Arkansas Business

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Taxing questions.(Whispers)(Metropolitan )(Brief article)
Hammered by northwest Arkansas loan problems, Metropolitan remains a popular topic of conversation in business circles. Is there a sale in the works or a pending ownership shift that will introduc . . .

Northeast move.(Whispers)(IberiaBank FSB appoints Phillip Jett )(Brief article)
A Little Rock banking exec is making a career move to the northeast. Phillip Jett recently resigned as executive vice president with Regions Bank in Little Rock to accept a new position with Iberi . . .

Heard & seen.(Whispers)(Custom Audio and Video appoints Wayne Richie )(Brief article)
Wayne Richie has resurfaced on the Little Rock business scene. Richie, who sold his Coldwell Banker Advantage Realty to Rector Phillips Morse in December, has returned to familiar ground. He rec . . .

New school.(Whispers)(Heritage College)(Brief article)
You may have heard of a new college in Little Rock. Well, you heard right. Heritage College has a new 14,500SF facility at 1309 Old Forge Drive off of Rodney Parham Road. The career school, whic . . .

Becca's back.(Whispers)(Rebecca Garner)(Brief article)
Just a little more than a year after moving to Blytheville for a change of pace, one of the state's top financial intellects is moving back to northwest Arkansas. SEC-registered investment adviser . . .

Taxing talk.(Editorial)(Brief article)
"YOU WILL NOT SEE ANY OF your taxes increase one single dime." Remember that line from President Obama's campaign? The president may very well not want to increase taxes on the middle class to pay . . .

Will your new products win?(On Marketing)
EVEN WITH ALL THE NECESSARY hatch-battening of late in the business world, most companies still need a regular stream of successful new product or service offerings to prosper over the long haul. Pe . . .

Church acquisition.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)(Brief article)
A Little Rock congregation added to its holdings in two transactions totaling $1.3 million. St. Mark Baptist Church Inc. bought 1.5 acres near the southwest corner of Fair Park Boulevard and Interst . . .

Church sale.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)(Brief article)
A foreclosed church property in southwest Little Rock changed hands in a $485,000 transaction. Exalters of Christ Ministries International, led by Roderick McFadden, purchased the parcel at 8923 S . . .

Law purchase.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)(Brief article)
A former Hardee's restaurant in downtown North Little Rock is now a law office building after ringing up a $300,000 sale. Douglas Holdings Inc., led by Lisa Douglas, acquired the 2300 Main St. pro . . .

Oaks house.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)(Brief article)
A 3,450-SF home in The Oaks neighborhood of the Chenal Valley development in west Little Rock changed hands in a $500,000 deal. Ulys and Cherylon Reid purchased the house from Harold Tenenbaum. Th . . .

Glasfiber funding.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)(LM Glasfiber A/S)(Brief article)
A $90 million bond issue is backing a wind blade plant in east Little Rock. LM Glasfiber of Denmark obtained the 20-year financing through the city of Little Rock. The bonds are secured by the 135 . . .

Riverdale refinance.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)(Brief article)
A 20,300-SF office building in Little Rock's Riverdale area is backing a $3.5 million financial package. 2228 Cottondale Lane LLC, led by Richard Newland, received the one-year loans of $3.27 mill . . .

Judge freezes assets of Lainharts, Associates.(BANKING & FINANCE)
The assets of W. Darrell Lainhart of Sherwood, his wife, their companies and two business associates have been frozen by a temporary retraining order issued by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy F . . .

Polk Stanley, Wilcox Architect firms merge.(ARCHITECTURE)(Polk Stanley Yeary Architects Ltd.)(Wilcox Group Architects/Planners)(
Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects Ltd. and Wilcox Group Architects, both award-winning firms of Little Rock, have merged. In the latest survey of architectural firms by Arkansas Busine . . .

Windstream 2Q profit falls 11%; acquisition approved.(Public Company Reports)(D and E Communications Inc.)(Financial report)(Bri
Windstream Corp. said second-quarter income fell 11 percent. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission has approved the telecom's $330 million acquisition of D&E Communications of Ephrata, Pa . . .

