Author: Talk Business & Politics

Conventional Wisdom?

The city of Fayetteville has yet to book a single convention or trade show for its much-awaited town center planned for the south side of the downtown square. We’re told…

Fort Blair

Talk around town is that Jim Blair, retired general counsel for Tyson Foods, is building a fortress. Turns out it’s more like a sand castle. Blair’s flamboyant new office at…

Central Thought

It seems that something’s always going on at Arvest Bank Group, and here’s the latest: The Jim Walton-led holding company is among a growing line of banks that made brief…

Funding ‘Anywhere In The World’

Lost in Arkansas Capital Corp. Group’s creation of Diamond State Ventures is another new division of Little Rock-based ACC, Capital Resource Corp. Capital Resource will focus on finding sources of…

Through The Grapevine

You may have heard about the Aug. 6 explosion at the new Embassy Suites hotel in Grapevine, Texas, but did you know there’s a Northwest Arkansas connection? The hotel is…

Bye Gulley, by Golley

Gary Gulley just missed the recent shakeup at Superior Federal Bank of Springdale. He resigned as a loan originator there on July 30 both because his father became ill and…

‘Hunt’ for Offices is Over for J.B.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell is now leasing the 9,200-SF top floor of the Northwest Arkansas Business Center’s Building One. The 30,000-SF Class “A” property, on 30 acres…

Elders Staying Young with Multiple Projects

Chris and Kerri Elders, through their company Elder Construction Inc. of Springdale, have $3.6 million worth of projects going on in Springdale and Farmington. The Elderses are still negotiating with…

Richland Found at Commerce Center

Richland Construction Co. of Springdale is building a 20,000-SF upscale office building at Commerce Center on Walton Boulevard in Bentonville. About $1.2 million of the $1.5 million project was financed…

Lemmon Makes Lemonade Out of Old Office Building

J.L. Properties of Bentonville plans to tear down its aging, 1,200-SF office building at 104 S. Walton Blvd. and build a new, two-story office facility. The $707,029 project is being…

Myers Remodels Local Apartments

Carl Myers, through his company Myers Apartments of Fayetteville, is remodeling the Brook Allison Apartments II at 2660 Wedington Drive. The $675,000 purchase and remodeling project is being financed by…

Youth Bridge Link to Centerton

Youth Bridge Inc. of Fayetteville is expanding its Northwest Arkansas operations with a new 10,700-SF shelter and counseling facility in Centerton. The Bank of Bentonville is financing the $450,000 project…

Students Return; Retail Revs

Despite the retail boom, a UA expert says the campus has less impact on the area’s economy While Fayetteville’s population has jumped by 44.7 percent – from 36,608 in 1980…

Ryan Takes Over Reins of Anheuser-Busch Distributorship

Angela Ryan keeps Anheuser-Busch products flowing from the Oklahoma line to Norfork Lake. The general manager of McBride Distributing Co. of Fayetteville since 1996, she runs a 50-year-old family business…

From Bali to Brittany, Retailers Bring it Home

Liz Crone decided to start an import business after a trip to Bali in 1989. “There were just vast opportunities in buying there,” Crone says. “These were incredible craftsmen.” Crone,…

A Natural in Stone

This past January, Maryanne Van Dyke opened Natural Stone Accents in Rogers’ Van Dyke Center. She imports slate, quartzite, travertine, marble and granite from Italy, Brazil, Turkey, Greece and Mexico….

Hunting in France

Traipsing across the French countryside this past June, Renée Hunt was sort of a roving yard-saler, sniffing out bargains like a pig uprooting truffles. She returned to Fayetteville with a…

Seeking Female Faculty

University of Arkansas aims for gender equality Women comprised only 24 percent of the faculty at the University of Arkansas in 1998, compared with 30.1 percent nationally at public universities….

Northwest Arkansas Business Sector Sees Influx of Women

Local women are going into business for themselves in record numbers. Lance Sexton, center director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Arkansas, says 45 percent of…

Jump-starting a New Port-a-Potty Business

Founder undeterred by rocky start, statewide expansion planned soon When it comes to women-owned businesses, Sharon Whelchel’s is decidedly unusual, for men or women. Whelchel, who lives in Rogers, is…

Parrot Island Waterpark control decision pushed to study session review

Rebkah Guiltner named COO at FNBC

A-State researcher receives $605,140 grant for zoo animal research

Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation selects Cory Anderson as new CEO