Top 10 Northwest Arkansas Business Stories of 2005

1 — Wal-Mart’s No. 2 executive, Thomas Coughlin, resigned amid allegations that he had defrauded the company of between $100,000 and $500,000. At least seven other executives, who allegedly assisted Coughlin, were also fired. (See cover story here.)

2 — Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, announced that she will build the $50 million Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. Construction will begin on the 100,000-SF museum in 2006. It is scheduled to open in 2009. Planners believe it will attract 250,000 visitors a year.

3 — Wal-Mart started the year with a public relations blitz to tell people the “facts” about the company. It was met with ramped-up mud-slinging campaigns from its critics. (See cover story here.)

4 — It’s been a roller-coaster ride of a year for the folks at Beverly Enterprises Inc. in Fort Smith. In January, the firm faced a hostile takeover bid at $11.50 a share, but rejecting that offer. Principals put the company on the auction block in March. In August, it found a buyer at $13 a share, but that group was unable to meet its commitment to provide equity financing by the November deadline. As of Dec. 12, Beverly was selling to Fillmore Strategic Investors of San Francisco for $12.50 a share.

5 — White River Banchshares Inc., the holding company for Fayetteville’s startup Signature Bank of Arkansas, broke state records by raising more than $44 million in capital. White River, headed by chairman and CEO Gary Head, actually raised most of the money in 2003, but the stock subscription closed in January. The previous record, about $35 million, was set by Wallace Fowler for a project now called Liberty Bank of Arkansas.

6 — Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused a shortage of construction material and increase in building costs, in addition to increasing the population of Northwest Arkansas. Tim Graham II, a principal in Saddlewood Development in Rogers, said the cost to build a home in Northwest Arkansas increased by $3 per SF immediately after the hurricanes.

7 — In August, Wehco Media Group of Little Rock, publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, bought the Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville, Benton County Daily Record of Bentonville and eight weekly newspapers from the Walton-owned Community Publishers Inc. The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, ended a five-year distribution “alliance” between the two companies. In October, CPI bought Retherford Publications of Tulsa, which includes 19 publications in Oklahoma.

8 — Two Little Rock banks, Bank of the Ozarks and Metropolitan National Bank, each made announcements they would enter Benton and Washington counties and build a minimum of 12 branches each. Metropolitan said it would spend over $30 million on its land, buildings and technology.

9 — Since the Arkansas Patient Protection Act, or “any willing provider,” court decision was handed down in June, insurance carriers statewide faced an onslaught of applications from new willing providers. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has received at least 391 applications in Northwest Arkansas. Also, St. Mary’s Hospital started construction on its new $145 million Rogers facility this year, which will add at least another 50 hospital beds to the market and other services.

10 — Work continued throughout 2005 on two large shopping centers in Rogers — the 1.2 million-SF Pleasant Crossing and 1 million-SF Pinnacle Hills Promenade. A Wal-Mart Supercenter opened at Pleasant Crossing, and Saks announced it would open a Parisian store in that shopping center in 2007. Meanwhile, construction began on a Dillard’s store and other shops at Pinnacle Hills Promenade.