Team
Melissa Sims
Founding Member
Melissa is a founder for the development and holding companies primarily involved with residential developments, residential property management, and a real estate company. The business(s) structure is vertically integrated which includes ownership of companies for roofing/siding, electrical, plumbing, real estate marketing/sales and management.These entities are primarily focused in Northwest Arkansas, where she is native.
Melissa brings more than 15 years of experience in real estate, banking, property management, and construction. A graduate from the University of Arkansas with an accounting degree, former bank executive as Cashier/CFO. Melissa has hands-on management experience with the ability to create in- depth strategic plans, set the vision, and communicate to deliver results across multiple platforms. She has proven marketing and construction development management skills. Melissa has developed many residential and commercial properties throughout Northwest Arkansas.
Melissa has been part of developing, investing/owning, and selling all types of properties.
Kevin Beasley
President Finance & Investment
Kevin received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Agribusiness in 1981 from College of the Ozarks. Post graduate studies International Business, Webster University and Law, LaSalle University. He has 40 years of Bank/finance and management experience. Working in multiple lending and bank/regulatory supervision roles, such as President, Chief Credit Officer, Manager of Large Loans, Regulatory Examiner in Charge, and FDIC Receivership/servicing Project Manager.
These positions included origination and supervision of commercial, multi-family, single family residential, CMBS, guaranty loans and commercial real estate sales.
Kevin has worked with and examined many large banks across the United States. He has managed, originated, or supervised billions of $ in loans. Kevin has valuable financing and project feasibility experience for the proposed project(s). Currently acting as a facilitator for various projects, for multiple entities associated with the Sims.
Clayton Dowell
Executive Vice President Accounting & Compliance
He is the in-house Certified Public Accountant in charge of all tax and financial accounting for the Sims entities. Dowell graduated from the University of Arkansas, passing the CPA exam in 2000. He worked at a regional CPA firm in the past gaining experience in tax and financial accounting as well as conducting financial statement audits and review, tax planning, and preparing tax returns for corporations, partnerships, trust, estates, and individuals.
Dowell has been involved with raising capital for a retail business, audits of profit-sharing plans, structuring 1031 exchange transactions, hired by the courts to settle partner dispute, represented taxpayers in IRS audits. He is well rounded and brings a broad experience in all aspects of accounting and financial management in relation to industries he has worked with such as real estate, construction, hotel, retail, manufacturing, wholesale, farming, and service firms.
Steve Brooks
Attorney
Steve is a founding partner of Eldridge Brooks Partners and a former partner at Arkansas’ largest law firm, Friday Eldredge & Clark. Most recently, Steve was a partner at NewRoad Capital Partners, one of the state’s largest venture capital and growth equity investment firms where he oversaw private capital formation and strategy and mergers and acquisitions activities and led investments in healthcare, software technologies, e-commerce, energy infrastructure, and retail and e-commerce businesses.
Prior to NewRoad, Brooks was a partner in the private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice group of Friday Eldredge & Clark, Arkansas’ largest law firm, from 2003 until 2013. Steve represented lower middle market issuers across the U.S. in private offerings of securities; structuring private equity funds and offerings; acquisitions and divestitures, as well as partnership and corporate tax matters. From 1995 to 2000, Brooks practiced as a CPA in both the private and public sectors in the tax section of Frost PLLC, Arkansas’ largest public accounting firm and was senior tax accountant with Tyson Foods, Inc.
Steve graduated from the Sam M. Walton College of Business in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration as an Accounting major and graduated cum laude from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2003 and was a distinguished member of the Law Review. Brooks is a member of the Arkansas and Texas Bars, is admitted to the United States Tax Court, has served as an Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court, and is ranked by Chambers USA and Super Lawyers as one of America’s leading lawyers for mergers and acquisitions.
Steve has over 20 years of experience advising and investing in private capital funds, private companies, as well as advising limited partners and funds of funds. His practice is rooted in his broad experiences working with emerging high growth companies, investors, and funds, both in business and as a lawyer. Steve and his three children – Matthew, Eli, and Maggie Anne – live in Rogers, AR.
Current Representative Real Estate and Financing Clients: Large multifamily/multi-use developer based in NWA, currently focused on senior housing developments. Commercial Real estate development sponsor based in NWA with large project on I-49 anchored by hospital Large Multifamily housing acquisition fund based in Tulsa, Ok with over 20 acquisitions and financings completed Commercial Real Estate development firm based in Denver, CO on a special financing project for a dine-in theater concept in Fayetteville, AR Top Golf with respect to a special financing project for its recently completed property in Rogers, AR Residential real estate private REIT based in Ft. Worth TX and Fayetteville, AR Residential single family/townhome development fund based in NWA with active acquisitions and financings $50M Sponsored SPV acquisition of $50M stabilized mixed use development in Rogers, AR One of the largest student housing development firms in the southeast, from land acquisition, construction financing, permanent financings with FRMC, and sale to international purchasers (prior representation) Various regional banks on land acquisition and construction financings.