Author: Talk Business & Politics staff

Talk Business & Politics staff

Ritter Communications

Earnest Herman Ritter Jr. started E. Ritter and Company in Marked Tree in 1889, as a mercantile shop. Soon he began to dabble in road and bridge building, timber and…

Peco Foods

Peco Foods was founded in 1937 by John Herman Hickman, in Gordo, Ala., By the 1980s, Peco had grown into a fully integrated operation with processing plants, feed mills, and…

E.C. Barton & Company

In 1885 the town of Jonesboro had just incorporated two years earlier and it was experiencing strong growth. P.C. Barton owned and operated a grocery store in the bustling new…

Best Manufacturing has been in business since 1983 and is a one-stop source for sheet metal fabrication. Best Manufacturing serves many industries including agriculture, automotive, chemical, construction, aerospace, medical, military…

Allen Engineering Corporation

Dewayne and Mary Ann Allen wanted to own their own business. In 1964 they started Allen Engineering Corporation, a small ready-mix concrete business. In 1968 they bought the Allen-Hixson ready…

Early 2026 Arkansas River tonnage down slightly

Arkansas River traffic is down slightly in the first two months of 2026, with a more than 30% gain in internal shipments easing the impact of declines in inbound and…

Upkept receives $100,000, names inaugural board

Upkept, a Rogers-based garment repair startup, recently closed on a $100,000 friends-and-family funding round. It also named its inaugural board of directors as it builds technology and logistics infrastructure for…

UAMS raising minimum wage to $16 an hour

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is raising its minimum wage from $15 to $16 an hour, effective April 12. “At my first employee Town Hall as chancellor,…

La Cascada Mexican Restaurant of Valley View

Ignatio Patino visited Northeast Arkansas once with his uncle. He was living in Georgia and decided to make the move to the region and work in the restaurant business. He…

Former VP, presidential nominee Kamala Harris to keynote Democrats’ Fisher Shackelford dinner

Former U.S. Vice President and 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris will keynote the 2026 Fisher Shackelford dinner, a fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Arkansas. The event will be held…

JTown’s Grill/The Social

Jeffrey Higgins majored in agriculture studies at Arkansas State University and the plan after college was for him to return to work on his family farm in Marianna. One thing…

UAMS, University of Arkansas launch six-year bachelor’s to medical degree program

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville (UA) recently announced plans for a new accelerated six-year bachelor of science to doctor of…

Jetton General Contracting

Jetton began in 1972 when founder Kendall Jetton established Kendall Jetton Electric in his hometown, focusing primarily on residential electrical wiring and serving the local community. In 1984, the company…

Will Rockefeller joins Winthrop Rockefeller Institute board

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute announced that William Rockefeller, managing director of private banking at Bank OZK, has accepted a three-year appointment to its board of directors. “I’m excited about joining…

Huntington Square

Heather Walker Clark and her husband had a vision. They wanted to build a boutique hotel in Downtown Jonesboro. In 2016, they opened The Hotel at Huntington in the Huntington…

Bailey Contractors

Kevin Bailey started working in the construction business when he was in high school. Eventually, he moved onto different companies and became a project manager. By 2008 he decided to…

Auto showroom, Ridgepointe home top recent property deals

Engines Inc. made the most significant residential and commercial property transfer in Craighead County from Feb. 15 to March 15 according to the Craighead County Assessor’s Office. The company spent…

Blew & Associates acquires Fayetteville architecture firm

Blew & Associates P.A., a Fayetteville-based civil engineering, land surveying and environmental firm, recently acquired Fayetteville engineering firm Jorgensen + Associates. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This…

The Polish Agency

Katie Spencer’s best friend, Lindsey Bowman, decided to rebrand her consulting business and with Spencer’s help she opened The Polish Agency in Jonesboro. Although they did work together, the friends…

Play It Again Sports (Arkansas Sports University Inc.)

Cameron Campbell always enjoyed playing sports. His two favorite sports were basketball and baseball. When he got out of school, he wanted to do something where he was still involved…

UAFS launches RoarCorps to help address regional issues, needs

UAPB researcher: Arkansas can grow shrimp in fresh water

Early childhood conference slated at A-State

Economics Arkansas appoints two