You’re invited to a VCFireside Chat with Jim Keet, Arkansas Business Owner, and Restaurateur.
The Venture Center is honored to host Jim Keet for a night of open conversation and Q&A. Join us in person at 417 Main Street in Downtown Little Rock from 5:30 pm – 7 pm for a night worthy of any business owner, entrepreneur, or community member.
If you live in the Central Arkansas area you may have heard the Keet name before. From Arkansas staples such as Cypress Social, Petit and Keet, and Taziki’s Mediterranean Café, to being a key player in bringing Wendy’s to Arkansas, Jim Keet knows a thing or two about developing a brand. With a career of almost 50 years as a chairman, board member, or president of organizations that have shaped our communities, Keet also has a heart for the people of Arkansas. In 1988, Keet was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives and was then elected to the Arkansas State Senate in 1992. During his time in the State House and Senate, Keet worked to increase literacy rates, fought the exploding drug problem, and also authored the strongest “two strikes and you’re out” violent offender statute in America.
Keet has received various awards and honors including The National Humanitarian Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the FBI Community Service Award, the Outstanding Arkansas fund-raiser Award from the National Association of Fundraising Executives, and an Outstanding Legislator Award from the Arkansas Education Association.
Keet is the president of Keet Management Company, a consulting and real estate management firm he started in 1982, and Chairman of JTJ Restaurants in Little Rock. He is a member of St. Andrew Church and has been married to Margaret Keet for fifty years. They have four children, Tommy, Chase Crocker, Jake, and Cassie as well as four grandchildren, Holden Keet, Hawkins Crocker, Margaret Elizabeth Crocker, and Dashiell Keet.
Thank you to our sponsors, Simmons Bank, Frost PLLC, Wright Lindsey Jennings and Little Rock Regional Chamber.
