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CAT Squared has been named a finalist for the 34th Annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards, which recognizes the state’s top businesses, nonprofits, and executives.

“We are honored to be recognized for our contribution to Arkansas’s economy and for excellence in our field,” said CAT Squared’s CEO Vernon Smith. “We attribute our success to our outstanding team and our unique understanding of how to drive continuous improvement in food manufacturing. Many of our team members come from the food industry with specialized experience in process engineering, business knowledge, and industry best practices.”

All finalists will be recognized at the Annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards Banquet on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at the DoubleTree Ballroom in Little Rock. During the banquet, a winner will be announced in each of the four business categories. A complete list of finalists is available on the Arkansas Business Publishing Group’s website.

Vernon Smith and Stef Schoeman, CAT Squared’s founders, grew up on family farms in South Africa where they attended university studying electronic engineering, computer science, and business economics. They came to the U.S. and founded CAT Squared in 1995 to compete on an international scale. Today, our customers span 6 continents and include 60% of the top 50 meat and poultry companies in North America, 3 out of the top 5 American egg producers, and 1 of Europe’s leading food processors.

Kathy Barbeire

Written by Kathy Barbeire

Kathy Barbeire is Senior Manager of Marketing at CAT Squared, where she helps communicate the role of connected software, operational data, and manufacturing execution systems in modern food production. Since joining CAT Squared in 2015, she has developed content that helps meat, poultry, egg, and further processing companies better understand topics such as MES, traceability, food safety, quality, inventory control, ERP integration, and plant-floor visibility. Kathy’s work focuses on turning complex technical and operational concepts into clear, practical stories for food manufacturers navigating change. She supports CAT Squared’s mission to help processors reduce manual work, improve visibility, strengthen traceability, and turn operational complexity into clarity. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing, graduating magna cum laude with minors in Sociology and Information Technology, as well as an MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Before joining CAT Squared, Kathy worked with nonprofit organizations in data analysis, stakeholder engagement, program evaluation, and community outreach.