04 Sep 2024 Planting her flag in the 501
By KD Reep
Among the many things Kerry McCoy is and has accomplished, “patriot” is one of the most significant. As the founder and leader of an enterprise that includes FlagandBanner.com (the brick-and-mortar store of which is Arkansas Flag and Banner), a podcast, a digital magazine, a radio program, a blog and an historic ballroom, this vibrant lady now ponders a future filled with hope … and a rambunctious Yorkipoo, Coco.
Sitting in her sumptuous office on a recent hot summer morning, McCoy pondered on some good news just received that day–President Biden signed into law the All-American Flag Act, which was sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. This act requires all state and federal government agencies to purchase flags, which are completely manufactured in the U.S.
“I like the way Google cleverly titled their article, ‘American flags must now be born in the USA,’” she laughs. “It shows how using your voice can make change, whether that’s in your community, city, county, state or country.”
McCoy and other members of the National Independent Flag Dealers Association (NIFDA) recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness of counterfeit imported flags. She said that, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Data, the value of American flags imported into the country was $4.4 million in 2015, with $4 million of that amount coming from China. In 2017, we imported 10 million American flags, again with about 90 percent coming from China.
“More and more flags from China are having ‘Made in America’ labels sewn in them,” she explained. “So, our American flag is really made in China but being sold as made right here. NIFDA’s [goal is for] Americans to know that, if they purchase an American flag that states it’s made in America, it actually is.”
The American flag is how McCoy got her start as an entrepreneur. Working in sales for Betsy Ross Flag Girl in Dallas, Texas, McCoy decided she could do the exact same thing in her hometown. She returned to Little Rock and established Arkansas Flag and Banner with $400, her grit and determination.
“That was 1975, I was homesick, and that $400 was my life’s savings at the time,” she said. “I’d gone to Vo-Tech. I wanted to be a clothing buyer, but I was not meant for college. I thought I was going to be a secretary because at that time, women could be a teacher, nurse or secretary. This was a shot at something bigger, something I believed in.”
She used the sales skills she learned in Dallas to go door-to-door, selling flags and banners of all types. While she jokingly says she became an entrepreneur through a run of bad luck, her business as well as her faith–she is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Little Rock–sustained her through marriage, four children and, today, a cancer diagnosis.
“It’s fine,” she said. “The medicine is worse than the diagnosis itself, but it will be fine.”
McCoy says she is at a stage in her life and career where she is more focused on what she can give back.
“A few years ago, I went to a small shop here in downtown Little Rock after church because I wanted to pick up a few cards,” she said. “The owner was there, and she asked me who I was. She said she’d listened to me on KABF and thanked me for some advice I’d given there. It really brought home to me that people who want to change their lives will, and they may just need a little clarity. If I can help them do that, I will.”
To this end, one of her focuses is improving the city of Little Rock. She says the city has dropped out of the top 100 places to live in the U.S., and she has ideas on how to make it one of the coolest places to call home.
“I want us to focus on our quality of life,” McCoy said. “Tourists are great, and we have a ton of things to attract them, but what are we doing to attract and keep citizens? What makes a town a place people want to stay? I think there are things we can do as a city that would help make it a beautiful, thriving community.”
One of these things is preserving the city’s history, which McCoy has done with Taborian Hall, which is the building that headquarters FlagandBanner.com and is home to Dreamland Ballroom. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas:
Taborian Hall was built between 1916 and 1918 by local African-American contractor Simeon Johnson and is the last remaining original building on the Ninth Street “Line,” which was once the center for black businesses and culture in Little Rock.
Originally known as Taborian Temple, the Classical structure was built for the Knights and Daughters of the Tabor, a black fraternal insurance organization. McCoy says the building chose her, and it has been her joy to restore it.
“I bought it in 1991 and had no idea about its history,” she said. “When I learned it housed a club where B.B. King and Ray Charles entertained, I was blown away. I didn’t know the first thing about restoration or preservation, but I knew this building had to be saved.”
Today, Dreamland Ballroom celebrates the community of historic West Ninth Street in Little Rock, shares its legacy and preserves the original intent of Taborian Hall.
While she muses on transitioning her leadership skills as an entrepreneur into other areas of endeavor, McCoy still concentrates her energy on helping others who share her kind of drive and ambition.
“You know, even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then,” she said. “All it takes to live the life you want is the determination to see it through. I started Flag and Banner with a business permit, business cards and order forms. You can do that, too.”
