Finance

Fayetteville real estate exec joins Batesville bank’s board of directors

Batesvillle-based Citizens Bank said Wednesday (Sept. 21) that Fayetteville real estate developer T.J. Lefler has joined its board of directors. Lefler owns Lefler Capital, a real estate company that owns…

First Western Bank planning operations center expansion in Rogers

Booneville, Ark.-based lender First Western Bank is in the preliminary stages of expanding its operations center in Rogers. The company has filed a preliminary development plan with the city for…

Colliers closes $3M sale of Little Rock office/warehouse building

Colliers Arkansas announced the sale Tuesday (Sept. 20) of a 48,000-square-foot office/warehouse building in west Little Rock for $3 million. The purchase price equals $62.50 per square foot. According to…

Then & Now: Working with dad fits easily for Blanchard

Editor’s Note: The following story appeared in the Sept. 12 issue of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. “Then & Now” is a profile of a past member of the Business…

Marist Poll indicates growing consumer worry over finances

Consumers are growing more concerned over their finances as inflation persists, interest rates rise and their retirement accounts invested in equities are losing value. A poll conducted by Marist College…

Mary Ann Greenwood, pioneering investment adviser, has died

Mary Ann Greenwood, a philanthropist and retired investment adviser who founded a pioneering woman-owned business in Fayetteville in 1982 when she started M.A. Greenwood & Associates, died Saturday (Sept. 17)…

$70 million upscale apartments planned for Rockwater community in NLR

Developers announced a $70 million upscale apartment complex Wednesday (Sept. 14) for the Rockwater community in the Argenta district of downtown North Little Rock. The project will include 360 units…

Skyline Report: Home prices jump 26%; apartment vacancy ‘functionally zero’

According to new real estate reports, the average home sales price in Northwest Arkansas rose by 26.8% in the first half of 2022 from the same period last year. Over…

Then & Now: Koontz’s career hits a ‘Pinnacle’ in Rogers

Editor’s Note: The following story appeared in the Aug. 29 issue of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. “Then & Now” is a profile of a past member of the Business…

First Community Bank recruits Simpson, Doyle to establish NWA lending team

Batesville-chartered First Community Bank has hired Austin Simpson and Tim Doyle to lead its Northwest Arkansas lending team. They both previously worked for Bank OZK. First Community Bank has received…

Cross County Bank to unify operations under Cross Bank name

Cross County Bank of Wynne announced Tuesday (Sept. 6) a plan to unify the organization under a new name: Cross Bank. Currently, Cross County Bank operates four offices in Cross…

$4 million apartment complex, $2.85 million motel property top NEA real estate deals

Middlebrook Holdings LLC made the most significant residential and commercial property transfer in Craighead County, from July 15 through Aug. 15, according to the Craighead County Assessor’s Office. The company…

Arvest Wealth Management investment chief analyzing Fed moves to tame inflation, soft-land the economy

Clay Nickel, Arvest Wealth Management chief investment officer and strategist, analyzes a lot of data and talks to a variety of industry sources. He notes that current economic conditions are…

Venture Center names two to beef up fintech programming

The Venture Center on Wednesday (Aug. 31) announced it is growing its team of leaders to focus on building its fintech programming and to expand entrepreneurial support in the global…

VenCent’s Inaugural FinTech Summit in Little Rock a national success

This month, in my hometown of Little Rock, The Venture Center hosted the inaugural VenCent FinTech Summit, which brought together leaders in the banking industry, as well as entrepreneurs and…

Ron Witherspoon to lead Little Rock market for Arvest Bank

Ron Witherspoon was named Tuesday (Aug. 30) as the new local bank president and CEO for Arvest Bank in Little Rock, which includes parts of central and southwest Arkansas, effective…

Stephens Inc. hires 3

Stephens Inc., an independent financial services firm, announced that Peter McCorry, Russell Gunther and Jake Morton have joined its financial institutions group (FIG) within Institutional Equities and Research as managing…

Sales tax collections in Jonesboro surge by double-digits in August

Although sales and use tax collections in Jonesboro and Craighead County had maintained a steady record pace in recent months, those collections had slowed when compared to earlier in the…

Bilingual bank Banco Sí sets grand opening for Sept. 23 in Rogers

Banco Sí, the bilingual division of Signature Bank of Arkansas, will open on Sept. 23 in downtown Rogers and has plans to expand the brand to Springdale and Siloam Springs,…

J.B. Hunt uses fintech to accelerate customer onboarding, invoicing

New financial technology has helped Lowell-based carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services improve invoicing and onboard new customers more quickly, sometimes within a week, a company director said. In a recent…