Year?s Headlines Include Hogs, Roosters, Flies

Northwest Arkansas had a major business leave town virtually overnight while another fought a protest group to move into the area in 2000.

The predicted Y2k problems never came to fruition, yet the unpredicted shift in real estate development from Washington County to Benton County changed the local business scene dramatically.

The University of Arkansas athletic department had more controversial decisions off the playing field than on. Adding home games to the Fayetteville campus was a tough fight against major powers from central Arkansas.

An exclusive sponsorship contract for the men’s athletic department with Southwestern Bell only added to the UA’s PR headaches. Questioning whether they have received their money’s worth, Bell’s officials haven’t signed the $11 million pact.

We saw tree sitting, another daily newspaper war and a lawyer-turned-fly killer during a big courtroom battle in Benton County.

Business as usual in Northwest Arkansas? Yes, but only because there is rarely anything usual about business in Arkansas’ northwest corridor.

Worst Way to Get Rid of a Staffing Company

Sell all the divisions except one that is 1,000 miles away in Massachusetts and tell shareholders they now own stock in a technology company — whether they like it or not.

At least that’s what Edgewater Technology Inc., formerly StaffMark Inc. of Fayetteville, is in the process of doing.

And lots of investors, who came on board when the stock was trading at about $44 per share a couple of years ago, aren’t happy with the $4 per share it’s bringing now. But Edgewater Technology seems more interested in investing in its e-solutions business near Boston than in returning that money to shareholders in a dividend.

During the past year, StaffMark, which changed its name to Edgewater Technology Inc., has spun off its Robert Walters financial and accounting division in London, bringing in $199.2 million, and sold three of its four other divisions: StaffMark commercial staffing, for $190.1 million, to Stephens Inc. of Little Rock; Strategic Legal Resources, legal support, to a company owned by a group of investors including MidMark Capital II LP and Edwardstone & Co., for $13.25 million; and IntelliMark, its information technology staffing and solutions division, to Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC, a private equity and real estate investment firm based in Boston, and to the management of IntelliMark, for about $42.7 million in cash.

Now, if it could just get rid of its ClinForce clinical trials division, it could get the headquarters out of Arkansas and settle for good in Massachusetts.

Worst Negotiation

Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. in February agreed to a 10-year, $11 million contract to be the University of Arkansas’ exclusive sponsor of its men’s athletic programs.

As of December, that contract has yet to be signed. Word is that Bell officials have been anything but pleased with the UA’s version of exclusivity and the lack of publicity Bell has received with the deal. There have been further negotiations in an effort to finalize the pact.

Alltel Corp., Bell’s chief competitor in Arkansas, has remained a presence at the Razorbacks’ Little Rock football games. Alltel is also the exclusive telecommunications sponsor of the Southeastern Conference. Alltel lost to Bell in the fight for the athletic department’s exclusive sponsor.

Adding fuel to the fire was Alltel airing a promotional commercial of its Alltel Pig Palace prior to the LSU contest in Little Rock that showed both UA Chancellor John White and UA Athletic Director Frank Broyles talking with Alltel chairman Joe Ford.

Some UA athletic department officials were busy clearing their throats and wiping egg off their faces after the commercial aired. They had previously said Broyles had not visited the Alltel Trough. Not only had he, but he was fanning himself with an hand-held Alltel fan in the 30-second spot.

The UA had the ad pulled shortly after it aired.

We understand Bell’s concern.

Best Victory for Razorbacks

Arkansas may have only won six games on the gridiron during the regular season, but its most significant win came before the first kickoff. The victory allowed the UA to steal an extra home game for the Fayetteville campus, and Little Rock lost the game for 11 of the next 15 years.

We have never heard a reasonable argument for the Razorbacks having to travel almost three hours for a home game, and this major step for the UA showed it is ready to steadily compete in the mighty Southeastern Conference.

It may have added Civil War-like friction between Northwest Arkansas and the rest of the state, but we believe this will be of great help to the program’s future.

And now the UA has a renovated Reynolds Razorback Stadium that closes the gap with other SEC schools in size. Meanwhile, Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium looks more like where Burt Reynolds played quarterback in the movie, “The Longest Yard.”

It was a move long-feared by Arkansas fans in other parts of the state, but it is nice to know that the UA entered the 21st Century by finally initiating a move that should have happened decades ago.

Worst Abuse of a PR Guy

We can’t believe it, but Archie Schaffer III is scheduled to go to jail in January because he faxed a party invitation to Mike Espy, the former secretary of agriculture, on behalf of his employer, Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale.

Schaffer was convicted on one count of trying to influence Espy, whose conviction on related charges was overturned. In the meantime, Tyson Foods pleaded guilty and paid $6 million in fines and costs, but you didn’t see any of those guys going to prison. Schaffer was sentenced to a year of quarantined golfing.

We hope Bill Clinton, the lame-duck president, will have the good sense to pardon Schaffer and keep him out of jail. After all, we’re talking about a birthday party here.

Best Mayoral Idea

Fayetteville mayoral candidate Mustin said he would like to construct an obelisk with a replica of his head on top. The head would spin around in circles and lasers would shoot from the eyes to shock motorists who were driving too slowly.

Mustin lost the election by a substantial margin.

Worst Place for a Gigantic Parking Lot

That would have to be several countries in Central America and South America where Wal-Mart Stores Inc. built traditional, Arkansas-size Wal-Mart stores and parking lots.

Then, the world’s largest retailer discovered that few citizens of those countries own cars. The parking lots were often empty. And shoppers had to walk a quarter-mile from the bus stop on the edge of the parking lot to reach the store.

Wal-Mart fixed the problem, sort of, by running shuttle buses through the parking lots.

