NEWS IN BRIEF

HP’s 200-hire plan for Conway verified

Hewlett-Packard’s plan to hire roughly 200 people for high-paying positions at its Conway operations center during 2014 was confirmed Wednesday.

The announcement was made by Gov. Mike Beebe, who was accompanied at the state Capitol by John Herzog of Hewlett-Packard. It followed an article in Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette outlining the plan.

The positions, including software engineers, business analysts and management, require higher skill levels than those that were eliminated starting in July. That reduction left the maker of computers and printers with between 600 and 700 full-time workers at the Conway center.

Hewlett-Packard signed a contract with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission in 2008, promising to have 1,000 workers in Conway at the end of a five-year period in exchange for $10 million.

The five-year period ended Wednesday. Beebe said the amount that HP will owe for not having 1,000 workers in Conway is still being worked out.

Those terms will be made public, said commission Executive Director Grant Tennille.

  • Jack Weatherly

Iowa energy group to buy Syntroleum

An Iowa-based energy group has entered an agreement to acquire Tulsa-based Syntroleum Corp., a renewable-energy company. Tyson Foods Inc. holds a 50 percent interest in Syntroleum’s subsidiary, Dynamic Fuels LLC.

Dynamic Fuels is a joint venture between Tyson and Syntroleum. Its 75-million-gallon renewable diesel production facility converts nonfood grade animal byproducts (chicken fat) into fuel.

Renewable Energy Group announced Tuesday it had entered into an asset purchase that would acquire almost all of Syntroleum’s assets and assume all its debts.

Through the transaction, Syntroleum will receive 3,796 shares of Renewable Energy’s common stock, worth $49 million.

  • Tina Parker

State index up 3.98 on Fed bond news

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 3.98 to 332.15 Wednesday.

“U.S. stocks soared higher after the Federal Reserve announced a $10 billion reduction in monthly asset purchases starting in January of 2014,” said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

Deltic Timber Corp. shares rose 3.8 percent to $65.93.

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 26 on 12/19/2013

Upcoming Events