About Us

Arkansas Payroll Services, Inc., located in Little Rock, AR, was founded by John Norman and Chris Newell with the mission of providing businesses in Arkansas with the best service available in the areas of payroll, tax filing, human resource functions, retirement plans, and all lines of insurance. APS offers personal and highly responsive service, state-of-the-art technology and very affordable fees.

John is a seasoned business leader with approximately 20 years of technical and operations leadership in the communications industry. John’s career has enjoyed progressive growth in responsibilities and challenges over the years, as evidenced by the many and varied roles he has held. His tenure has included service as a front-line engineer and supervisor, sales and service manager, regulatory manager, long-range planner, R & D director, VP of National Operations, and, most recently, small business owner. Through the years, John has demonstrated the ability to build high performance teams, drive business improvements, increase efficiency, and improve operating margins.

In his most recent position as VP of National Operations for Alltel Wireless, John’s teams played the key role in the break-up of Alltel’s converged telecom business, which resulted in the spin-off of the wireline assets (now known as Windstream). This resulted in the creation of two communications networks from scratch. Under his direction the largest network change in the history of Alltel was completed under budget and ahead of schedule. Since his departure from Alltel, John has been focused on putting his experience and skills to use in building a locally owned and operated company to fill a perceived gap in the payroll services and employee benefits sector in Arkansas. Arkansas Payroll Services is dedicated to offering the most technologically advanced HR solutions to Arkansas businesses, but with a personal level of local service unequaled in the marketplace.

In addition to his career responsibilities, John maintains an active schedule of family, church, and community activities.

John holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Arkansas Tech University and a MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has also completed executive level financial and leadership classes from Harvard Business School.
Chris is currently co-owner of Arkansas Payroll Services and president of The Newell Agency. He has owned his own insurance agency for over 20 years, specializing in employee benefits, life, health, disability, and dental insurance, as well as Cafeteria Plan administration.

In the course of his insurance career Chris has served on many industry boards, including the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), the Society for CLU’s and ChFC’s, and the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU). The Newell Agency has established itself as a leader in providing quality insurance markets and outstanding service to customers all over Arkansas.

Chris has recently been focused on building a local payroll and tax filing service called Arkansas Payroll Services. This is a natural fit to Chris’ employee benefits and human resource experience and APS is filling the niche of the locally owned payroll provider dedicated to personalized service and committed to perfection.

In addition to business ownership, Chris is married with 2 children and very active in family, church and community activities.

Chris holds a B.B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) professional designations.

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