Barber files bankruptcy, claims $47.8m in debts.(BANKING & FINANCE)(Brandon Barber)(Brief article)
Fayetteville developer Brandon Barber has filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition listing $47.8 million in debts and no assets. According to the petition, $23.5 million of Barber's debt is tied to c . . .

Rockwood Investments pays $690,000 for two properties.(NW Journal: A Look at News From Northwest Arkansas)(Brief article)
Rockwood Investments LLC of Farmington recently bought two properties from First Federal Bank for a total of $690,000. Rockwood purchased a 4,926-SF apartment building at 15 W. Martin Luther King . . .

Biodiesel industry in state falling short of expectations.(Energy)
WHICH CAME FIRST: THE chicken or the egg? Or in the case of the biodiesel industry in Arkansas, what must occur first: the demand or a mandate? While a spokesman says Gov. Mike Beebe is eager to s . . .

Calendar.(Brief article)(Calendar)
AUGUST 11--Arkansas Sales & Use Tax & Business Incentives Time: 1-4 p.m. Location: UALR, Reynolds Business Center, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock Fee: $30 For more information, call . . .

Goodwill Industries.(NONPROFITS)(appointment of Staci Croom-Raley)(Brief article)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Staci Croom-Raley has been hired as vice president for work force development of Goodwill Industries of Little Rock. As vic . . .

A natural fit?(Outtakes: An Inside Look Into Arkansas Media)(Natural Brand Co.)(Brief article)
Though The Natural Brand Co. of Little Rock did not even make it to the presentations round of the lottery's search for an ad agency, the company is not giving up on pursuing business in The Natural . . .

Executive pay in state sees modest gains.
IS YEAR'S LIST OF THE executive pay of Arkansas' public companies is a far cry from last year's list, although the usual suspects at the state's remaining Fortune 500 companies dominate the upper en . . .

Heifer COO sees chance for change: decline in revenue creates opportunity.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HEIFER INTERNATIONAL'S revenue declined by about 10 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30, an unaccustomed performance compounded by a budget that had projected grow . . .

J.M. Products struggles for survival.
AFTER THE DEATH OF ITS FOUNDER in 2005, J.M. Products ,Inc. of Little Rock, once one of the country s largest manufacturers of ethnic hair care products, lost its shine. Without Ernest Joshua Sr., . . .

Unaffiliated.(Whispers)
Whatever happened to John R. Mills, former head of Affiliated Foods Southwest Inc. of Little Rock? Mills was unceremoniously ousted as CEO just before the news broke in March that the grocery whol . . .

Up in smoke.(Whispers)
Anyone have a light? Well, your "Whispers" staff does, and we decided to shine it on that newfound revenue generated by the tax hike on cigarettes that went into effect earlier this year. Since . . .

Account satisfied.(Whispers)
One of the subcontractors with a lien claim for unpaid work on the $30 million Welspun Plant in Little Rock recently settled. Naylor Concrete Construction Co. of Oklahoma City recently released it . . .

Home equity talk.(Whispers)
Among the lending categories drawing extra attention from regulators these days are home equity loans. Often representing a second mortgage on a house, home equity loans are drawing heightened ris . . .

Bank check.(Whispers)
When last week's "Whispers" went to press, we weren't able to say what the Bank of Fayetteville's second quarter looked like. Since then, its call report has been filed publicly, and we can say th . . .

Piling up.(Whispers)(Brief article)
The demands for payment piling up on Little Rock developer Roger "Steve" Clary keep piling up. The total reached $24 million when a Kansas bank recently filed a foreign judgment against Clary and . . .

Rand bankruptcy.(Whispers)(Brief article)
From our Texas bureau: Jeffrey Scott Rand of Houston and his company, Wave Energy Corp., formerly of Hot Springs, each have been pushed into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas. . . .

Tax deferral.(Editorial)
LELAND TOLLETT, CEO AND president of Tyson Foods Inc., sent letters to Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor last month concerning a proposal in President Obama's fiscal 2010 budget that would increa . . .

