Junius Marion Futrell
Junius Marion Futrell (14 August 1870–20 June 1955) was born in Jones Ridge, Greene County, Arkansas. Futrell attended the University of Arkansas law school in 1892 and 1893. He was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1913. Futrell was a school teacher and farmer.
Marion Futrell was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives and served from 1896 to 1904. He was elected Circuit Court Clerk from 1906 to 1910. Futrell served in the Arkansas Senate from 1913 to 1917. In 1922 he became Circuit Court judge for the 2nd Judicial District. Futrell was elected to Governor of Arkansas in 1932 and served two terms.
The Futrell administration established the State Planning Board and created the Arkansas Department of Public Welfare. His administration also rescinded prohibition and instituted some legalized gambling.
Marion Futrell died in 1955 in Little Rock and is buried at the Linwood Cemetery in Paragould.
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Several global companies are headquartered in the northwest corner of Arkansas, including Wal-Mart (the world's largest public corporation by revenue in 2007), J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods. This area of the state has experienced an economic boom since the 1970s as a result.
In recent years, automobile parts manufacturers have opened factories in eastern Arkansas to support auto plants in other states. Additionally, the city of Conway is the site of a school bus factory.
Tourism is also very important to the Arkansas economy; the official state nickname "The Natural State" was originally created (as "Arkansas Is A Natural") for state tourism advertising in the 1970s, and is still regularly used to this day.
