Business

Arkansas State University sets all-time fall attendance record

Arkansas State University fall enrollment ballooned by 12% from last year to an all-time record of 16,687 students, Chancellor Todd Shields said. There was a 14.5% increase in first-year, on-campus…

Van Buren Public Schools expanding band, wrestling areas

Van Buren High School will spend more than $8.4 million to expand facilities in ways to benefit two of the school’s award-winning programs, according to Dr. Harold Jeffcoat, superintendent of…

Developer receives $25 million loan to build 117-unit senior living center in Fayetteville

IPA Capital Markets, a division of Calabasas, Calif.-based real estate investment firm Marcus & Millichap, has secured a $25.52 million loan for the construction of a 117-unit senior living complex…

Value of Fort Smith metro home sales up 14.4% through June

A more than 3% gain in Fort Smith metro home sales during the first half of 2024 appears to be reversing a trend that resulted in double-digit declines in 2023….

Gen 4 Jets to locate operations in Newport

Gen 4 Jets, a luxury private jet charter company, will locate operations at the Newport Municipal Airport, according to the Newport Economic Development Commission. The company is expected to generate…

U.S. banks see second quarter net income rise by 11.4%

The 4,539 U.S. banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) had a combined second quarter net income of $71.5 billion, up 11.4%, or $7.3 billion, compared with the…

UA hits new high with 33,610 students this fall, up 22% over past five years

For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Arkansas has set an enrollment record for the fall semester, according to a Thursday (Sept. 5) news release. Enrollment rose by 4.6% to…

Maternal health working group releases preliminary report

Arkansas health officials released Thursday (Sept. 5) the initial findings of a working group charged by Gov. Sarah Sanders to explore improving the state’s woeful maternal health statistics. The “Healthy…

Baptist Health opens new clinic in NLR Rose City neighborhood

Baptist Health officials on Wednesday (Sept. 4) held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of Baptist Health Family Clinic-Rose City, which will serve residents of North Little Rock and…

Grand Savings Bank to open in Centerton

Oklahoma-chartered Grand Savings Bank will open a new location this fall in Centerton. The full-service branch will be at 192 E. Centerton Boulevard. The location, formerly a Legacy National Bank…

Motorcycle group one of several to bring conference dollars to Fort Smith

The Fort Smith’s Convention and Visitors Bureau is focusing on the details to recruit large groups and their dollars to the city. Just four large groups on the books for…

Jonesboro awarded grant to study feasibility of children’s museum

The city of Jonesboro was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Arkansas Tourism Attraction Feasibility Study Matching Grant Program. The grant will be used to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study…

The Supply Side: Walmart leads in online grocery with 37% of U.S. market share

Grocery continues to be the leading online category for Walmart, with the retailer taking share from supermarkets in the second quarter, according to a Brick Meets Click/Mercatus report. Walmart, excluding…

Building permit values down 58.3% in the Fort Smith metro

Building activity in the Fort Smith metro continues to come in well under that of the record-breaking 2023 with all three of metro’s largest cities falling well below last year’s…

Arkansas’ tax revenue dips almost 3%; surplus estimated at $280.2 million

Arkansas’ fiscal year-to-date (July 2024-August 2024) tax revenue is down 2.9% compared with the same period in the previous fiscal year, and the revised budget indicates the state will end…

Car-Mart posts Q1 loss, revenue dip; shares hit 52-week low

Rogers-based America’s Car-Mart Inc. posted a net loss and a revenue decline in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 amid a vehicle sales decrease and narrow price gains. The stock price…

Fort Smith Board approves $4.2 million for waterpark slides; tables vote on lease plan

The Fort Smith Board of Directors on Tuesday (Sept. 3) voted four to three to spend $4.2 million to purchase a five-slide complex for the Parrot Island Waterpark that will…

Lyon College’s fall enrollment up 13.5%

Lyon College has announced a substantial growth in enrollment this fall, recording a census day headcount of 666 students. This is a 13.5% increase from the fall 2023 headcount of…

McKinsey: Rising consumer optimism may not equal more spending

Consumer optimism continued to increase through August, but recent mixed retail earnings, volatility in the equity markets and economic concerns have led analysts with McKinsey & Co. to put a…

Ritter spending $6.3 million to expand in Fort Smith

Jonesboro-based Ritter Communications is in the process of spending $6.3 million to bring its “RightFiber” fiber optic internet infrastructure to certain neighborhoods in Fort Smith. RightFiber is the company’s fiber-to-the-home…