Recently I sat down with Karl Thomas of Buffalo Technology in Jasper. I have had opportunity to utilize his services while accomplishing some goals of the chamber, and I can confidently say, had it not been for Buffalo Technology, securing those services would have been much more difficult and very “unhandy”.
Karl began mainly with electronic repair specializing in Apple products. His business and services have grown at a steady clip since. Not only does he offer electronic repair, but web and graphic design, he will do on site services for commercial properties and is branching into audio production.
He was recently hired by local musician Bradley Waters, to produce an Electric Press Kit, or
EPK. EPKs are regularly used as an online resume that showcases a musician's career to date. Bradley has a lot to showcase, and with this tool Waters can professionally solicit clients……anywhere he wants. And they did this, right here at home.
Karl’s business is exciting to me in that it is a perfect example of the opportunities available in Newton County today. Karl enjoys what he does, and you can tell. He is eager to branch out in the areas he can manage with confidence. He sets his hours, and he truly enjoys his time at work. He meets people from all over and has a good handle on the potential and possibilities of the area. He has vision and a plan. There are folks that work years with a plan to settle down some day and do what Karl does now. Some say Millennial, I say brilliant.
Having known Karl and his family for years makes his story even more special to me. I couldn’t resist brushing up a bit before our visit and asking if he knew where his GGG grandfather lived in 1870. He couldn’t say that he did. I then shared with him how five years after the Civil War ended, James Douglas Keys was fifteen-years-old and living in Jasper with his mother and stepfather, his father having died in a prisoner of war camp. Years later in 1903 Keys, a United States Marshall would give his life on the Jasper square in a shoot-out with Boone County outlaw Little Wes Hudson. Keys was assisting City Marshal Allen in apprehending a drunken Hudson. Hudson was later acquitted of the murder in Searcy County and died in 1906 of wounds received in another shootout, in which he mortally wounded yet another U.S. Marshall in Oklahoma.
There are six generations between James Douglas Keys and Karl Douglas Thomas, all of whom loved Newton County enough to stay and give the community what they had to offer to see her grow, prosper and continue to be a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Thank goodness she’s demanding less these days…
The photos above are of the Buffalo Technology offices at 106 South Stone Street in Jasper, Karl and his wife Chanda, James Douglas Keys, and a commemorative plaque in his honor on the memorial wall at the US Marshall Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas.