Three Arkansas-based companies — Harps Food Stores, Simmons Foods and Arvest Bank — have been named to the inaugural edition of TIME Magazine’s America’s Best Private Companies, a new national ranking of the country’s top 500 privately owned businesses.
TIME partnered with data firm Statista to produce the list, which was published July 8. The full ranking is available at TIME.com. Harps Food Stores placed highest among the Arkansas companies at No. 284, followed by Simmons Foods at No. 330 and Arvest Bank at No. 383.
The ranking evaluated companies on two equally weighted dimensions: employee satisfaction and company impact. The employee satisfaction score drew on survey data from roughly 217,000 U.S. workers collected over the past three years, measuring how current and former employees rated their employers on image, atmosphere, working conditions, pay and equality. The impact score assessed each company’s net effect on society, global knowledge, health and the environment. Only privately held companies were eligible — nonprofits, hospitals and universities were excluded. Outdoor apparel maker Patagonia topped the list at No. 1.
Harps Food Stores — No. 284
Springdale-based Harps Food Stores is the state’s largest employee-owned company. Founded in 1930 by Harvard and Floy Harp with $500 in savings during the Great Depression, the grocer has grown to 160 stores across Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma, employing more than 6,500 people.
The company became 100% employee-owned in 2001, when its Employee Stock Ownership Plan purchased outstanding stock from the Harp family and management. Harps is in the middle of another expansion push: in March, it announced plans to acquire 18 grocery stores in Tennessee and Kentucky from Dyer Foods, a deal expected to close this summer that will extend the chain’s footprint to eight states.
Simmons Foods — No. 330
Siloam Springs-based Simmons Foods, founded in 1949, is a family-owned supplier of poultry, pet food and animal nutrition products. The company ranks among the top 20 poultry producers in the United States, and its pet food division is the largest supplier of store-brand wet pet food in North America.
Simmons employs roughly 8,000 people and serves customers in all 50 states and more than 40 countries, with operations concentrated in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. Third-generation family leader Todd Simmons serves as chief executive officer.
Arvest Bank — No. 383
Bentonville-based Arvest Bank traces its modern history to 1961, when Walmart founder Sam Walton purchased the Bank of Bentonville, then a small institution with about $3.5 million in deposits. Today the Walton family-owned bank holds roughly $27 billion in assets and operates more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Jim Walton, Sam Walton’s youngest son, chairs the bank’s holding company, Arvest Bank Group.
In a statement, Arvest chief people officer Aileen Wilkins said the recognition was especially meaningful because it was rooted in feedback from the bank’s own associates. Arvest was also named earlier this year to Forbes’ 2026 list of Best Employers for New Grads.
TIME and Statista said the private-company ranking was created to spotlight a segment of the economy that is often overshadowed by publicly traded firms despite supporting millions of jobs and contributing trillions of dollars to the U.S. economy.
