NEWS IN BRIEF

Epoxyn will expand in Mountain Home

Epoxyn Products plans to expand its manufacturing plant in Mountain Home, creating 50 jobs, the company said Tuesday.

The company makes laboratory furniture for research, educational and health-care uses.

Epoxyn Products is part of Hamilton Scientific, a 132-year-old laboratory furniture and equipment supplier with headquarters in De Pere, Wis.

Its resin products include chemical-resistant, laboratory-grade epoxy work surfaces, sinks, balance tables, pegboards and fume hood tops.

“Epoxyn’s success is Mountain Home’s success,” Gov. Mike Beebe said in a statement. “An Arkansas-based company with a good product, combined with a good local workforce, often results in the creation of more jobs and more investment.”

  • David Smith

Severed hand leads to 4 Tyson citations

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Tyson Foods Inc. for four workplace safety violations at a prepared-food plant in Hutchinson, Kan., where a worker’s hand was severed on June 17.

OSHA is proposing fines of $147,000, saying Springdale-based Tyson’s removal of guards and failure to train workers in proper lockout procedures were inexcusable, according to a Tuesday news release.

Worth Sparkman, a Tyson Foods spokesman, said in an email Tuesday that the company expects employees to perform to the highest safety and health standards across Tyson Foods operations at all times.

OSHA has placed Tyson in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which requires follow-up inspections. The program focuses on recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by committing willful, repeat and failure to-abate violations, according to the release.

  • John Magsam

Windstream sails as state index falls

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 1.03 to 328.17 Tuesday.

“With no economic data to provide a catalyst, cautious investors appeared hesitant to make moves prior to the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.

Windstream was the sole standout with shares gaining almost 1.5 percent on light volume, Williams said.

Volume for the index was 17.8 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 12/18/2013

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