Staff Biographies
W. Dan Hendrix, President and CEO of the Arkansas World Trade Center, has had a diverse career in transportation, import/export operations, marketing, development, logistics, administration and consulting. Prior to this, Dan was on the team to raise over one billion dollars for the University of Arkansas in the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, as Director of Corporation and Foundation Relations.
Dan began his career in 1969, as a management trainee with ABF Freight System. In 1975, he established a new subsidiary to transport ocean containers to and from major ports in the U.S. and throughout the world. He operated several terminals and expanded import/export operations to all U.S. ports of entry. He held the title of President/CEO and Chairman from 1979 – 1986, before the company merged with Trans-States Lines. For the next 13 years, he continued with Trans-State Lines, Inc. and held the position of Senior Vice President in two areas within the company.
Before joining the University of Arkansas, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of an Oklahoma transportation company involved in U.S., Mexico and Canadian transportation in addition to providing transportation consulting services.
In October 2006, Dan was appointed to the position of President and CEO of the newly established Arkansas World Trade Center, part of the University of Arkansas and a member of the World Trade Centers Association, the ARWTC connects Arkansas to the world by providing international trade services to companies, individuals, and agricultural producers and by educating students in global commerce.
Dan is a native of Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with minors in Marketing and Management. Dan also served in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard. He and his wife, Marilyn, have four children and five grandchildren.
Boon Tan:
Boon Tan is the Director of Asia Trade Development and has been with the World Trade Center Arkansas since November 2007. In his short tenure at the World Trade Center Arkansas Boon has led -three trade missions to China. These trade missions have been successful in Securing Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) between the World Trade Center Arkansas and the World Trade Centers of Shenzhen and Changzhou. Before coming to the World Trade Center Arkansas, Boon was stationed in Malaysia as the trade representative for the states of Arkansas and Georgia. He managed a 15-country territory that included 10 ASEAN nations, with emphasis on China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. From 1989 to 1995 Boon was the Export Manager for the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission. Prior to his work at the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, Boon was the Marketing/Sales Director at NSC International from 1988-1989 and Assistant Controller for the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Malaysia from 1981-1984. Boon received his MBA in International Marketing and Finance from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and is also fluent in five languages, including English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, Indonesia languages, and Taiwanese. Herbert Morales joined the World Trade Center Arkansas, in February, 2007 as a consultant for Latin America Trade Development. He has a diversified background in business development management, human resources, and public and government relations. Herbert moved to northwest Arkansas in 1998 and worked for several years as a Human Resource Manager for Tyson Foods in Rogers. Previously he worked as an international director for Network Marine, Inc. in Pierre Part, Louisiana, and with Marex, in Tegucigalpa, Guatemala and in Honduras as a general manager. During that period of time he was overseeing operations in Central America and the Caribbean. He also worked on several national projects for the United Nations Development Program, as a local expert in the process of decentralization for the Public Administration. Herbert Morales is from Guatemala City. He has a degree in public administration from the University of Puebla, Mexico and a MBA from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. Denise Thomas is the Director of External Relations for the World Trade Center Arkansas. She has a diverse career in economic development, marketing, public relations, business development, and membership. Mrs. Thomas began her interest in Economic and Business Development in 1997. She worked as the Director of the Small Business Center management team at the Jacksonville Florida Chamber of Commerce. She was instrumental in expanding Jacksonville’s Small Business Community through expansions of the Small Business Center with the help of private, non-profit and government sectors. Additionally, Denise got together various- non-profit organizations in order to form a one-stop shop for business owners. Here, small businesses were able to obtain the services and information needed for business start-up and expansion. A few of the organizations included in this endeavor were the Small Business Administration, Procurement and Technical Assistance, Small Business Development Center, Service Core of Retired Executives, Minority Business Enterprises and all Minority Based Chambers of Commerce. Each of these programs had an office that served customers within the Small Business Center. Denise obtained the most-coveted Business Information Center Designation from the Small Business Administration, a widely recognized mark of professional success.- Before joining the team at the World Trade Center Arkansas, Denise worked as a Wal-Mart recruiter for three years. She has been working at the World Trade Center Arkansas for just over three years now, and has already been instrumental in helping the organization attain WTCA Certification in 7 categories. She looks forward to achieving the goals set before her by the leadership of Arkansas. Laura James has been with the World Trade Center Arkansas from the beginning; since January 2007. She holds the position of Project Manager and her responsibilities involve overseeing the office staff, human resources, trade mission trips, educational programs, student interns, workshops and special events. Prior to joining the Arkansas World Trade Center, she worked in an administrative support –role assisting the Associate Vice Chancellor of Development and the Directors of Development at the University of Arkansas alongside Mr. Dan Hendrix. Previously, she worked at Wal-Mart Headquarters in Bentonville in the corporate area planning the Board of Directors meetings, shareholders events- and stock reporting. She attended the University of Kansas. After raising a family of 4 children she has returned to the classroom at the University of Arkansas to complete her degree. Mary Jane Finley, Administrative Specialist of the World Trade Center Arkansas, is a native of Rogers, Arkansas. Ms. Finley holds a M.F.A. in Theater Arts from Yale University, a B.S. in Secondary Education and English from New York University and an Assoc. of Arts from Stephens College. She boasts a varied work background which has included being a teacher of 10th and 12th grade English in the Houston Independent School District; receptionist, accountant, office manager and treatment coordinator in a dental specialist’s office and Executive Director of the Bentonville/Bella-Vista Chamber of Commerce. Before joining the World Trade Center Arkansas in February of 2008, Ms. Finley had a 12- year career with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., where she began as a Worker’s Compensation Adjustor, advanced to the Benefits Department, transferred to the Travel Department, became the Administrative Assistant of the V.P. of Brand Marketing and, in her last 3 years with the company, was a writer in the Creative Marketing Department. While a student at Yale, Ms. Finley had the opportunity to travel to France, Germany and Belgium. This experience sparked an enduring belief that people are more alike than they are different, and that working toward common goals fosters understanding and tolerance. This personal philosophy has enhanced her appreciation and support of one of the missions of the WTC: "Promoting Peace and Stability through Trade". Denise Simpson joined the World Trade Center Arkansas shortly after its opening in 2007. She oversees special events hosted by the World Trade Center Arkansas and coordinates with outside businesses and organizations which use the facility as a meeting venue. She received a B.S. in Education from the University of Kansas and taught English and speech in two Kansas school districts. Her interest in international business developed as a result of living in Bangkok, Thailand for four years prior to moving to Arkansas. Denise is a founding member of Arkansas OWIT (Organization of Women in International Trade) and serves as chapter representative to OWIT International. She has been married to Ken Simpson, Clorox’s Walmart International Team Leader, for 34 years. They have one married son and two grandchildren. Denise enjoys tennis, photography and traveling.
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