Business news in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The store has lost millions of dollars since opening, and we can no longer continue to support the store’s operating losses.”

Howard Riefs, Sears Holdings Corp. spokesman, on plans by Sears to close its store in downtown Chicago Article, 1D

HP offering 200 positions at jobs fair

Hewlett-Packard is holding a jobs fair to take applications for 200 high-paying positions to be added to the workforce at the Conway operations.

The Conway Chamber of Commerce at 900 Oak St. is host of the event that began Wednesday and will be held from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. today.

The fair follows an announcement by Hewlett-Packard in December that it will add the jobs to somewhat offset the loss of hundreds of jobs in a cost-cutting move by the parent company based in Palo Alto, Calif.

Employment at Conway stood at about 1,400 last July, when the company slashed 500 jobs, then kept cutting to where the employment level stood at between 600 and 700.

The company is expected to pay back $459,000 of $10 million that the Arkansas Economic Development Corp.

awarded it in 2008 with the stipulation that the Conway operation have 1,000 employees at the end of a five-year period.

The payback was lessened by the promised addition of the 200 jobs that pay at a higher level than the typical job at the customer-service center, thus raising the payroll.

New positions include software engineers, business analysts and managers for health-care clients.

NLR’s Argenta Market to close Feb. 8

Argenta Market, a grocery and deli at 521 Main St. in North Little Rock, will close Feb. 8 after almost four years in business, its owners announced Wednesday.

The market opened in the spring of 2010 as the downtown Argenta area’s only grocery store and featured locally grown and manufactured products, along with its full-service deli.

The announcement was made on the market’s Facebook page and its argentamarket.com website thanked its customers for “their unwavering support” and mentioned that despite continuing growth in the city’s downtown, “it is clear that Argenta Market in its current iteration is not the answer to the needs of the residents and businesses in Argenta.”

The announcement also hinted at a rebirth as “Argenta Market Version 2.0.”

“We’re looking at other alternatives,” John Gaudin, manager of the New Argenta Fund partnership, said in a later interview. “We’re really looking at a variety of people with ideas on how to make it more sustainable.”

The partnership owns and manages the Argenta Market.

Gaudin said that the departure in 2011 of market manager Jody Hardin, who had begun the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in Argenta before the grocery’s arrival, began the business’s decline.

“None of us ever has any grocery experience,” Gaudin said, referring to his New Argenta Fund partners. “We’re working with a number of people to see if we can bring it back with a different ownership and with something that would appeal more to the locals. We’re looking at all of our options right now.”

Pilot Flying J settlement payout at 96%

Pilot Flying J has paid close to 96 percent of trucking company customers that it owes payments to as part of an $84.9 million class-action settlement approved in November.

Aubrey Harwell, the Nashville, Tenn.-based attorney for the national truck-stop chain, said all companies eligible for the reimbursement could be paid within 60 days, though there is no firm timetable. Internal auditors have about 2 percent of records remaining to review. Those settlements are then reviewed by a third-party auditor before checks are mailed.

About 60 companies had opted out of the settlement, and Harwell said 31 of those filed lawsuits against Pilot Flying J.

About 5,500 class members were deemed eligible for a share of $56.5 million in repayments and $9.75 million in interest. Harwell said the average payout for customers affected by the rebate fraud was “north of $25,000.”

U.S. District Judge James Moody approved the settlement during a Nov. 25 hearing in Little Rock. Seven former employees have entered guilty pleas as part of the investigation into the company cheating companies out of fuel-purchase rebates.

Simmons First sets earnings call today

Simmons First National Corp. will conduct a conference call at 3 p.m. today to discuss its fourth-quarter and 2013 earnings, which will be released this morning.

To access the call, dial (888) 481-2844 and ask for the Simmons First National conference call, using identification number 2687609.

The call and later a recorded version of the call each will be available at www.simmonsfirst.com.

Venezuela alters foreign-currency system

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela is overhauling its foreign-currency system and will now administer scarce dollars with a multitiered exchange system.

As part of the changes announced Wednesday by Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, Venezuelans traveling abroad will no longer be able to purchase air tickets or obtain cash at the official 6.3 bolivars per dollar rate.

That “preferential” rate will now be reserved for state run companies and targeted needs specified by the government.

“The big discussion here is whether we give dollars to travelers or we import food,” Ramirez said.

Travelers will now use the exchange rate established at weekly auctions, where the greenback currently fetches about 11 bolivars.

France, Goodyear workers reach deal

PARIS - French officials and protesting workers at a Goodyear tire plant in Amiens have ended their years long standoff with an agreement.

The accord, reached Wednesday, came after 10 days of negotiations between the government, the company and unions. The office of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the “end of conflict protocol” puts an end to the occupation of the factory by workers demanding new negotiations over severance packages.

For more than five years, Goodyear has tried to sell or shutter the Amiens plant.

  • The Associated Press

Business, Pages 24 on 01/23/2014

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