J.B. Hunt chairman named to Rand board
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. Chairman Kirk Thompson has been named as a board member of Rand Logistics.
Rand, a publicly traded company specializing in bulk freight shipping for the Great Lakes region, made Thompson the first of two independent directors added to its board. Thompson, a 40-year veteran at J.B. Hunt, is the former chief executive of the Lowell-based trucking and transportation company.
Thompson has been on the J.B. Hunt board of directors since 1985 and has helped the company grow into the third-largest trucking and transportation company in North America behind only UPS and FedEx. J.B. Hunt, according to a Rand news release, is on track for $6 billion in revenue this year.
Rand Logistics reported $155.8 million for fiscal 2014.
"[Thompson's] strong experience and insights into the transportation and logistics industry ... will be a valuable addition to our organization," Michael Lundin, Rand's non-executive board chairman said in a news release.
-- Chris Bahn
Arkansas Coop adds wind energy to grid
The Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp., which provides wholesale electricity to 17 distribution cooperatives that serve more than 500,000 consumers in the state, has added 150 megawatts of potential wind energy through a long-term agreement with an Oklahoma wind farm.
With the addition of the wind energy from Origin Wind Farm in Murray and Carter counties in southeast Oklahoma, Arkansas Electric now has access to 201 megawatts of wind energy, said Duane Highley, chief executive officer of the cooperative.
"[The cooperative] has a mix of energy including coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, biomass and wind to shield our members from potential spikes in generation fuel costs," said Andrew Lachowsky, vice president of planning, rates and market operations for the cooperative.
-- David Smith
Arkansas Index falls 0.30; Bear State up
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, slipped 0.30 to 380.37 on Tuesday.
"The major market averages were mixed as investors focused on a batch of mixed economic data," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Bear State Financial rose almost 5 percent on low, yet above-average volume, Williams said.
America's Car-Mart fell by more than 2.5 percent in active trading, Williams said.
Total volume of the index was 19.8 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 11/26/2014