Opinion

The biggest non-event ever

Do you remember the devastating Dec. 3, 1990, earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone? You know, the one that claimed thousands of lives, destroyed billions of dollars of infrastructure…

7 de-stressors when you hit a mental wall

In the coming weeks, the pressures of the holiday season, financial decisions, and end-of-year responsibilities can all lead you to crash into a mental wall. You can’t make decisions. You…

Riff Raff: Private votes on the public’s business

Here we go again with the city of Fort Smith and its inability and/or unwillingness to conduct the public’s business in public. City directors and administrators come and go, but…

Full STEAM ahead

We are inundated with data. So the first business question we typically ask is a hard science question: What am I looking at here? And to answer that question requires…

The importance of data in business

Commercial lenders are in the business of making loans to businesses. In order to make loans, we review a great deal of data. Having worked in commercial lending at Arvest…

Health care providers have an extra ball to juggle: patients’ unmet social needs

My first job after graduating college was as a reporter for a newspaper in a rural Arkansas town. A few months into my tenure, the editor graciously but perhaps unwisely…

NWA office sector returning to ‘normal’

After a challenging 2020 and early 2021, in which the economy of Northwest Arkansas shed 17,000 jobs, the region has made a remarkable comeback over the last two quarters, gaining…

Strategies to restructure and ‘future-proof’ your supply chain

Much like the mental fortitude needed to make it through yet another Zoom call, the global supply chain in 2021 has tested the resilience of the Walmart supplier community. Shipping…

What you should know about monoclonal antibodies in the fight against COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, medical providers are discovering new tools to battle the deadly virus. One of these tools is monoclonal antibodies, also known as mAbs. The U.S. Food and…

Small purchases can energize entrepreneurship in Arkansas

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us how vital and vulnerable America’s small businesses are. But, fortunately, small changes in how and where we buy goods can energize entrepreneurship throughout Arkansas…

The senior living industry will never be the same

Our senior living industry has been due for a change, and small-home models like the Green House Cottages represent the epitome of progressive nursing home care right now. The Green…

Riff Raff: No public, no problem

The who-drew-the-map? game a few folks have played with Sebastian County Quorum Court redistricting is disturbing, disappointing and would be comically clumsy if transparency weren’t such an important part of…

Shop local on Small Business Saturday

It hasn’t been an easy couple of years for Arkansas’ small businesses, beginning with the pandemic and continuing with the resulting labor shortage and breaks in the supply chain. But…

A conversation on perspective

There’s an improv exercise I love called Fortunately/Unfortunately. A handful of people stand in a circle and move a storyline forward by adding information as players alternate between fortunately and…

The self-appointed, unofficial hypeman of Hall High

Growing up in the smaller town of Russellville, Friday Night Football was exactly as big a deal as you think it was. I didn’t like a lot about high school….

Medicaid providers have investment options to entice workers

One of the many unanticipated consequences of COVID-19 has been its destabilizing effect on the medical community. Battling the pandemic has dramatically accelerated the pace at which doctors, nurses and…

Putting fuel on the fire that makes your business grow

Entrepreneurship is about value creation, and growth equates to value. Most everyone who owns a business will tell you they want their business to grow. Unfortunately, for many, it’s just…

Santa and the supply chain

We won’t have Black Friday for more than a month, but already we’re being urged to part with our green now. Reuters is reporting that Americans are expected to spend…

Solving broadband challenge requires public and private efforts

It seems nearly every day that I hear about the need to improve our state’s broadband infrastructure – especially in rural counties like the ones I represent. That shouldn’t be…

Don’t build a market with plans to tear it down

Resistance to the Affordable Care Act remains strong in 12 holdout states, where policymakers have declined to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income residents, despite the availability of lucrative incentives included…