Sparkes Flies Up The List Of Area’s Top Employees

There’s been little change in numbers at the region’s top two employers – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. – since last year, but several Fort Smith companies have seen massive changes.

Whirlpool Corp., which ranked third both years, gained 1,400 employees in recent months for a 45 percent increase. Whirlpool employs 4,500 people, including 300 salaried workers, in Fort Smith.

Sparks Health System has a new name – last year it was still Sparks Regional Medical Center – and nearly 600 more employees, for an increase of nearly 28 percent. The Fort Smith hospital system has been acquiring clinics and hiring additional physicians, most notably the former Holt-Krock Clinic.

Holt-Krock had been purchased in 1994 by Phycor Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based physician practice management company. But the relationship between Phycor and the physicians was acrimonious and eventually Phycor agreed to sell it to Sparks. That purchase alone resulted in the addition of 85 doctors and their staffs to Sparks’ employee count.

There’s been no corresponding growth in employees at the other major hospitals in the region, however. St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, also in Fort Smith, actually lost 12 percent of its staff, down to 2,015 from 2,300 last year. The hospital has pared down its physician network, which accounts for the drop in employees.

In Washington County, Washington Regional Medical System’s work force remained stable at 1,750 while Northwest Health System experienced a 19 percent drop, from 1,700 to 1,370 employees.

The number of employees with the University of Arkansas actually climbed by 12 percent, to 2,835, up from 2,531 in 1998. Those numbers don’t include part-time staff or graduate teaching assistants.

For the two largest employers, changes were minimal. Wal-Mart reported 15,250 employers in Washington and Benton counties. Statewide, the retailer has some 37,000 employees.

Tyson Foods reported 7,118 employees, a 1.4 percent increase from the 7,020 workers it had in 1998.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. reported a difference of just one employee – 2,349 compared to last year’s 2,350 – a statistically insignificant change. The truckload carrier has 15,000 employees nationwide including drivers.