.
What past winners have to say:
Brittany Scott, Founder & CEO
Smart Reproduction Services, 2022 Woman-Owned Exporter Award
“Due to the heightened publicity from being awarded the Governor’s Award for Woman-Owned Exporter in 2023, SMART Reproduction has received inquiries for our products from several novel markets. These customers directly cited the award as one of the reasons they reached out to our company. We are proud that not only that our company was recognized but that the unique, high-quality domestic products we manufacture were as well.”
Michael Schrekenhofer, Account Manager
Leather Brothers, 2021 Rising Star Recipient
“We sent out a press release to all of our raw material vendors and customers informing them of this award and its recognition. This bettered our relationship with our vendors for hardware materials, but also helped push some export accounts we’ve struggled with selling in the past to give us a try! [The Governor’s Award] was overall a very easy process.. I believe there are many more manufacturing businesses across our state that will learn and benefit from the Arkansas DEC organization and Governor’s Award in the coming years.”
Stefan Johansson, Founder & CEO
ECOJOHN, 2021 Small Company Recipient
“ECOJOHN exports products all over the world, and it was especially exciting to receive awareness for sustainability since this is a major focus of our company. Being able to share this award has given our customers more insight and confidence in our company and a boost of morale to our employees. The support from ArDEC was great throughout the entire process and the award ceremony itself was a wonderful event.”