Trauschke to lead Oklahoma utility
OGE Energy Corp. has promoted Sean Trauschke to be the new president of its subsidiary Oklahoma Gas and Electric.
OGE’s President and Chief Executive Officer Pete Delaney has held the post of Oklahoma Gas and Electric’s president since late 2011 when then-President Danny Harris retired, according to a release Wednesday. Oklahoma Gas and Electric has more than 800,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, with 75,000 of those in the Fort Smith area.
Trauschke will continue to serve as chief financial officer for OGE Energy and Oklahoma Gas and Electric, posts he’s held since 2009.
Trauschke had worked for Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy in various leadership positions before coming to OGE.
- John Magsam
Tech firm Movista receives new funds
Bentonville-based tech startup Movista has received a $82,959 investment from the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority.
The funds come from the authority’s Seed Capital Investment program and will be used to commercialize the company’s technology, according to a release Wednesday.
The authority is a state organization with the goal of developing, expanding and retaining high-paying knowledge-based industries through high tech entrepreneurship and research.
Movista’s proprietary software is used to track, verify and report retail activity in real time through mobile devices. The company employs 23 and was formerly known as Merchant View.
“About $200 million a year is lost to fraud and inefficiency in the retail industry,” Stan Zylowski, president and co-founder of Movista said in a statement.
Founded by Zylowski and April Seggebruch, the company placed second during the Governor’s Cup in 2008, then went on to win at the Tri-State Donald W. Reynolds Cup competition that year.
- John Magsam
Arkansas Index falls 0.57 to 288.68
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 0.57 to 288.68 Wednesday.
Losers outpaced winners at a 3-to-2 ratio.
Three stocks saw gains of 1.0 percent - Murphy Oil, Windstream and Deltic Timber, all on belowaverage trading.
America’s Car-Mart lost 2.7 percent on more than double its average volume.
Home BancShares and Simmons First National each hit 52-week highs during the session.
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 23 on 07/18/2013