Made In America: Wage Pressure Coming To Arkansas Firms

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ECONOMIST SAYS WAGE PRESSURE COMING TO ARKANSAS
International, national and state economists convened Friday for the 2015 Business Forecast sponsored by the UA Walton College of Business’ Center for Business and Economic Research.

There were some healthy signs that the new year could bode well for the American and state economy as low energy prices and an improving jobs outlook are poised to help many sectors including the construction and manufacturing industries. However, economist Kathy Deck with the CBER said wage pressure may be coming to parts of the state as employers struggle to find qualified workers.

She said one of the biggest problems for the Northwest Arkansas region is that employers with open jobs say they can’t find qualified candidates with the necessary skills.

“I often wonder if they can’t find these people or if they don’t want to pay the wages to attract them, because I know our schools have worked diligently for sometime to ready a workforce,” Deck said. Read more here.

UNUSED MITSUBISHI PLANT AT CHAFFEE CROSSING IS LISTED FOR SALE
The new, modern and unused 200,000-square-foot Mitsubishi manufacturing facility at Chaffee Crossing that once promised to be home to 400 good-paying jobs has officially been put on the sale block.

Rodger Brown, who represents Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, said the property will be listed for sale even though the company is still looking for the “right use” for a Mitsubishi product. “We are continuing to explore all possibilities to bring jobs to Fort Smith and Arkansas,” Brown said. Read more here.

AEDC BUDGET BILL CALLS FOR $200M SUPERPROJECT FUNDING, $50M QUICK ACTION FUND
The appropriation bill that funds the Arkansas Economic Development Commission will allow for a lot of money to help land economic projects this year, according to the bill introduced Monday.

On Monday, the Joint Budget Committee turned in Senate Bill 111 that would fund AEDC, effective July 1, 2015. The bill has a $200 million line-item appropriation for funding of so-called “superprojects” under Amendment 82 of the Arkansas Constitution. It also seeks $50 million for spending through the Governor’s Quick Action Closing Fund. An appropriation bill just gives the state authority to spend up to the line-items amounts.

The Revenue Stabilization Act sets the funding priority for how state revenue will flow to certain agencies and projects. Read more here.

TYSON FOODS POSTS RECORD SALES OF $10.8 BILLION, INCOME UP 21%
Food manufacturer Tyson Foods started its year off in the win column. The Springdale-based global meat processing, marketing and distribution company reported record revenue of $10.817 billion for the first fiscal quarter, up 23.4%. Quarterly net income of $309 million was ahead of the $254 million in the same quarter of 2013.

The improved numbers largely reflect the integration of Hillshire Brands into the Tyson portfolio. Tyson Foods completed the $8.5 billion acquisition of Hillshire in August.

“Tyson’s fiscal year is off to a great start with our first full quarter as a combined company producing record sales and adjusted operating income,” Donnie Smith, president and CEO of Tyson Foods, said in the earnings report issued Friday morning (Jan. 30). “We used our strong cash flows to pay down debt by $650 million in the quarter.”