Best New Restaurant

Cafe Nibbles in Fayetteville. We gave it a three-star review for lunch, but that must have been an off day. We’ve had dinner there since then, and it was excellent. Cafe Nibbles is one of only six restaurants in the state recognized by Wine Spectator magazine for its extensive wine list.

Best Quote From a PR Guy

The poultry industry has developed everything from a higher-meat-yielding chicken to a lower-cholesterol egg, but Tyson Foods Inc. will let nature run its course before getting involved in genetic manipulation.

“We won’t go into the laboratory and put a gene from another animal into a chicken, or implant an egg with a gene,” said Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson. “We let our roosters do that.”

Worst New Place for a Retail Store

At this point, that would probably be the 60,000-SF Three Sisters building on Fayetteville’s Dickson Street.

The building, which is nearing completion of a $10 million renovation, was supposed to be home to several retail shops, in addition to a restaurant and offices. But so far, no retailers have leased space there — probably because the rent is $12 to $18 per SF and the foot traffic on Dickson Street is considerably less than that at the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

Greg House, who was overseeing the project, said a year ago that he was trying to lure The Gap or Banana Republic to the location, but he had no luck.

Since then, House has been ousted as manager, and Nancy Branch has taken over.

The building is owned by John Tyson, Dr. David Buckley and John Maier.

Best Overnight Delivery

American Freightways Corp., a less-than-truckload regional freight carrier based in Harrison, survived the fuel crunch of 2000 perhaps better than any other area transportation company. But on Nov. 13, it reached an agreement to sell to Memphis-based FedEx Corp., the world’s largest express transportation company.

The agreement is for FedEx to acquire AF for $28.13 per share, or about $1.2 billion (including $250,000 in assumed debt).

Best End Run in the Newspaper War

In August, Wehco Media Inc. of Little Rock did an end run around the U.S. Justice Department when it announced that it had entered into an “alliance” with Bentonville’s Community Publishers Inc., which owns the Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville and The Benton County Daily Record.

Had Wehco, which owns the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, tried to flat out buy the two daily newspapers, the Justice Department might have put the kabosh on the deal by saying it would lessen competition in the area’s newspaper war and cause a monopoly.

Wehco argues that the “alliance” increases competition by making two strong newspaper groups — Wehco and Donrey Media Group, which owns The Morning News of Springdale.

Immediately after the announcement, the smaller newspapers were bundled with the D-G for delivery and in rack sales.

Since then, the Daily Record has shrunk to one local news section, which Paul Smith, D-G general manager and vice president, said was the plan all along. The Times is still two sections on most days — news and sports.

Oddly enough, CPI and Walter Hussman, owner of Wehco, teamed up in 1994 and filed an anti-trust suit to prevent NAT LC from purchasing the Times. NAT was an entity of the Stephens family of Little Rock, which owns Donrey.

Best New Advertising Media

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell joined forces with Transport Media Network LLC to put advertisements on Hunt’s trucks, trailers and containers.

Transport Media, based in Madison, Wis., will offer turnkey fleet advertising services providing coverage on a national, regional and metro basis.

The venture is the nation’s largest fleet advertising business.

Transport Media said the advertising, to be on Hunt’s 10,500 trucks and 43,000 trailers and containers, would provide “53 feet of in-your-face impact for a low cost per impression.”

Billboards are stationary, and radio advertising can easily be switched off, but Transport Media said fleet advertising would make a longer-lasting impression.

Worst Stock Performance

Hands down, it’s Loislaw.com. The legal-research Internet company based in Van Buren saw its stock plummet about 94 percent, from $47.50 per share a year ago to less than $3 per share, before agreeing in mid-December to sell to Dutch publisher Wolkers Klumer NV.

Best Courtroom Execution

Attorney Bobby Odom of Fayetteville took it upon himself to carry out a death sentence this year at the Benton County Courthouse.

Odom, annoyed by a swarm of flies that filtered into the courtroom, startled everyone from the plaintiffs to the defendants, jurors and judge when he used a flyswatter to execute one of the pesky insects.

“I think I shocked the hell out of everyone,” said Odom, who went on to win his client, David Clark, $1.65 million in punitive and compensatory damages from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for defaming Clark’s character and invading his privacy.

Soon after everyone had returned from the lunch break, Judge David Clinger saw the problem and had a couple of flyswatters issued around the room. Just as everyone had settled into his or her seat, Odom brought the weary-eyed room to attention as he splattered a fly on his table with a loud and forceful smash.

“I think some people were about to go to sleep after their lunch,” Odom said. “The jury was all looking at me, and I said, ‘I got ‘im.’ I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but he’d been bothering me. It was rather loud. I don’t know if I scared anybody or not.”

Some of the jury members laughed and said they could use the swatter, too. At that point, Odom approached the jury box and handed it over.

Best Campaign Ploy

We’re not saying Fred Hanna would have remained in office as Fayetteville’s mayor, but there’s no doubt Dan Coody’s campaign got a tremendous shot in the arm from the now infamous tree-sitting saga that took place last spring on site at a commercial development.

Goshen resident Mary Lightheart spent about three weeks living in a tree protesting the proposed clearing of several old trees at CMN Business Park, in particular where a Kohl’s Department Store was planned.

Fayetteville’s Planning and Zoning Commission fumbled the issue, leaving an ugly scar on the city. A handful of real estate “players” have told us they won’t even bother dealing with Fayetteville following the episode. One developer said, “It’s just not worth it.”

While Lightheart certainly brought attention to her side’s views, her stay had to be anything but a pleasant one. Not to mention the fact she was eventually arrested for the stunt, but having to use a bucket for a port-a-potty and sitting through a couple of hairy thunderstorms could not have been the most proud moments of her life. That wins worst temporary housing idea.