Finance

The 2020 home buying forecast

Coming off a strong 2019, expect momentum to continue into 2020 for the Northwest Arkansas real estate market. Low rates, high demand and limited supply drove a strong 2019 housing…

Smart Women Smart Money conference coming to Little Rock in February

The Smart Women Smart Money conference will be held Feb. 28, 2020, at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock. Treasurer of State Dennis Milligan announced he is teaming up with…

Used vehicle sales to rise up to 30% during tax refund season

Used vehicle sales are expected to increase between 20% and 30% in the last week of February as tax refund season begins, and sales are expected to remain elevated through…

Venture Center kicks off second Independent Community Bankers of America fintech program

Community bankers, startup supporters and investors, and governmental leaders at all levels attended the kickoff of a new round of financial technology startups at downtown Little Rock’s Venture Center on…

$20 million Esplanade development kicks off in North Little Rock

Arkansas-based Monde Group broke ground Wednesday (Jan. 8) on the Esplanade District, a 41-acre mixed-use neighborhood development in North Little Rock along the Arkansas River. It is located adjacent to…

Davy Carter named as director at Federal Reserve Bank in Memphis

Former Arkansas Speaker of the House and current Regional President for Centennial Bank in Jonesboro Davy Carter has been selected to serve as a Federal Reserve Bank branch director in…

Stone Bank hires Janet Moore as new COO

Janet R. Moore, a 40-year banking veteran, has joined Stone Bank as Chief Operations Officer. She was most recently chief operations officer and executive vice president with Citizens Bank in Batesville….

Initiative for unbanked Arkansans opens 4,000 accounts in year one

Officials with a year-old banking option for underserved and unbanked Arkansans say they opened nearly 4,000 certified accounts thus far. Bank On Arkansas+, a special project of the Arkansas Asset Funders…

Senior living center spends $10.25 million for rehab hospital

Liberty Park Senior Living of Jonesboro LLC made the most significant residential and commercial property transfer in Craighead County between Nov. 15 through Dec. 15, according to the Craighead County…

Connections: United Bank announces new board chairman

Springdale-based United Bank has appointed Darrin Pitts as chairman of its board of directors. Pitts has served on the board for the past seven years. Donnie Pitts, his brother, has…

Encore Bank bolsters NWA division with executive hires

Little Rock-based Encore Bank (formerly The Capital Bank) has recruited two new executives to join its leadership team in Northwest Arkansas. Patrick Woodruff and Hunter Norton have joined the bank…

Arkansas banks top regional ROA rankings in third quarter

In the third quarter of 2019, the average return on assets (ROA) for Arkansas banks was 1.49%, ranking the state’s lenders as the top performers among the seven states that…

Report: Arkansas apartment rents lower than national average

As temperatures cooled down in November, apartment renters also saw a slight drop in lease rates, according to a new report. The average national rent decreased by 0.2% in month-over-month…

Arvest Bank promotes Cara James to Chief Risk Officer

Arvest Bank promoted Cara James to Chief Risk Officer, effective Jan. 1, 2020. James will replace Bob Kelly, who is retiring after more than 30 years with Arvest, effective Dec….

Simmons Bank bolsters Northwest Arkansas leadership

Simmons Bank has promoted Greg Martin to executive vice president and division president for its Northwest Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma markets. The decision comes as the bank’s parent company, Simmons…

Bank OZK invests in solar energy project

Bank OZK will invest in the construction of a solar power plant which will provide enough renewable energy to power its new corporate headquarters and up to 40 other Arkansas…

Arvest Bank promotes Rivaldo to regional executive

The chief executive of Arvest Bank’s largest market is moving up the company’s leadership chain. Craig Rivaldo, president and CEO of Arvest Benton County since May 2014, is set to…

Torrid sales tax collections in Northeast Arkansas

Craighead County and its seat, Jonesboro, have been on a historical sales tax collection run during the last decade, and both are poised to set all-time collection numbers as 2019…

Arkansas tax revenue up almost 4% through first five months of fiscal year

Year-to-date gross general tax revenue (July-November) totaled $2.763 billion, up 3.9% from the same period in 2018, with a healthy gain in sales tax revenue and payday timing helping boost…

Economist warns tariffs could impact consumer prices

With the holiday shopping season off and running, it’s a little too early to predict if total sales will surpass last year or expectations. Economist Mervin Jebaraj says there are…

The Supply Side: Boomer generation concedes spending power to young consumers

2nd cohort of new lithium accelerator shows innovations in Bentonville

Weekly wages up 4.2% in Arkansas, Benton County leads with 13.4% wage gain

UAMS announces 40 new full-tuition scholarships for Fall 2026