Top lottery talent makes a difference.(Letter)(Letter to the editor)
The question of salaries for the employees of the Arkansas lottery has become a flash point for controversy. The right to challenge the decisions of our political leaders is one of our most cheris . . .

[Cartoon].(Editorial)(Cartoon)
I FEEL SICK. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] P. KIRKPATRICK * ARKANSAS BUSINESS . . .

Growth challenges.(Publisher's Note)
AS THE COUNTRY WORKS ITS Away out of recession, Arkansas and its cities have to reassess economic development strategies for the comeback. Many of our sure bets for jobs growth have taken a hit. W . . .

Health care reform and government.(Commentary)
NOT A DAY GOES BY THAT business owners and executives in Little Rock and the region don't have to think about health insurance in some way or another. They are constantly trying to balance the real- . . .

Fed districts see decline of economy moderating.(ECONOMIC)
The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book shows economic activity continued to be weak going into the summer, but most of the 12 Fed Districts indicated the pace of decline had moderated or that activ . . .

Assessed property values in Pulaski Co. increase.(REAL ESTATE)
Overall property values in Pulaski County are estimated to have risen between 2 and 3 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to Pulaski County Assessor Janet Troutman Ward. The Assessor's Office . . .

Baldor Electric earnings fall 73 percent in 2Q.(Public Company Reports)
Baldor Electric Co, of Fort Smith saw earning fall 73 percent in the second quarter to $7.8 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $29.4 million (63 cents a share) for the same period of 2008. . . .

First Federal Bancshares posts loss in 2nd quarter.(Public Company Reports)(Financial report)
First Federal Bancshares of Arkansas Inc. of Harrison announced a net loss of $937,000, or 24 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared with net income of $1 million, or 21 cents a share, duri . . .

Deltic Timber's income falls 60% in 2nd quarter.(Public Company Reports)
Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado said its net income fell 60 percent to $972,000, or 8 cents a share, compared with earnings of $2.4 million, or 19 cents a share, for the same period of 2008. Reve . . .

Acxiom earnings down 61 percent in 1st quarter.(Public Company Reports)(Financial report)
Acxiom Corp. said it earned about $4.2 million, or 5 cents a share, in its first quarter on revenue of $225.9 million. Acxiom's earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal 2010 are down about 61 . . .

Potlatch earnings plunge; Timberland sold in state.(Public Company Reports)
Potlatch Corp. of Spokane, Wash. reported second-quarter earnings $3.8 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with $21.5 million, or 54 cents a share, for the second quarter of 2008. In addition, t . . .

AERT turns a profit in its second quarter.(Public Company Reports)(Financial report)
Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc., the Springdale plastic recycler and manufacturer of green building products, reported net income of $1.3 million, or 3 cents a share, for the seco . . .

Tulsa's BOK Financial Corp., which owns Fayetteville-chartered Bank of Arkansas NA, reported net income of $52.1 million.(Public
* Tulsa's BOK Financial Corp., which owns Fayetteville-chartered Bank of Arkansas NA, reported net income of $52.1 million, or 77 cents a share, for the second quarter, compared with a $1.2 million . . .

Arkansas Best Corp.(Public Company Reports)
* Arkansas Best Corp. declared a quarterly cash dividend of 15 cents a share, payable Aug. 21, to stakeholders of record on Aug. 7. . . .

International Paper Co.(Public Company Reports)
* International Paper Co. of Memphis reported second-quarter net earnings of $136 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with $227 million or 54 cents a share. Quarterly net sales were $5.8 billion, . . .

Clearwater Paper Corp., the Spokane, Wash., spinoff of Potlatch Corp., reported net earnings for the second quarter of $75.4 mil
* Clearwater Paper Corp., the Spokane, Wash., spinoff of Potlatch Corp., reported net earnings for the second quarter of $75.4 million, or $6.43 a share, compared with $5 million, or 44 cents share, . . .

Hospital CEO in Harrison resigns, takes post in LR.(HEALTH CARE)
Tim Hill has left his job as president and CEO of the North Arkansas Regional Medical Center at Harrison, where he has been since 1998, to assume the same posts at the Arkansas Heart Hospital in Lit . . .