Sanders Announces the March Face of Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders today announced the fourth installment of Faces of Arkansas, a monthly series highlighting Arkansans whose portraits and stories are displayed at the entrance to the Governor's office as a reminder of who the Governor and her team serve every day: the people of Arkansas. The series was launched to keep the focus of public service rooted in the individuals and communities that make the state what it is.

Each month, a different Arkansan is featured through a written profile, portrait photography, and a short video, with their framed photo hanging inside the Capitol. Selections are based on individuals who make Arkansas function - whether by serving as the heartbeat of their local communities, overcoming obstacles to achieve their dreams, or playing an essential role in their industry.

This installment features Donavan Williams, of Helena-West Helena, Operations Manager at his family's farm-to-bottle business, Delta Dirt Distillery.

Donavan Williams at his family's company, Delta Dirt Distillery, in Helena-West Helena. Photo credit: Will Newton.

Donavan Williams - From Farm to Spirit

In 1949, on 86 acres in the heart of the Delta, a sharecropper made a decision that would outlast every hard season that followed. He bought the land.

That transaction was more than acreage. It was leverage - a shift from working the land to owning it.

More than seven decades later, it's why Donavan Williams can walk through the same rows of sweet potatoes and corn that now supply a distillery on Cherry Street in Helena-West Helena and carry his family's legacy into a new era.

"My name is Donavan Williams," he says. "I'm the Operations Manager at Delta Dirt Distillery."

On a wooden shelf behind him sits a brown earthen jug, one of the last pieces of family history from when his great-grandfather made moonshine before purchasing the farm. Rather than simply passing down stories, the Williams family is making its own history in real time.

Summers in the Arkansas Delta mean humid air hanging thick over straight rows of crops stretching across the horizon; tire tracks from tractors pressed into the dirt; sweat earned from days of hard work outside.

Agriculture in Arkansas generates $25.6 billion annually and supports roughly one in six jobs statewide. In places like Helena-West Helena, farms are essential to the community's livelihood: payroll, infrastructure, and opportunity.

Governor Sanders has emphasized strengthening row crop agriculture, expanding domestic demand, and ensuring rural communities remain competitive. In addition to President Donald J. Trump's $12 billion federal relief package - which the Governor advocated for - the Governor signed a law in 2025 exempting federal disaster and relief payments from Arkansas income tax, ensuring those funds go directly to recovery and reinvestment. For families like the Williamses, those priorities shape decisions to diversify, invest, or expand.

Donavan grew up spending summers on that farm.

"Most kids aren't fans of hard work, and the farm was hard work," he said. "I rode around in the truck with my grandfather while he pointed out everything and explained what was happening."

He helped pick squash and learned the rhythm of the land. At the end of the day, his grandfather pressed a few dollars into his hand, a quiet reminder that labor carries value.

Working with his family was not part of Donavan's plan. "It definitely wasn't a traditional route, but here I am," he said. He earned an international business degree from Illinois State University, studied abroad in Taiwan, and lived two years in Madrid, global experience he would eventually bring back to Arkansas.

When the pandemic disrupted global supply chains and slowed early stages of the distillery's development, the family rose to the challenge and adapted. They studied manuals and learned the craft of distillation through trial, error, and persistence.

With uncertainty around his future and Helena-West Helena calling, Donavan decided to take the leap and move back to where his roots were.

Arkansas has prioritized entrepreneurship and workforce pathways through programs like Arkansas ACCESS and Arkansas LAUNCH by connecting education, skills, and in-demand industries like agriculture and manufacturing. In February, Governor Sanders signed an executive order streamlining permitting and accelerating economic development, helping entrepreneurs bring ideas to market more quickly. Donavan reflects that same vision in practice: global experience reinvested locally.

"I always saw this as a global brand one day," he said. "But you have to build it first."

Delta Dirt Distillery is the first and only Black-owned farm-to-bottle distillery in the United States. After seeing sweet potatoes distilled into alcohol at an agriculture conference, the idea took root. "If we can figure this out," Donavan recalled his father's thinking, "there's no reason we can't do it."

More than 75% of their mash ingredients are grown on the family farm, with sweet potatoes and corn moving from field to fermenter within days - cooked, distilled, and bottled under one roof.

"You've heard of farm-to-table," Donavan said. "This is farm-to-spirits."

Donavan oversees the operational backbone of that process, managing mash efficiency, fermentation schedules, bottling, and logistics "My role has always been the same. Do what I can," he said. "We all wear a lot of hats."

None of the family members entered the beverage industry with prior experience, so they learned from scratch. Their sweet potato vodka earned Double Gold recognition at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, recognition that elevated Helena-West Helena onto an international stage. Then came Arkansas Brown, meeting every bourbon standard except the mash bill, it required its own designation. But rather than conforming, they created a category: Bourbon re-imagined.

State leaders have encouraged value-added agriculture and in-state production to strengthen supply chains and retain economic impact locally. Programs like the Arkansas Plate Initiative connect local producers with Arkansas schools, reinforcing the importance of building markets close to home. Delta Dirt captures more of the supply chain, keeping revenue tied to Arkansas-grown crops and Arkansas labor.

Once the largest Arkansas town on the Mississippi River, Helena-West Helena thrived first as a steamboat and rail hub, and later as an agricultural and blues music center. Over time, momentum of Delta's economic corridor closed with transportation pattern shifts, mechanization, and recurring flooding. Storefronts that once bustled grew quiet. Today, preservation efforts aim to honor its history while positioning it as a destination rooted in culture and entrepreneurship,

In that same spirit, the Williams family purchased a historic building on Cherry Street and renovated it themselves - sanding floors, installing fixtures, constructing a bar from reclaimed wood.

The tasting room hums on the weekends. Visitors from across the state fill high-backed stools. Behind the bar, Donavan shakes cocktail creations as customers watch the distillation process through glass.

"Helena-West Helena is a small town," Donavan said. "But Delta Dirt is something people rally around. You never know who's going to walk through those doors."

Tourism in Arkansas ranks second only to agriculture in economic impact. Through outdoor recreation grants and heritage-focused initiatives like Arkansas250, the state has invested in cultural destinations that help small towns spark revival. Small businesses are often the catalyst.

Delta Dirt operates as more than a storefront. It donates a portion of its sales to local education and community initiatives. It draws visitors into Helena-West Helena and gives residents something to point to with pride.

"To continue to be an inspiration," Donovan said of the family's goal.

In Arkansas, entrepreneurship doesn't always look like a tech hub. Sometimes it looks like investing capital in small towns, renovating aging buildings, learning new industries from scratch. For many Arkansans considering starting a business, the Williams family's risk reflects both the challenge and the opportunity.

"It's a big world. We're just getting started," Donovan said.

Back on the farm, crops still move through the same soil first secured in 1949. Today, that production supports something new: agriculture and entrepreneurship operating side by side.

"The story started in 1949," Donavan said. "But it continues today."

In the Arkansas Delta, that continuation looks like sweet potatoes turned award-winning vodka and a historic storefront filled with conversation - raising spirits, in more ways than one.

On Cherry Street in Helena-West Helena, the next chapter of an Arkansas story is already underway.

Donna Williams, Harvey Williams, Thomas Williams, and Donavan Williams at their family business, Delta Dirt Distillery, in Helena. Photo credit: Will Newton.

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