14 Mar 2022 Koontz Electric CEO Benny Koontz honored at retirement event

By Morgan Zimmerman

Koontz Electric President and CEO Benny Koontz has retired after 44 years with the Morrilton based company founded by his father in 1958. 

Koontz looked genuinely surprised when he stepped into the Tyson Training Hall at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton on March 4. The room was filled with more than 200 of his family, friends, employees, and industry peers who had gathered to celebrate the close of what was a storied career and the beginning of his next chapter. 

The crowd heard testimony from Benny’s siblings and two sons about how he had impacted them personally with his generosity and kindness over the years. Then, several of Benny’s lifelong friends, who are also prominent business leaders in the Morrilton area, spoke of his unwavering support for his community.

The presentation came to a close with Conway County Judge Jimmy Hart and Morrilton Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer reading a proclamation and declaring March 4, 2022 as Benny Koontz Day in Morrilton. 

Benny said he had known for a long time he wanted to be an engineer. After graduating from Morrilton High School, he attended the University of Arkansas where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1972. 

In 1978, Benny joined his dad as Vice President of Koontz Electric. Over the next few years, Benny and Keith worked to strengthen the company before focusing its direction from residential to heavy industrial work.

In the 1980s, Benny became more involved in economic development on both a city and state level. In 1985, then Governor Bill Clinton appointed him as a Commissioner on the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, where he was twice elected chairman. He was also named Volunteer of the Year of the Industrial Developers of Arkansas.

In 1994, Keith Koontz retired and Benny took over the company and has led it through unprecedented growth into a highly respected national contractor that has consistently been recognized by Engineering News Record as one of the top 600 specialty contractors in the nation. In 2022, the next generation, including Benny’s son, nephews, and brother-in-law, purchased the company and will carry on the legacy of excellence built by the first two generations. Benny says, “Our power is in our people,” and believes that investing in, and empowering his fellow employees, is the secret to their success.