LITTLE ROCK — Watts back on board of directors at Dillard's
Little Rock-based Dillard's Inc. on Tuesday said that J.C. Watts has returned to its board of directors.
Watts was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma for eight years, starting in 1998.
Watts, 51, also serves on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe board, according to a Dillard's release.
He was a Canadian Football League quarterback.
He had been a director on Dillard's board until last year, when he was among the directors replaced by four new board members who joined as part of a compromise with New York City hedge funds.
Watts will replace James A. Haslam III, who was one of the four new directors.
Haslam resigned from the board to focus "on other responsibilities" effective immediately, the release said.
Haslam is the chief executive officer of Pilot Travel Centers LLC.
Shares of Dillard's on Tuesday closed at $11.71, up 82 cents, or 7.5 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange.
McCollough to serve as rural development chief
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that Lawrence Edward McCollough will serve as Arkansas director for rural development.
McCullough has worked for nearly 40 years with USDA Rural Development in Arkansas.
He helped lead the Arkansas Single Family Housing program.
McCullough has served on the Governor's Task Force on Supported Housing and serves as a member of the Arkansas Weather Policy Advisory Council.
Rural Development administers and manages more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a network of 500 national, state and local offices.
Arkansas Index climbs 0.35 as 11 stocks rally
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.35 to 159.73 on Tuesday.
"U.S. stocks rallied to a new high for 2009 after better-than-expected home prices and consumer confidence reports offset a decline in energy stocks," said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock. "The Arkansas Index moved higher as 11 stocks rallied, six slipped lower and one remained unchanged."
Dillard's jumped more than 7 percent on heavy volume, Harkins said.
Murphy Oil took a breather Tuesday, declining by 2.6 percent after rallying more than 20 percent over the past month, Harkins said.
Volume on the index was 31.6 million shares, compared with average volume of 31.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 25 on 08/26/2009