5 cities in state rise on business measure
Five cities' value on the Arkansas Tech Business Index increased in April, the university's College of Business said Monday.
Russellville, which saw the biggest gain, had an increase of 0.83 to 97.38 on the index. Fort Smith, which had the highest value on the index, was down 1.6 to 106.99.
The index ranks 16 municipalities in the state. It has a base value of 100 and measures economic activity using labor, housing market, construction and retail sales indexes. A value above 100 means a city is doing better than the state average from 2009 to present.
The other four cities that saw gains on the index include Little Rock with a value of 99.24, Jonesboro with a value of 100.83, El Dorado with a value of 93.79 and North Little Rock with a value of 95.49.
-- Jessica Seaman
Longtime chamber leader earns award
Paul Harvel, former president of the chambers of commerce for Arkansas and in Fort Smith and Little Rock, will receive a Life Member Award at the American Chamber of Commerce Executives' national convention in Cincinnati on Aug. 12-15.
The award is given in recognition of a lifetime of business community leadership and service to the association and chamber of commerce profession.
Recipients of the award are nominated by their peers and selected by the association's board of directors. Harvel is one of only three Life Member Award honorees this year. In the organization's 100-year history, life membership has been bestowed to fewer than 50 individuals.
Harvel retired from the Fort Smith chamber in 2013 after 47 years of service.
-- David Smith
11 stocks improve as state index falls
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 1.09 to 351.45 on Monday.
"The major market averages closed lower with geopolitical concerns prompting some investors to take some profits following the recent rally," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Eleven stocks were up and six lost ground.
P.A.M. Transportation continued its forward acceleration, gaining almost 3 percent and setting another all-time high, Williams said.
America's Car-Mart dropped more than 2 percent on light volume, he said. Windstream closed on a 52-week high.
Total volume of the index was 15 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 on 07/22/2014