BARKER SCOGGINS CONSULTING LLC

Bryan Scoggins graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1980 with a BSBA in Banking & Finance.  He then embarked on a ten-year career in the banking industry, concentrating on commercial lending and commercial real estate lending activities.  In 1990 Bryan began his first stint of employment with the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.  His main areas of expertise were with tax-exempt and taxable industrial revenue bonds, the programs offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Export Import Bank of the U. S.

In 2001 Bryan accepted the position as the Director of Business Finance for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.  In this capacity he directed the implementation of the Governor's Quick Action Closing Fund, which is probably the most impactful economic development tool used by AEDC to this day.  During this time the State of Arkansas passed legislation to provide financial assistance for extremely large economic development projects through the use of General Obligation bonds.  Commonly known as "Amendment 82" bonds, Bryan was instrumental in closing the only Amendment 82 bond issue so far, for the Big River Steel project in Mississippi County.  This project has had an enormous impact on the entire State of Arkansas.

Bryan returned to ADFA in 2019 as the President of ADFA and led the efforts of ADFA in economic development programs, venture capital support programs and the affordable housing programs.

During his career Bryan has been honored several times by industry partners such as Small Business Lending Partner of the Year by the U. S. Small Business Administration and Economic Developer of the Year by the Economic Developers of Arkansas.

Matt Barker earned a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and law degrees from the UA (Fayetteville) Law School and Georgetown University Law Center. Matt also worked at the Arkansas Supreme Court and the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Beginning in 1990, Matt practiced law - primarily in the area of public finance - with a large Little Rock firm and, later, a large national firm.* He represented issuers, underwriters, borrowers, and others in connection with transactions undertaken to finance a wide range of assets and facilities, including affordable single-family and multi-family housing and industrial facilities. 

Matt has also served as an Assistant Arkansas Attorney General and, in that capacity, represented the Arkansas Economic Development Commission in connection with its preparations for the issuance of bonds under Amendment 82 to finance the Big River Steel project in Mississippi County. Bryan was Matt’s client contact in that matter. 

More recently, Matt worked with Bryan again, this time at the Arkansas Development Finance Authority as General Counsel and Vice President for Multifamily Housing. At ADFA, Matt had supervisory responsibility over all multifamily housing programs, including the HOME and National Housing Trust Fund programs, and was primarily responsible for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits program.

Matt is an excellent writer and editor. He has written scores of Arkansas Attorney General’s Opinions and won an annual Arkansas Press Association prize for feature-story writing.

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*While Matt remains a licensed attorney, BSC is not a law firm and Matt does not practice law via BSC.