Charlie Spakes

Charlie Spakes is a native of Beebe, Arkansas, a graduate of the University of Arkansas, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law and is a member of the Arkansas Bar. He also holds a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma in Energy and Natural Resources law.

He joined Governor Hutchinson staff upon Governor Hutchinson's election in 2015 as part of the Legal Advisor Boards and Commissions Office. In this role Commissioner Spakes dealt closely with the legislature and aided Governor Hutchinson in selecting applicants for boards and commissions. Before working in the Governor's Office, he worked for the Arkansas Health Care Association as a policy researcher and law clerk.

From 2016 to 2020 Commissioner Spakes was the Executive Director of the Arkansas Grocery and Retail Merchants Association and in 2017 was awarded the national award for government affairs given out by the Grocery Manufactures Association. Also, in 2017 he was named to Arkansas Business' 20 in their 20s list. In 2020 Governor Hutchinson appointed him to his Economic Recovery Task Force which included 27 different industry leaders to help develop a re-opening plan for Arkansas to address the COVID pandemic.

In September 2020 Commissioner Spakes was hired as the Manager of State Government affairs for Black Hills Energy, a position he continues to hold today.