An Arkansas chief executive has been named to Forbes’ Next 1000 list for 2021.
Elizabeth Glasbrenner, the co-founder and CEO of Smiley Technologies, is the sole Arkansas executive selected for the first round of this inaugural Forbes list in 2021. In this first round, Forbes selected 250 executives from around the country as part of a yearlong initiative to highlight small business and entrepreneurial leaders.
These executives have been nominated by public submissions and were voted on by a panel of judges including Morgan Stanley vice chair and managing director Carla Harris, Cowboy Ventures founder and managing partner Aileen Lee, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, TV host Lilly Signh, former baseball champion Alex Rodriquez. And more. To be eligible for the list, the companies had to have revenues or funding of under $10 million and have been operating for at least one year.
“I am humbled and honored to be selected to the inaugural list of the Forbes Next 1000,” Glasbrenner said in a statement. “This recognition is a true tribute to my co-workers and partners for years of hard work and dedication to building something so special and so needed in the marketplace.”
This is not the first time that Smiley Technologies has received recognition from Forbes. The company was named a Small Giant by Forbes in 2020.
Glasbrenner co-founded Smiley Technologies alongside her brother Vance in 2002. The company is a service-focused data processor that provides core banking software solutions and products to meet the needs of clients.
She has served as president and CEO since 2015.
Smiley Technologies’ SIBanking Enterprise Core Banking Solution is designed to streamline banking needs, and the company offers remote banking, reporting, and standalone productivity tools such as a loan pipeline tracking tool, a task manager, customized audit tracking and more.
“We build the software that does all of that in the background. And so one of the unique things about us is we have that back office accounting piece that handles all of that, but we also build some of the front end applications like online banking and mobile banking for our bank’s customers,” Glasbrenner told Arkansas Money & Politics in an interview.
Glasbrenner was previously named one of AMP’s Power Women of 2020.
READ MORE: Elizabeth Glasbrenner Takes Smiley Technologies to New Heights
