Group plans to build 117-room hotel in LR
An investment group has plans to build a Staybridge Suites hotel in Little Rock, the commercial real estate firm Sage Partners said Wednesday.
The $13 million project by Midtown Hospitality LLC will be located at University Avenue and West 12th Street, the news release said.
Staybridge Suites is expected to open in early 2017 and will have 117 rooms, the news release said.
The 2.69-acre property, most recently the location of Brandon House Furniture, was acquired by Midtown Hospitality from BH University Development LLC.
-- Jessica Seaman
Walker named State Plant Board chief
Terry Walker is the new director of the State Plant Board, the Arkansas Agriculture Department announced Wednesday.
He has worked for the Plant Board for 13 years.
"From row crops, to livestock, to horticultural products and fish, Arkansas products go toward providing a safe and economical food source for everyone," Walker said. "Not only does agriculture provide a livelihood for our producers, but also puts food on our tables."
Walker said partnership and consolidation with other divisions within the Arkansas Agriculture Department would be among his top priorities.
"This unified Agriculture Department should give Arkansas a more recognizable and substantial presence on the national level when addressing issues of concern," he said.
The board's previous director, Daryl Little, retired in January.
-- Claire Williams
Japan brewer bids for 2 AB InBev brands
LONDON -- Budweiser-maker AB InBev has received a binding offer of $2.85 billion for the European beer brands Grolsch, Peroni and Meantime -- a sale that is meant to address regulatory concerns about its merger with SABMiller.
The offer by Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings, if accepted following an employee consultation, would move AB InBev closer to completing the deal. It hopes to wrap up the merger by the second half of 2016.
"SABMiller has grown Peroni and Grolsch into world-renowned premium brands, and we are confident that, along with fast-growing modern craft brewer Meantime, they will continue to thrive and develop," SAB Miller Chief Executive Officer Alan Clark said. "These beers will continue to be part of SABMiller and sold and managed by us until the change of control."
AB InBev agreed last year to buy SABMiller for $100 billion. The combination would account for 29 percent of the world beer market, making it three times larger than its nearest rival. AB InBev said it would be proactive about regulatory concerns.
To ease antitrust concerns in the United States, SABMiller will sell its 58 percent stake in a venture with fellow brewer Molson Coors for $12 billion.
-- The Associated Press
Jack Daniel's plans $140M expansion
NASHVILLe, Tenn. -- Gov. Bill Haslam on Wednesday announced that the historic Jack Daniel Distillery is planning a $140 million expansion project to help meet global demand for Tennessee Whiskey.
The investment will be used to build two new rackhouses for barrel storage, expand the bottling facility and support the increasing number of visitors to the facility. Officials said more than 275,000 tourists from around the world visited the distillery in Lynchburg last year.
Officials with Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman, the company that owns the distillery, said the expansion will create 30 new jobs in Moore County.
The distillery underwent a $103 million expansion project less than three years ago that added stills, rackhouses and related infrastructure. Officials say that investment created 94 jobs.
The Jack Daniel Distillery is the oldest registered distillery in the U.S.
-- The Associated Press
VW recalls vehicles for air-bag inflators
FRANKFURT, Germany -- Automaker Volkswagen said Wednesday it is recalling 680,000 vehicles with suspect air-bag inflators in the United States.
Volkswagen said it has notified the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the recall involving VW vehicles from model years 2006 to 2014 and that it plans to notify the owners of all affected vehicles.
Volkswagen said in a statement Wednesday that it had been notified by the agency that some driver's side air-bag inflators in Volkswagen vehicles could be defective.
Millions of cars have been recalled worldwide over air-bag inflators made by Japanese supplier Takata that have shot metal fragments into vehicle occupants.
-- The Associated Press
GM recalling pickups, cites brake pedals
General Motors is recalling about 478,000 trucks, including almost 427,000 in the United States, because the brake pedal could fall off, the automaker said Wednesday.
The recall covers the 2015-16 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups known as the 2500 or 3500 models. Also included is the 2015-16 Chevrolet Tahoe police model.
The automaker said the brake pedal's pivot nut could loosen, which could make the brake pedal "inoperative," allowing it to fall off and possibly interfere with the gas pedal.
The automaker is not aware of any crashes or injuries related to the problem, a spokesman, Tom Wilkinson, said in an email.
He said GM had detected the problem when it was "analyzing a report of a noise in three of our durability test trucks."
Almost 48,000 vehicles are being recalled in Canada and about 3,500 in Mexico.
In a separate action, Subaru is recalling about 77,000 2006-14 Tribeca models because rust could cause the hood latch to fail, allowing it to open while the vehicle is in motion, said a report from the automaker posted Wednesday on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The automaker is not aware of any injuries related to the problem, a spokesman, Michael McHale, said in an email.
-- The New York Times
Business on 02/11/2016