LITTLE ROCK — Steel-joist production begins at Hope plant
New Millennium Building Systems has begun production of steel joists in Hope with 58 employees.
New Millennium installed $4 million of improvements to the plant, which was formerly occupied by Commercial Metals Co.
The purchase of the Hope plant facilitates New Millennium’s plans to expand its presence in construction markets in the southwest and the west.
The plant is New Millennium’s first in Arkansas.
At full production, the facility is projected to generate more than $8 million in annual payroll when fully staffed. The company anticipates hiring as many as 120 workers at the plant as demand dictates.
New Millennium Building Systems, founded in 1999 in Butler, Ind., announced in September 2010 the acquisition of manufacturing and office facilities in Hope; Fallon, Nev.; and Juarez, Mexico. The company says it has become the second largest provider of steel joists and metal decking in the country.
13 Wal-Mart stores
to reopen in China
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is set to resume operations today at all of its 13 stores in the Chinese city of Chongqing after officials ordered them shut for two weeks for mislabeling ordinary pork as organic.
The Bentonville-based retailer was fined and ordered by local officials to halt operations of the outlets in the southwestern city on Oct. 9 while police detained 37 employees. It was the most serious punishment Wal-Mart has faced in China since it entered the market in 1996.
Ed Chan, president of Wal-Mart’s China operations, resigned nine days later for personal reasons, the company said.
An apology was posted on the right side of the entrance of a Wal-Mart store in south Chongqing. On the other side is a sign advertising discounts on more than 60 items, including apples, TVs, soap, milk and pork, until Nov. 3. The sign had an image of a policeman and the characters for thephrase “safe Chongqing.” Arkansas Index rises 3.68; closes at 211.66
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 3.68 to 211.66 Monday, its highest close since finishing at 214.10 on Aug. 1.
“A set of merger announcements, combined with the absence of negative news out of Europe, helped push U.S. stocks higher on Monday,” said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Acxiom jumped 4.8 percent followed by Arkansas Best stock climbing 4.5 percent.
Volume for the index was 23.4 million shares; the average is 27.2 million.
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 21 on 10/25/2011