Made In America: Fed Says ‘Business Optimism’ Improving in Arkansas Thanks To Exports, Manufacturing
by March 29, 2015 12:31 am 109 views
Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a wrap-up of manufacturing news in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.
FED SAYS ‘BUSINESS OPTIMISM’ IMPROVING IN ARKANSAS THANKS TO EXPORTS, MANUFACTURING
A February survey of business contacts in the Little Rock Zone of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis revealed improving optimism for the second consecutive quarter, mainly on the strength of exports gains that resulted in strong manufacturing growth. In fact, roughly eight in 10 respondents expect economic conditions to be better in their area this year than in 2014.
The Little Rock Zone includes the majority of Arkansas, except the northeast part of the state. The population in the zone is approximately 2.5 million people, including the 710,000 who live in the Little Rock metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
Nonfarm payroll employment rose 0.7% in the Little Rock MSA in the fourth quarter of 2014. Employment growth was considerably stronger in the Fayetteville MSA but modestly weaker in the Fort Smith and Texarkana MSAs. Gains in exports resulted in strong manufacturing employment growth in Arkansas in the fourth quarter.
The zone’s unemployment rate averaged 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2014, down appreciably from the previous quarter (6.0%). The Little Rock MSA’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in six years (5.4%). Read more here.
Most housing activity in the Little Rock Zone was stronger in the fourth quarter as compared with the previous quarter, as home prices and single-family building permits rose in most areas. However, the Little Rock MSA was a notable exception, posting declines in both sales and permits.
Automotive loan delinquency rates rose sharply in Arkansas during the fourth quarter of 2014, but remained modestly below the national average of 3.3%. Loan growth in the first half of 2015 is expected to outpace the growth seen over the first half of 2014, according to a survey of Arkansas bankers.
Arkansas cropland values in 2014 increased for the third consecutive year. You can access the Fed’s Burgundy Book report here.
LOCKHEED MARTIN PREPARES IN CAMDEN FOR SUPERPROJECT POTENTIAL
TB&P Business Editor Wesley Brown recently reached out to officials with Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin as the countdown nears for the U.S. military to select a defense contractor to replace its aging Humvee trucks, a bid that could be worth well over $30 billion.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is being developed by the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps as a successor to the High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), or Humvee, which has been in service since 1985.
Click here to view the Q&A with Lockheed Martin’s Camden Operations Site Director Colin Sterling.
GOV. HUTCHINSON OUTLINES JOBS PLAN, WANTS TWO CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Hours removed from hiring the state’s next economic development chief, Gov. Asa Hutchinson outlined his vision for an aggressive platform on Thursday that he said would allow Arkansas to compete globally for better jobs and sustained economic growth.
Hutchinson also asked economic developers from across the state to contact their state lawmakers and encourage them to support two constitutional amendments now before the legislature. He said SJR3 and SJR16 would both aid his economic development plank by giving him additional executive authority when he travels out of state, or has to make a quick decision concerning a so-called “super project.”
ARKANSAS OFFICIALS, BUSINESSES HOPE TO BOOST EXPORTS IN 2015
The business of exports is not without its challenges given regulatory hurdles, the rising value of the U.S. dollar and Congressional inaction with respect to Free Trade Agreements proposed with the European Union and Asia Pacific.
That said, exports remain big business for numerous small to mid-size Arkansas-based companies like Canvas Corp. of Springdale, PowerTechnology of Little Rock and Russellville-based POM. Each of these companies reported annual export growth even with the rising U.S. dollar and logistical hurdles primarily resulting from the labor dispute at West Coast ports earlier this year.
Kim Souza with The City Wire reports one of Arkansas’ fastest growing business sectors. Click here for more.
CHINESE DELEGATION VISITS EAST ARKANSAS AS PART OF JOB RECRUITMENT EFFORTS
A nine-member Chinese delegation – led by Li Zhi, Secretary General of the Shenzen Logistics and Supply Chain Management Association – visited east Arkansas to get a first-hand look at the region’s logistics and transportation facilities for possible future business ventures.
“West Memphis is in the nation’s logistical center and has several thousand acres of rail-served industrial sites, all with easy access to the Union Pacific Intermodal Yard and two major interstates,” says Ward Wimbish, the city’s Director of Economic Development. “The UP Intermodal Yard is our area’s links to the ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.”
T. J. VanWagner of Kinder Morgan, representing the city’s port operator, and Neely Mallory, chairman of Memphis-based Neely Alexander International Logistics Kinder Morgan, were part of the city’s team that led the visit with the Chinese delegation.
VanWagner described the plans to establish a container yard and a barge-to-truck transload facility near the port, Wimbish said, while Mallory spoke of the importance of locating warehouses close to customers and other benefits of operating a warehouse in the U.S.
The visit is tied to the city’s ongoing strategy to move onto the radar of Chinese business leaders, Wimbish said.