Walmart News Leads Top 10 Stories of 2015

Across the board, 2015 was an important year for Northwest Arkansas, as evidenced by this year’s Top 10 Stories. From banking to business to the arts and health care, the region further established itself as a dynamic, mid-sized metro.

Bentonville led the way with meaningful changes at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and a sustained boom on and around the square. Springdale started a boom of its own, led by Tyson Foods Inc., and landed a new campus of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

In Fayetteville, several businesses broke into the national and even international limelight. While in Rogers, a major bank acquisition created an entity with nearly $700 million in assets.

Here’s a rundown of this year’s Top 10 Stories as selected by the Business Journal’s editorial staff: 

 

1. New Era for Walmart

When Doug McMillon became president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2014, many people predicted he would usher in a new age for the world’s largest retailer. This year, we saw those wheels in motion.

It started with a minimum wage hike for hourly employees and increased investment in creating a seamless experience from in-store to online.

Walmart took a progressive stance on social issues, removing Confederate flags from its shelves and speaking out against an Arkansas law that would ban local governments from expanding anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Low points included the laying off of 450 corporate employees and a 10-percent stock drop one day in October, in reaction to a projected earnings decline in 2017.

On Walmart’s blog, McMillon wrote: “We’re making significant investments in our people and technology. These investments are critical to our current and future success as a company. Simply put, it’s the right thing to do.”

2015 also saw the retirement of longtime chairman Rob Walton, son of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

 

2. Bentonville Boom Continues

Development in downtown Bentonville did not slow in 2015.

Just northwest of the square, Walton Enterprises opened the Midtown Center, consisting of a 31,000-SF Walmart Neighborhood Market — which opened in November — parking deck and two three-story buildings with offices and about 40,000 SF of commercial space. Onyx Coffee and Backwoods Outfitters were among the first to open there.

Thrive Bentonville, a mixed-use residential/commercial development housing Crepes Paulette and the soon-to-open Foxhole bar/cafe, opened in May within the Arts District.

Also, the Northwest Arkansas Community College Culinary Arts School announced an expansion and relocation to the Market District.

Planned to open next fall, a little over a third of the new facility is reserved for the school, including five kitchens and six classrooms.

The rest is commercial space, and as of publication no tenants had been announced.

 

3. Springdale Shuffle

While the push to reinvigorate downtown Springdale was kicked off by the Waltons, who bought the Ryan’s Clothing building and the adjacent San Jose Manor, the follow up from Tyson Foods Inc. was perhaps even bigger.

The protein giant announced not one, but two projects that will likely change the face of Emma Avenue for decades to come.

First, Tyson announced that it was converting the old Jones Truck Lines building at 516 E. Emma into an employment center and company store called the Tyson Foods JTL Building.

On the heels of that announcement, Tyson unveiled its plan to build a 44,000-SF office between and behind existing Tyson structures at 317 and 319 E. Emma.

Once the projects are done, Tyson said it will bring more than 300 employees to the downtown area. Tyson also pledged $1 million to the Downtown Springdale Alliance, a nonprofit group spearheading downtown redevelopment.

The arrival of the Waltons and Tyson also triggered a land rush among private investors, including Rob Kimbel, Don Struebing, Brian Moore, and Tom Lundstrum.

 

4. Fayetteville Frenzy

In terms of national and even international exposure, 2015 was a great year for Fayetteville businesses, as two were acquired by industry leaders and a third edged out thousands of competitors to earn global recognition.

Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc., or APEI, was acquired in July by Cree, a North Carolina-based company with an expertise in silicon-carbide power and radio frequency products. Cree’s Power and Radio Frequency division was later rebranded to Wolfspeed, with the former APEI group named Wolfspeed Fayetteville.

APEI was founded in 1997 by Bill Schrimer and Kraig Olejniczak.

DataRank, a social analytics company, was acquired by Seattle-based Simply Measured in October. DataRank co-founder and CEO Ryan Frazier said its headquarters and a majority of the staff would remain in Fayetteville.

Finally, BlueInGreen was named the grand prize winner by the Global Cleantech Cluster Association at the 2015 Green Summit in Taipei, Taiwan. BlueInGreen, a water treatment company, was founded in 2004 by VIC Technology Venture Development, and University of Arkansas professors Scott Osborn and Marty Matlock.

 

5. Health Care Plans

This year saw two major announcements in the local health care industry.

In August, Arkansas Children’s Hospital of Little Rock announced it will open a $184 million, 225,000-SF hospital campus in Springdale, near Arvest Ballpark. It plans to break ground on the new facility in spring 2016.

Also, senior leaders of some of the largest hospitals and the largest insurance provider in Arkansas announced in October plans to form a shared services organization.

The stated purpose of The Partnership for a Healthy Arkansas is to improve health care quality and lower costs. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Washington Regional Medical System, Baptist Health and St. Bernards Healthcare are all part of the partnership.

