News in brief

Moon Distributors

to add space in LR

Moon Distributors plans to spend $7.5 million to expand its warehouse and office space at 2800 Vance St. in Little Rock, said Stan Hastings, chief executive of the firm.

The company will add 120,000 square feet of warehouse space and 10,000 square feet of office space, Hastings said Friday.

"We just need more room," he said.

The company will retain its existing storage space, he said.

Work has begun on the foundation for the warehouse and office, and the project is schedule to be completed in February.

Moon distributes beer, wine and spirits throughout Arkansas and has more than 175 employees at its 11-acre headquarters, according to its website.

Harry Hastings Sr. opened Moon Distributors in 1935.

-- David Smith

Bentonville to host

chefs' 'boot camp'

Chefs from around the U.S. will meet in Bentonville on Sept. 7-9 to teach policy and advocacy skills at the James Beard Foundation's Chefs Boot Camp for Policy Change.

The three-day program includes workshops aimed at providing chefs with the ability to advocate for food issues. It features K. Rashid Nuri, an expert on urban farming; a visit to Ewe Bet Farm, a lamb farm in Cave Springs; and a tour of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The event will be held at the 21c Museum Hotel on the downtown square.

Bentonville chefs Case Dighero, Bill Lyle and Matt McClure will participate.

The James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in New York that nurtures, honors and celebrates America's culinary heritage, according to its website. The boot camp is being held in partnership with the Chef Action Network and with support from the Osprey Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and James Beard Foundation board member Eric Kessle.

-- John Magsam

State index closes

week with 5.92 fall

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 5.92 to 341.86 on Friday.

Five stocks advanced and 12 declined.

Dillard's Inc. fell 8.2 percent after posting disappointing earnings in the second quarter. Volume exceeded 2 million shares compared to a 30-day average of 357,599.

Bear State Financial Inc. gained 2.6 percent in average trading.

Shares of America's Car-Mart fell 4.7 percent in light trading.

Deltic Timber Corp. gained 1.7 percent at average volume.

USA Truck Inc. declined 2.1 percent around half of its average volume.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 08/16/2014

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