Author: Talk Business & Politics staff

Talk Business & Politics staff

Dicamba public comment period underway

A 30-day public comment period and a public hearing date has been set for proposed regulations that allow the use of dicamba in Arkansas on soybean and cotton varieties resistant…

Arvest Bank names Tammy Engle president of Siloam Springs market

Tammy Engle is the new Siloam Springs market president for Arvest Bank. The company made the announcement Monday (Jan. 7). Engle has worked for Arvest for 23 years, most recently…

Retail sector adds 37,600 jobs in December

The retail sector was strong throughout the holidays behind robust consumer spending. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported Friday (Jan. 4) the sector added 37,600 jobs in December compared to…

Crude oil, gasoline prices lower at end of 2018

Prices for crude oil and gasoline were lower at the end of 2018 than they were at the start of the year, marking the first time since 2015 the prices…

Sparks Health sale, school millage vote, Marshals Museum part of top 2018 Fort Smith headlines

Key Fort Smith area news in 2018 included a change in ownership of one of the oldest hospitals in Arkansas, the first Fort Smith Public School millage increase in 31…

Mike Tyner promoted to Jonesboro Director of Code Enforcement

Mike Tyner has been promoted to Director of Code Enforcement for the City of Jonesboro, Mayor Harold Perrin said. Tyner has served in code enforcement for the city since 2012…

DHS Receives $3.5 million grant to help children who experience trauma

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) has been awarded a $3.5 million grant from U.S. Department of Health and Human…

Fort Smith construction firm sets plan for succession

Beshears Construction Inc., a general construction company in Fort Smith, will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2019 with a change in leadership structure. Company founder Eddy Beshears, 66, handed over…

USDA predicts higher food costs in 2019

Consumers are spending less at the gas pump to start 2019, but some of those savings will be spent on food purchases in the coming months. The U.S. Department of…

Manufacturing sector grows at slower rate in December

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in December but at a slower rate than in November as the overall economy grew for the 116th consecutive month, according to the…

WD&D Architects names Chad Young president and CEO

Little Rock-based firm Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects (WD&D) has promoted Chad Young to president and CEO. Young also serves as lead designer and principal at WD&D, where he has…

Matt Hicks named chief credit officer for Chambers Bank

Matt Hicks has been hired by Chambers Bank as its chief credit officer. Hicks has more than 14 years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently as a…

Year in Review: Ranking NWA’s top 10 stories of 2018

2018 saw plenty of significant business and political news stories in Northwest Arkansas. In our annual Top 10 list, we present the developments that had the most impact on the…

Shuttered Tyson Foods meat plant in Iowa to reopen under new ownership

Iowa Food Group (IFG) announced this week plans to reopen a further-processing meat plant acquired from Tyson Foods after it was shuttered by the Springdale-based meat giant in 2014. The…

Safe Foods Corp. promotes Kelly Conley to CFO

Safe Foods Corp. announced Wednesday (Jan. 2) the promotion of Kelly Conley to chief financial officer, effective immediately. Conley joined the privately held North Little Rock company one year ago…

Friday, Eldredge & Clark announces three new partners

Little Rock-based law firm Friday, Eldredge & Clark announced Wednesday (Jan. 2) that three attorneys have been elected to the firm’s partnership — Angela Artherton, Katie Watson Bingham and Tyler…

Chicken broiler production slows heading into 2019

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported chicken broiler production began to slow in October with nearly 3.8 billion pounds processed, up fractionally over the same period in 2017. The agency…

Wireless upgrade at UA more than 50% complete

A project to modernize and update the University of Arkansas campus network infrastructure is now more than 50% complete. The Achieve IT: Network Foundations plan is modernizing the UA network…

DOT pre-empts California rule on meal and rest breaks

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has granted trade organization American Trucking Associations’ request to pre-empt meal-and-rest break rules in California after the organization sought federal legislation to overrule the state mandate….

NREL promotes benefits of floating solar panel systems

Installing floating solar photovoltaic panels on the more than 24,000 man-made reservoirs in the United States would generate about 10% of U.S. electricity production annually, according to the National Renewable…