Also in 2015, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Fayetteville completed a 9,250-SF expansion project, adding 20 new, private patient rooms to its existing 60-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital.

 

6. Trade Office Opening

On June 30, Vietnam-based Tin Nghia Corp. (shortened as Tinnghia, here locally) officially opened the first foreign-owned trade office in Arkansas at the Bentonville Plaza.

Bentonville-based Made in USA Works brokered the partnership that resulted in the trade office opening.

Made in USA Works co-founder Chris Neeley said Tinnghia, as a state-owned entity, is representing more than itself in Arkansas trade activities. It represents a diverse mix of businesses from its home province of Dong Nai.

Neeley said Tinnghia was originally scouting locations in southern California, but his team pointed to the logistical benefits of Bentonville as a central location, close to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Initially, Tinnghia is buying raw products like corn, soy beans, cotton, timber and resin from Arkansas farmers.

The next major goal for Tinnghia is to open a coffee plant and a furniture-assembly facility somewhere in the state.

Reciprocally, the plan is for Arkansas companies, especially in the tech realm, to set up shop in Vietnam.

 

7. Amenity Affinity

With Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Walton Arts Center as the established headliners, Northwest Arkansas took huge steps this year toward infilling its assortment of entertainment amenities.

In July, the Scott Family Amazeum opened in Bentonville. The interactive children’s museum, located within the Crystal Bridges campus, ushered in a new era of family entertainment for the region.

Crystal Bridges also completed reassembly of the Frank Lloyd Wright piece, the Bachman-Wilson House, overlooking the Great Hall.

In Fort Smith, the U.S. Marshals Museum secured consent from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a 50,000-SF facility on a 16.3-acre riverfront tract donated to the museum by the Robbie Westphal family. The museum is expected to open in late 2017.

In Fayetteville, the Walton Family Foundation, through its Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program, chose three projects: TheatreSquared, the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center, and the Rogers Historical Museum.

Theatre Squared chose its architect, New York-based Marvel Architects, in November.

 

8. Chancellor Change

The state’s largest university underwent a change at the top.

In January, the University of Arkansas announced that Chancellor G. David Gearhart would retire, effective July 31. Gearhart, who became the UA’s fifth chancellor on July 1, 2008, cited family reasons in a university-issued press release.

Gearhart, a Fayetteville native, became chancellor following 10 years of service to the university as vice chancellor for University Advancement. He previously served at the UA for three years as director of development in the early 1980s.

In October, the UA named Joseph Steinmetz as Gearhart’s successor. Steinmetz, previously executive vice president and provost at Ohio State University, agreed to a five-year contract with an annual salary of $500,000.

The UA also lost two top academic officials this year. Provost Sharon Gaber accepted a job as president of the University of Toledo. Eli Jones, dean of the Walton College of Business, resigned to become dean of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.

Those positions are being filled on an interim basis by Ashok Saxena and Matt Waller, respectively.

 

9. Bank Buys

A pair of local banks were snapped up by out-of-market lenders hoping to grow their brand.

The Farmers & Merchants Bank, chartered in the southeast Arkansas town of Stuttgart, purchased The Bank of Fayetteville, headquartered on the city’s downtown square and with eight NWA branches. The all-cash deal pushed FMB’s total assets over $1 billion.

Rogers-based Parkway Bank was bought by The Citizens Bank, headquartered in the northeast Arkansas town of Batesville. Citizens entered the Northwest Arkansas market in February when it opened a loan-production office at 1676 E. Joyce Blvd., headed up by Doug Lynch. The LPO was converted to a full-service branch in July.

Parkway maintains its headquarters on Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers, but also has south Arkansas branches in Crossett, Portland and Monticello (2). The bank moved its charter from Portland to Rogers in 2004.

The new banking company will have assets of nearly $700 million.

 

10. Notable Deaths

Northwest Arkansas lost one of its most skillful public servants in 2015, John Paul Hammerschmidt. He was 92.

Hammerschmidt, a native of Harrison, represented the state’s Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 26 years (1967-1993), having been elected to 13 terms.

One of the congressman’s lasting contributions to Arkansas was his sponsorship of a bill that made the Buffalo River the nation’s first national river. You’ll also find his name on the federal building in downtown Fayetteville, and on a designated section of Interstate 49 in Northwest Arkansas.

Other notable passings include Herman A. Tuck Jr., 85, founder and namesake of famed Fayetteville restaurant Herman’s Ribhouse, and Mary Alfrey, 59, who was executive director of the nonprofit Susan G. Komen Foundation Ozark affiliate in Springdale.

Lionel Barton of Fayetteville, emeritus professor of poultry science at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and a member of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame, died at 78.

John Shores of Bentonville, retired business owner and founder of the nonprofit Downtown Development Inc. in the late 1970s, died at 75.

Nadine Yates of Fayetteville, a licensed Realtor for more than 40 years and a senior vice president and executive broker for Lindsey & Associates, died at 69.