Regions

Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Top 10 Business Stories of 2008

The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Top 10 Business Stories of 2009.

Cargill moves burned Booneville operations to Nebraska

Cargill Value Added Meats has found a plant in Nebraska in which to locate the operations it lost when its Booneville plant was destroyed by fire. More than 800 jobs…

Hadley home opened for Fort Smith Art Center fundraiser

What’s it take to help expand an art center? Wine, food, fellowship, more wine and a big house in which to contain the wine, food and fellowship. We’ve got the pictures to prove it.

Fighting back against the Bah Humbug of job losses

The shame with all these economic troubles is that one doesn’t have to be a skeptical ass like me to find the need to suppress the negative irony when hearing…

Youthful honkytonker to play Second Street Live (updated with concert review)

Justin Townes Earle, son of popular musician Steve Earle, brings his love of country music, bluegrass and George Jones to downtown Fort Smith. We’re thinking at least one song will mention booze, women and hard luck.

FDIC reports bank failures in Georgia, Texas

Reports of such failures creates an appreciation for health of banks in the Fort Smith region.

Fitch reports higher credit card delinquencies expected in 2009

One in eight cardholders could default on store-issued credit cards. Merry Christmas.

Home sales, airport traffic declines part of weekly economic review

The City Wire economic review for the week of Dec. 8 – Dec. 12: • The Arkansas Realtors Association reported Thursday that November homes sales in Crawford and Sebastian counties…

Crawford County high on foreclosure filing list

Foreclosure numbers from Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac show 116 foreclosure activities in the Fort Smith region in November 2008, a 45 percent increase from November 2007 and a 6.4 percent increase…

Arkansas’ Senators split vote on auto bailout

The Senator who soon faces reelection voted against the auto bailout bill.

Proposed bill attempts to avoid repeat of city director turmoil

A bill filed recently by State Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, seeks to avoid the “turmoil” that resulted when former Fort Smith city director Velvet Medlock chose to live in…

Morril Harriman says economy top issue at Governor’s office

Morril Harriman, a veteran of 16 years in the Arkansas Senate representing the Van Buren/Fort Smith area, said “communication, communication, communication” is vital for area business and civic leaders interested…

Fort Smith airport traffic sees big decline in November

November passenger traffic at the Fort Smith Regional Airport fell 26.3 percent compared to November 2007. This follows a 20.5 percent decline in October traffic compared to the previous year….

Peter is back with soup, pizza, frogs and oreos.

The Friday Feast mixes Vietnamese beer with ribs and pizza and something called moonfrogs. We fear The City Wire has already lost control of Peter. (Don’t they have medicine for that?)

Home sales decline in Sebastian and Crawford counties

Regional real estate sales for the first 10 months of the year show double-digit percentage declines in many cases of the number of homes sold and the total value of…

Manufacturing sector financial officers not sure about 2009 recovery

Despite the recent layoffs at Whirlpool, Rheem, Trane, Riverside and other Fort Smith area manufacturers, the manufacturing sector remains an important part of the regional economy. The future of that…

Large music festival coming to Ozark area

The City Wire has learned that Wakarusa, a large “music and camping festival," has relocated its venue from Lawrence, Kan., to Ozark for its June 2009 festival. The four-day festival…

Believe in evolution? You’re probably Catholic.

Harris Poll finds that Americans believe in God, UFO’s and reincarnation. No results on how many of you think Elvis is still alive.

Sales tax collections up in the region

Sales tax collections in the Fort Smith region (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties) indicate that consumer spending remained strong in the January-September 2008 period. The only decline in the…