March 28, 2022
Hope, Arkansas

The Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce their upcoming Annual Meeting and Banquet including online auction.  

The Facebook Auction will open Friday, April 22nd at 4:00pm and will close on Monday, April 25th at 4:00pm.  The Chamber Ambassadors have work diligently to secured auction items that you will not want to miss.  The auction can be found at HopeHempstead County Chamber Auction.

The theme for this year’s Annual Meeting and Banquet is “The POWER of PURPOSE”.  This event will be held on Monday, May 2nd, 2022 at Hempstead Hall in Hope, Arkansas.  The doors will open at 5:30pm with meal starting at 6:00pm and meeting to follow.  

The keynote speaker this year will be Rex Nelson.  Rex Nelson is one of the most high-profile writers and speakers in the state. As senior editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he writes three columns a week and essays for the cover of the newspaper's Sunday Perspective section. He's the author of three books -- the first full-length biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton, a biography of Arkansas educator Ben Elrod and a collection of his essays on Arkansas. He's also the author of a popular blog known as Rex Nelson's Southern Fried and makes regular television and radio appearances.

Nelson served for almost a decade as the policy and communications director for Gov. Mike Huckabee and then served for four years in the administration of President George W. Bush as one of the president's two appointees to the Delta Regional Authority. He has been inducted into the Arkansas Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. In 2016, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Rural Development Commission named Nelson as its Rural Advocate of the Year for the state of Arkansas. 

Chamber Board President, Nathaniel Holyfield stated regarding this year’s Annual Meeting, “The Chamber Board and I are excited to announce the upcoming Chamber Banquet.  We are thrilled to be able to host this event at Hempstead Hall in a banquet style setting with a catered meal by Amigo Juan’s.”  

Other than the keynote speaker, this event will include United Way recognitions and awards.  The Chamber of Commerce Citizen, Educator, Business, and Nonprofit of the Year will be announced.  These nomination forms will be available soon and can be dropped off at the Chamber Office or mailed to PO Box 205.  There will be an exciting announcement from the UAHT Foundation concerning the concert headliner for this year’s 46th Annual Watermelon Festival.  Tickets for the meeting will be $30.00 per person.  To reserve your ticket(s) please call the Chamber at (870)777-3640 or email [email protected].  Sponsorship opportunity information will be released soon.