Stickler new CEO of Big River Steel
David Stickler, a member of the Big River Steel board of directors, has been named chief executive officer of Big River Steel, the company said Thursday.
Stickler replaces John Correnti, who died Tuesday at 68. Correnti was the founder of Big River Steel LLC, which is building a $1.3 billion steel mill near Osceola.
"John's death came as a shock to the entire Big River Steel family," said Stickler, who had been chief administrative officer.
The company is on schedule to complete the construction and start-up of the facility, as well as to pursue other steel industry expansion opportunities as they arise, said Strickler, who had worked with Correnti for 15 years.
Dan Murray, also a member of Big River Steel's board of directors, was appointed chairman. Jim Bell, construction manager at Big River Steel, was elected to the board of directors.
-- David Smith
Windstream hires adviser; shares up
Shares of Windstream holdings Inc. surged more than 6 percent Thursday after Bloomberg News reported the company has hired Royal Bank of Canada to advise it on the sale of its data storage business.
Bloomberg News cited sources familiar with the matter and said Windstream is looking to raise $500 million to $750 million with the sale.
A spokesman for Windstream declined to comment to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Windstream shares rose 6.4 percent, or 40 cents, to settle at $6.69 on the Nasdaq. The company's stock traded between $6.01 and $6.78 during the day.
Bloomberg News said potential bidders for the Little Rock company's data unit include two private-equity firms, ABRY Partners and GI Partners.
Windstream bought the data storage business from ABRY in 2010 for $310 million, the Bloomberg report said.
-- Jessica Seaman
State index falls; only 2 stocks rise
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 6.97 to 335.20 Thursday.
The index has fallen 15.7 percent this year.
All but two stocks lost ground Thursday.
P.A.M. Transportation fell 6.7 percent in light trading. Communications Leasing & Sales fell 4.4 percent and America's Car-Mart fell 4.1 percent.
Tyson shares rose 0.6 percent in active trading.
Total volume of the index was 28.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 08/21/2015