Manufacturing

Creighton report: November mid-America economic conditions decline

Business conditions in mid-America moved “below growth neutral” in November, according to the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index, which measures economic activity in a nine-state region from Minnesota to…

The Supply Side: TK’s Toy Box lands deal with Walmart

Toys that foster creativity have been a passion for Tara Kennedy-Kline. As founder and president of Reading, Pa.-based TK’s Toy Box, she made the trip to Bentonville to pitch Snapo…

Tyson Foods to acquire the closed Cargill plant in Springdale

Tyson Foods will acquire the shuttered Cargill turkey plant located on Randall Wobbe Road in Springdale, with the city council on Tuesday (Nov. 25) approving the issuance of revenue bonds…

R2S opens new missile manufacturing plant at Camden

R2S, a joint venture between Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon, an RTX business, on Friday (Nov. 21) opened its new manufacturing facility in East Camden, Ark. Plans for the…

Fort Smith Metro News Briefs: Student registration change, a Cocoa Crawl, and tourism office opening

Following are news brief items from the Fort Smith metro. Student Registration The Fort Smith Public School District is opening new student registration Dec. 1, a month before the state’s…

Tyson Foods to shutter Nebraska beef plant, cut 3,200 jobs

Tyson Foods said Friday (Nov. 21) it will shutter its beef plant in Lexington, Neb., eliminating 3,200 jobs. Tyson is by far the largest employer in the town with a…

Amazon to shutter one of its Little Rock facilities for major repairs

Amazon’s largest fulfillment facility in Arkansas will be shuttered indefinitely, and thousands of full and part-time employees will be laid off with pay while structural repairs are completed. Company spokesman…

U.S. Steel CEO: Nippon enables $3 billion investment

The partnership between U.S. Steel and its new owner, Japan-based Nippon Steel, is allowing U.S. Steel to advance a $3 billion investment at its Big River Steel Works complex in…

Windsor Door’s $2 million upgrade doubles production

Windsor Door completed its $2 million strut line investment expansion to speed production and delivery of garage doors, the company announced Tuesday (Nov. 18). Since Windsor Door’s production line came…

Fayetteville-based Packaging Specialties to invest $24 million in expansion, add 100 jobs

Packaging Specialties Inc., a Fayetteville-based commercial printing and packaging company, announced Monday (Nov. 17) a $24 million expansion and plans to add more than 100 jobs over five years at…

UA marks opening of ‘unique to the world’ $95 million semiconductor lab

More than 200 people, including University of Arkansas, state and federal leaders, celebrated on a mild Friday (Nov. 14) the opening of a $95 million semiconductor fabrication facility that’s the…

Arkansas River tonnage down 34.5% in October

High water levels, river system maintenance, and tariff uncertainty are key factors in an almost 19% drop in tonnage shipped on the Arkansas River system in the first 10 months…

Hybar officially opens in Osceola

Mississippi County officially has another steel producer. Hybar held its grand opening Wednesday (Nov. 12) for its sustainable rebar mill in Osceola. Since the startup company was formed a little…

New steel mill slated for Big River Steel Works campus

When Japanese-based Nippon Steel Corporation was allowed to acquire U.S. Steel earlier this summer, one of the requirements for the merger was the company had to commit to investing an…

Connections: JBU leaders receive Rotary awards

John Brown University in Siloam Springs recently announced that President Chip Pollard and his wife, Carey Pollard, received the Mark Simmons Service Above Self Award. Also, Joe Walenciak, distinguished professor…

Tyson annual revenue tops $54.44 billion, beef segment posts big loss

Tyson Foods surprised analysts with better-than-expected results for its fourth-quarter ending Sept. 30. The meat giant reported revenue of $13.86 billion, up 2.2% from a year ago. On an adjusted…

SupplyOne acquires Lamb & Associates Packaging

SupplyOne, Inc., a distributor of custom corrugated and value-added packaging solutions across North America, has expanded its footprint by acquiring Lamb & Associates Packaging, Inc., a packaging manufacturer based in…

Westrock Coffee reports $19 million Q3 loss

Despite strong sales growth, Conway-based Westrock Coffee reported a quarterly loss of $19.1 million. The coffee, tea and beverage manufacturer has been in an aggressive expansion mode, adding production capacity,…

Net income could drop more than 4% in Tyson Foods’ fourth quarter

Tyson Foods is expected to post earnings per share of 88 cents for its fiscal fourth-quarter on Nov. 10, before the market opens. That would equal net income of roughly…

ArcBest beats estimates on Q3 earnings, revenue down 1.4%

An ongoing U.S. freight recession and lower manufacturing sector output were key factors in a more than 60% decline in third quarter net income at Fort Smith-based ArcBest. Revenue in…