Greg Hatcher started The Hatcher Agency from scratch in September 1990 with a bank loan, an assistant, and 500 square feet of office space. He signed a three-year lease, thinking 500 square feet would be all the office space he would ever need. By the end of the first year, he had outgrown his office space, had grown to a team of seven employees and sold more insurance in his first year of business than any agent in Arkansas.

Three years later, in 1993, The Hatcher Agency was named Arkansas' Small Business of the Year by Arkansas Business magazine, and The Hatcher Agency was the largest health insurance agency in Arkansas. Greg and The Hatcher Agency have been the No. 1 producer ever since, leading the state in health insurance sales every year since Greg started his business in 1990.

 

Greg graduated from Alma College in 1983 with a degree in public relations. While at Alma, he served as president of the student body and lettered in soccer, wrestling and baseball. Greg was named the school’s outstanding graduate and the TKE fraternity's Top Fraternity Man for his local chapter and nationwide.

 

Greg was also a nine-letter winner and one of the last athletes to compete in three varsity sports for four years at Alma College. He was captain of the wrestling team and was named first-team-All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1982-83. Hatcher helped the wrestling and baseball teams each win three MIAA titles while also lettering in soccer. Following graduation, he coached baseball at Notre Dame University for a year before going to work for Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. In Greg's seven years at Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, he was named the Account Executive of the Year a record six consecutive times before leaving to start his own agency in 1990.

 

In 1999, Greg wrote “55 Steps to Outrageous Service,” a book outlining the principles behind the service The Hatcher Agency delivers every day to its clients. This book has sold more than 25,000 copies. In 2006, Greg wrote “Between the Ears: How to Think Like a Champion.” Both can be purchased at www.tigerbooks.net or Amazon. An audio version of “55 Steps to Outrageous Service is available on Amazon.com

 

The Hatcher Agency and Greg’s associated companies now employ more than 100 people, serve more than 1,000 group clients and provide superior products and service for more than 180,000 insureds. Because of the “Outrageous Service” philosophy, Greg has earned numerous awards and recognition, including lifetime status in the Million Dollar Roundtable, recognizing the top 3% of life insurance producers in the country, and he’s been named a lifetime Golden Eagle Award winner by the National Association of Health Underwriters, recognizing the top 1% of health insurance producers nationwide.

 

Under Greg’s leadership, The Hatcher Agency is the top producer in Arkansas for eight major insurance providers and has led the state in health insurance sales every year since it was founded. In addition, The Hatcher Agency was named Arkansas Business of the Year in 1993, Arkansas Business' Most Philanthropic Company in 2006, and has been named by Arkansas Business as the Best Insurance Agency every year the survey has been done.

 

Greg is a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Health Consultant (CHC), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Registered Health Underwriter (RHU), and Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC). These designations were earned through 50 insurance exams and more than 2,000 hours of additional study. Hatcher is the only agent in Arkansas and possibly the nation to earn all five insurance designations.

 

Greg is very involved in the community and served as chairman of many nonprofit boards of directors: Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Arkansas Insurance Exchange, the Rotary Club of Little Rock, the Little Rock Marathon, Baptist Health Foundation Board, Centers for Youth and Families, the Arkansas Wrestling Association, the Arthritis Foundation and the Little Rock Zoo. He also chaired the Heart Ball and Heart Walk, major fundraising events that benefit the American Heart Association’s Arkansas chapter,

 

Greg has received numerous awards and honors: Sales and Marketing Executives Manager of the Year (2000), March of Dimes Citizen of the Year (2005), The Jerry Davis Corporate Award from the American Heart Association (2013), Pulaski Technical College’s Business Honoree (2013), Philanthropist of the Year for the State of Arkansas (2015), Cystic Fibrosis Man of the Year (2015), Sheriff's Youth Ranch Man of the Year (2017), SpectacUALR Honoree (2019), Baptist Health Power of Purpose (2022), Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame Inductee (2022), World Services for the Blind Vision Award (2024), Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Inductee (2025).

 

In 2017, Greg was named the Distinguished Alumnus by Alma College and was inducted into the Alma College Sports Hall of Fame. In college, he was a member of three Hall of Fame wrestling teams and two Hall of Fame baseball teams. Hatcher was president of his junior class and served as president of the student body as a senior. He co-founded and was president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Alma and also served as sports information director from 1981-83. In 2008, Greg became a member of the Alma College Board of Trustees.

 

Greg considers bringing competitive wrestling to Arkansas his greatest achievement. He founded the Arkansas Wrestling Association (AWA) and purchased the mats that allowed more than 75 high schools and 14 colleges and universities in Arkansas to start wrestling programs. For his efforts, he has been honored with the “Dan Gable America Needs Wrestling Award,” was named WIN Magazine’s Man of the Year, and was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Arkansas Activities Association. Greg has been inducted in the Arkansas Wrestling Hall of Fame and the ultimate honor the sport bestows: induction in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017. Arkansas is now the only state to have NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, junior college and women’s wrestling programs. Greg is most pleased that more than 5,000 Arkansas kids now compete in wrestling.

 

In May 2018, Greg pledged to secure funding for Division 1 wrestling to be added to the athletic programs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). The Greg Hatcher Wrestling Center is named in his honor. Today, UALR is a top 20 national wrestling program, and Neil Erisman, the Trojans’ coach, was named National Coach of the Year in 2024.

 

In addition to wrestling, Hatcher has been very involved in other Arkansas youth sports. He founded the Mighty Bluebirds, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 1994 and built it into the state’s premier sports program. It serves more than 250 kids a day in soccer, wrestling, basketball, baseball, tennis and football. He coached the Mighty Bluebird teams for more than 25 years, working with an elite coaching staff that has produced hundreds of college athletes including all five of Greg’s children.

 

Besides UALR, Hatcher has donated and built collegiate wrestling facilities at Ouachita Baptist University, Lyon College, and Alma College, and he has funded and built indoor soccer facilities at Harding University and Ouachita Baptist University.

 

He donates these facilities because he believes sports helps keep kids out of trouble and teaches them discipline, determination, perseverance and develops character that lasts a lifetime.

 

Greg is married to Lee Hatcher, and they have five children and seven grandchildren. They attend Trinity Presbyterian Church, where Greg serves as an elder.