Wal-Mart hiring 450 for e-commerce hub
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is nearly doubling the size of its digital operation in Sunnyvale, Calif., a place rich in engineering and technology talent, the company has said.
The retailer's Global eCommerce division, based in San Bruno, Calif., already employs about 550 people at a location in Sunnyvale. The company plans to hire an additional 450 more for another location, this one about 107,000 square feet in an office park where Twitter and Raytheon also have operations. Wal-Mart will lease an already-existing building.
Both of the Wal-Mart locations in Sunnyvale are said to be within walking distance of public transit, shops and restaurants. Improvements to the new space have already started with expectations to open the new locations by year's end.
Commercial real estate brokers predicted more large office transactions would land in Sunnyvale in the coming weeks and months. Twitter's foray into Sunnyvale was the company's first satellite location outside its headquarters in San Francisco.
-- Cyd King
Women's boot camp to tone up business
A free conference for women who own or manage a small business is scheduled for May 31 at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.
The Little Rock Women's Business Boot Camp begins at 9 a.m. at Grand Hall A and B at the college, 3000 W. Scenic Drive.
The conference includes seminars and networking opportunities for women who are small-business owners, according to a news release. Topics include business planning, access to capital and "navigating today's marketing landscape."
The conference is presented by Accion Arkansas, an extension of Accion Texas Inc., a nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs expand their businesses.
More information and registration for the conference is available at www.lrwomensbizbootcamp.eventbrite.com.
-- Jessica Seaman
Index rises 2.00 as 11 stocks gain
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 2.00 to 340.18 Friday.
Eleven stocks advanced, five declined and one was unchanged.
USA Truck rose 4.7 percent on almost triple its average volume.
Acxiom was up 3.1 percent in average volume.
Murphy USA gained 1.5 percent after hitting a 52-week high during the day.
First Federal Bancshares had the biggest loss, only 0.7 percent, in flat trading.
For the week, 13 stocks were up and four fell.
Acxiom gained 9.2 percent for the week.
USA Truck added 5.6 percent for the week.
Tyson Foods was off 2.9 percent for the week.
Total volume of the index was 16.3 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 23 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 05/24/2014